Watch: The First PBS Promo for Upcoming Holiday Special ‘Mr Stink’

The "Mr. Stink" cast, looking festive. (Photo:Courtesy of Gary Moyes/BBC)
The "Mr. Stink" cast, looking festive. (Photo:Courtesy of Gary Moyes/BBC)
Mr. Stink, a feature-length drama adapted from the popular children’s novel written by David Walliams, will premiere this December as part of PBS’s special line-up of holiday programming.

Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville stars as the titular Mr. Stink - a role that seems quite a bit removed from the uber-posh Lord Robert Grantham. A particularly odiferous homeless man with more than a few secrets of his own, Mr. Stink is befriended by a lonely twelve-year-old girl named Chloe, who lets him stay in her garden shed.

Sheridan Smith, Isabella Blake-Thomas and Johnny Vegas also star in this heartwarming holiday tale.

Watch the first trailer from PBS below to get a better feel for the show. It looks wonderfully ridiculous.

One gets the feeling the Dowager Countess might not approve of all this.

Per the official press release, the story goes like this: Chloe (played by Nell Tiger Free) sees Mr. Stink every day, but she’s never spoken to him, which isn’t surprising, because he’s a tramp — and he stinks. But before she knows it, Chloe has an unusual friend hiding in her garden shed when it seems Mr. Stink and his stinky dog, Duchess, might be driven out of town. As Chloe struggles to make sure no one sniffs out Mr. Stink, she also has to cope with an overbearing mum who is more interested in her own political ambitions than her daughter, her put-upon dad who has a secret of his own, her “perfect” younger sister, Annabelle, and the nasty girls who make her life miserable at school. There is also one other person with an extraordinary secret, as it turns out that there is more to Mr. Stink than meets the eye ... or nose.

Mr. Stink premieres on December 22 on PBS stations nationwide. 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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