There are so many things that have made the Paddington movies great: the clumsy but loveable bear and the warmth and optimism he brings; the clever sight gags and ingenious slapstick; the delightful Brown family; the picture-postcard London; the ripe villainy of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman… the list goes on and on.
But let’s also don an unconvincing disguise and throw some flower to its cult hero: Barry the Security Guard.
Smug, bureaucratic, unable to resist a fine figure of a man unconvincingly disguised as a woman, easily duped, oddly loveable, he’s been played by Paddington co-writer and British comedy acting royalty Simon Farnaby and he’s provided some of the films’ funniest moments to date.
But worryingly for fans of this sort of silliness, there’s been no sign of him in any of the Paddington in Peru promotional materials thus far. Has Barry exited the series in disgrace after that whole St Paul’s Cathedral fiasco?
Happily, no. It brings us genuine pleasure to report that he’s back and gainfully employed again.
'Barry is back in a new guise,’ confirms Paddington in Peru producer Rosie Alison. ‘His cameo is fleeting but it's lovely.’
As this first look image reveals, Barry has landed on his feet with a new job as a flight attendant on Fly Peru airlines. ‘He's had a slight job shift,’ says Alison, ‘but that’s the nature of his life. He’s always in slightly different jobs.'
Presumably, it’s on Barry’s flight that Paddington and the Brown family will be travelling to Lima to begin their quest to track down the missing Aunt Lucy. Will Barry once again be confounded by some form of unexpected hijinks? Undoubtedly.
Directed by franchise newcomer Dougal Wilson and with Ben Whishaw again providing the voice of the little bear, Paddington in Peru will be in UK cinemas on November 8. In the US, it lands on January 17, 2025.
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