We present the analysis of several newly obtained and archived photometric and spectroscopic datasets of the intriguing and yet poorly understood 13.5-mag central star candidate of the bipolar planetary nebula Sh2-71 .
Photometric observations confirmed the previously determined quasi-sinusoidal lightcurve with a period of 68 days and also indicated periodic sharp brightness dips , possibly eclipses , with a period of 17.2 days .
In addition , the comparison between U and V lightcurves revealed that the 68-day brightness variations are accompanied by a variable reddening effect of \Delta E ( U - V ) = 0.38 .
Spectroscopic datasets demonstrated pronounced variations in spectral profiles of Balmer , helium and singly ionised metal lines and indicated that these variations occur on a time-scale of a few days .
The most accurate verification to date revealed that spectral variability is not correlated with the 68-day brightness variations .
The mean radial velocity of the observed star was measured to be \sim 26 km s -1 with an amplitude of \pm 40 km s -1 .
The spectral type was determined to be B8V through spectral comparison with synthetic and standard spectra .
The newly proposed model for the central star candidate is a Be binary with a misaligned precessing disc .