{"id":792676,"date":"2026-10-05T12:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/792676\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T12:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:56:13","slug":"rowan-atkinson-to-revive-classic-characters-mr-bean-and-blackadder-in-new-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/792676\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowan Atkinson to revive classic characters Mr Bean and Blackadder in new project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a40403770\/rowan-atkinson-mr-bean-man-vs-bee\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a40403770\/rowan-atkinson-mr-bean-man-vs-bee\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"With a career spanning nearly five decades\" data-node-id=\"3.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">With a career spanning nearly five decades<\/a>, Rowan Atkinson has been involved in several huge projects on both the big and small screen. But he will soon be returning to London&#8217;s West End for a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/theatre\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/theatre\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"stage\" data-node-id=\"3.2\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">stage<\/a> show.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Rowan Live will see the beloved actor showcase his &#8220;unique blend of physical comedy and impeccable timing&#8221; as he takes a trip down memory lane, with some of his most famous sketches and characters being brought to life once again.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"13\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">This will include the titular characters from Mr Bean and Blackadder, while favourites from Not the Nine O&#8217;Clock News will also be included. As part of the project, the comedian is working with past collaborators Richard Curtis and Ben Elton.<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"rowan atkinson, blackadder ii\" title=\"Rowan Atkinson, Blackadder II\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2200\" height=\"3080\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7b384c53-4a1b-45bf-8b88-cdcb05fbebd7.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"18\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV\" data-node-id=\"18.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"22\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Atkinson, who is also known for his roles in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/movies\/a46707281\/johnny-english-4-rowan-atkinson-filming-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/movies\/a46707281\/johnny-english-4-rowan-atkinson-filming-2024\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Johnny English franchise\" data-node-id=\"22.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Johnny English franchise<\/a> and Four Weddings and a Funeral, said in a statement: &#8220;It is 40 years since I last did a comedy sketch show in the West End.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"26\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;I thought it would be fun to perform again the sketches that began it all for myself and Richard Curtis and in which my most well-known characters originated, alongside some surprise new material written especially for this show,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"31\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Curtis, who met the actor while studying at the University of Oxford, added: &#8220;I first saw Rowan perform on stage in 1976, 50 years ago &#8211; and it was instantly clear to all of us that we were watching a unique, once in a lifetime talent.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"35\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;50 years later, this summer, we started putting this show together in front of a small audience, and all that magic, that unique accuracy and comic genius is still there for all to see,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"rowan atkinson, mr bean\" title=\"Rowan Atkinson, Mr Bean\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"3306\" height=\"2238\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/eb729724-3780-4757-85a1-c10e5a05f7b4.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Moviestore\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"40\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a74013522\/emilia-fox-signora-volpe-acorn-tv-tonight\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a74013522\/emilia-fox-signora-volpe-acorn-tv-tonight\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Silent Witness star&#039;s detective drama that &#039;offers something a little different&#039; is on TV tonight\" data-node-id=\"40.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Silent Witness star&#8217;s detective drama that &#8216;offers something a little different&#8217; is on TV tonight<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"44\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">&#8220;It&#8217;s such a joy and honour for me to be part of a show that will include the very best of Rowan on stage &#8211; all his voices, shapes, faces and characters. I hope it will make people very happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"48\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Rowan Live will consist of 30 performances at London&#8217;s Gillian Lynne Theatre, with the show premiering on 8 February 2027. It will run for just over a month until 13 March 2027, with tickets going on sale <a href=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com?id=127X991730&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Flwtheatres.co.uk%2Fwhats-on%2Frowan-live%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/lwtheatres.co.uk\/whats-on\/rowan-live\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"here\" data-vars-ga-product-id=\"58cf520a-2bfc-4653-84ef-5db66903fc95\" data-node-id=\"48.6\" data-href=\"https:\/\/lwtheatres.co.uk\/whats-on\/rowan-live\/\" data-product-url=\"https:\/\/lwtheatres.co.uk\/whats-on\/rowan-live\/\" data-affiliate=\"true\" data-affiliate-url=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com?id=127X991730&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Flwtheatres.co.uk%2Fwhats-on%2Frowan-live%2F\" data-affiliate-network=\"{&quot;site_id&quot;:&quot;53fd7fa5-d43c-401b-823b-b21cf6cddcd6&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:null,&quot;network&quot;:{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Skimlinks&quot;},&quot;product_metadata&quot;:null,&quot;afflink_redirect&quot;:null}\" data-fp-affiliate-inline-link=\"true\" data-fp-affiliate-button-link=\"false\" data-vars-ga-product-price=\"$0.00\" data-vars-ga-product-retailer-id=\"101d52fa-3144-402d-b570-dccdf0991b72\" data-vars-ga-link-treatment=\"(not set) | (not set)\" class=\"body-link product-links css-1gyyefe e1aq0z090\">here<\/a> on Wednesday (7 October).<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"52\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Rowan Live runs at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 8 February to 13 March 2027.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"57\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Streaming Guide\" data-node-id=\"57.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"61\" class=\"css-14bo8h1 emevuu60\">The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton&#8217;s life, is here. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions\/living-legend-specials\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/special-editions-subscriptions\/living-legend-specials\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Buy Dolly in newsagents or online\" data-node-id=\"61.3\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Buy Dolly in newsagents or online<\/a>.<br data-node-id=\"61.5.0\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-dynamic-svg=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/_assets\/design-tokens\/hearst\/static\/images\/logos\/lettermark.be20fe9.svg?primary=%2523000\" loading=\"lazy\" data-testid=\"dynamic-svg-base\" height=\"100\" width=\"100\" alt=\"Lettermark\" class=\"css-7mevzh ev8dhu50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/movies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Movies<\/a> and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. \u00a0His film tastes vary from blockbusters like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/mission-impossible\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mission: Impossible<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/john-wick\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Wick<\/a> to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.<br \/>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a career spanning nearly five decades, Rowan Atkinson has been involved in several huge projects on both&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,147950,149496,379,260918,381,96,2788,190731,1156,260917,223205,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-792676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-theatre","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-65ed87f8-d13f-486b-a324-4e715327cd0f","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-rowan-atkinson-to-revive-classic-characters-in-new-project","tag-sponsored-false","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}