I can’t stand Rowan Atkinson

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

Used to love Mr Bean as a kid, I found it on Netflix recently to show the kids and I honestly couldn’t understand how I used to enjoy it at all. He was absolutely insufferable and I couldn’t bear to watch him. I can’t stand his newer Netflix stuff either, Man Vs Bee/Baby. He’s so incompetent I could just scream!

Anyone else?

Blackadder was the first time I really understood what actually really was because he was so different in Blackadder two and three. From alpha to underdog.

Personally I don’t find Mr Bean funny but I loved Rowan Atkinson in Blackadder. He played Sir Tim Henry Birkin in a BBC drama years ago and he was great in that and comes across as very funny in interviews.

Sacrilege!

He is a genius.

Totally with you on that. Found it so stressful and irritating to watch!

What @SandrenaIsMyBloodType said. What an awful thread title. But as PPs have said, it has turned into a lovely, praising of RA thread.

I'm a huge admirer of his work, especially Blackadder, Not The 9 O'clock News and, dare I say it, Mr Bean's Holiday, but then I love a bit of slapstick.

I was sad to hear he left his wife, and for a woman so much younger, but you never know what goes on in people's marriages.

Everything you said.

What’s a baldrick coffee?

I’ve never seen Blackadder, I think it was before my time tbh. I know he’s clever and funny etc, but the slapstick incompetence he portrays so well makes me want to switch off when he comes on. I only ever seem to see him in roles where he plays a complete idiot!

Don't ask.

Yes. That was Richard Curtis asking Ben Elton to help him change the series. Rowan Atkinson performed the character that they created/adapted.

Scrolled through the whole thread to read this comment! I thought more people knew about this, from memory they managed to keep it quiet until the papers caught on and then everyone did the maths with his seperation and divorce timings, include Acaster... loved him as Flashheart but I do think '58 year old man who left his same-age wife for an early 30s coworker...' now.

Rik Mayall was Flashheart.

I went to a talk by Tony Robinson recently and he was full of praise for Rowan Atkinson and how he made sure everyone in Blackadder was listened to and treated well. Slapstick comedy can be very marmite but, by all accounts, he seems like one of the genuinely good ones.

I like him.. loved Mr bean, Johnny English, Blackadder and now Man Vs baby on Netflix… absolutely loved that 💯

Bloody hell, brain wandered in the middle of that sentence as meant to write 'as Blackadder especially with Flashheart' - teach me to do two things at once, cheers!

No worries! Rik is much missed 😔

Why confuse the actor with a couple of roles that he's played? It's like saying you can't stand an actor because he played the part of a particularly unpleasant villain.

Try watching Blackadder: it's ridiculous saying it was before your time wh.en it's re-shown constantly. Try to see Not the Nine O'Clock News, also, and Maigret.

You say that but his show is currently no 1 on Netflix.
Not my thing but obviously lots of people's thing.

IMHO Mr Bean in the style of Jacques Tati’s wonderful work. Especially Playtime which is a masterpiece.

Try watching Blackadder: it's ridiculous saying it was before your time wh.en it's re-shown constantly.

Agree.
It's commonly on catch up services.

But my dc (all in their 20s) were all shown the Final episode at school at various points, too. I think it would be quite difficult to not have come across the opportunity to watch it.

Not the Nine o'clock news is different as it was reflecting the news of the day. Some sketches (Gerald the Gorilla springs to mind) would still be funny today, but a lot was very topical so might not be funny 40 years on. Blackadder, OTOH could be watched at any time.

@LadyMonicaBaddinghamThough in Thame (just down the road) he was known as a nice man ;). Whenever I served him when I worked in a shop as a student he was lovely. Quiet, polite, rather serious. I met him a few times later on and he was the same until speaking to him about cars, then he was much more animated!

I used to work with ladies With learning difficulties who loved Mr. Bean and watched that (and On the buses) over and over again.
I really dislike Mr. Bean but don't mind Rowan Atkinson

Regarding his new projects...maybe he's just trying to pay for the divorce from his wife of 25 years, that he left to be with a woman 26 years his junior and the same age as his kids...Also he became a father again at 60+ so guess he needs to fund that ...

Blackadder is currently available on a few streaming services. You can watch it for free on ITV X.