Rowan Atkinson first came to the public's attention in the classic comedy series Not the Nine O'Clock News in the late 1970s. His play on music hall mannerisms and a natural acting ability allowed him to achieve huge success in his next outing as the dastardly Black Adder, one of the most popular comedy series ever produced by the BBC. In the 1980s he created, with Richard Curtis (who went on to write Four Weddings and a Funeral), Mr Bean. Mr Bean is an international success. It is shown all over the world and in the autumn of 1997 a major movie - Bean The Ultimate Disaster Movie was released to international success. This is the first in depth biography of Rowan Atkinson, his career and life. Atkinson is regarded as one of the finest comedians to have appeared in the last twenty years. But where does his talent lie? How did he develop the comic timing and brilliant ability to find exactly the right character from Black Adder to Mr Bean. Atkinson is a very private person. His cont ributions to Comic Relief are well-known as is his passion for cars and the fact he studied electronics at Durham and Cambridge, but little else has come to light as he rarely consents to publicity and has only been interviewed twice over the last ten years. Bruce Dessau delves behind the comic mask.