0:00:14 > 0:00:18With his rubber face, bendy limbs and razor sharp tongue,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Rowan Atkinson has been one of our biggest comedy stars
0:00:22 > 0:00:23of the past 30 years.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27With just a look, a sudden movement or a raised eyebrow,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30he can have audiences in stitches.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Add the extraordinary verbal dexterity he used
0:00:33 > 0:00:35with such devastating effect in Blackadder
0:00:35 > 0:00:39and you have one of the ultimate comedy cocktails
0:00:39 > 0:00:43that fans have been enjoying since he first arrived on the scene,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45with appearances like this.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47All right, your essays.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Discuss the contention that Cleopatra
0:00:51 > 0:00:54had the body of a roll top desk and the mind of a duck.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57LAUGHTER
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Oxford and Cambridge board O-level paper, 1976.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Don't fidget, Bland.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14The answer...
0:01:15 > 0:01:16Yes.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23Jones M, Orifice, Sediment and Undermanager - see me afterwards.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Most of you, of course, didn't write nearly enough.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Dint, your answer was unreadable.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Put it away, Plectrum.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41If I see it once more this period, Plectrum, I shall have to tweak you.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49Do you have a solicitor, Plectrum?
0:01:56 > 0:01:59You're lying, Plectrum, so I shall tweak you anyway.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02See me afterwards to be tweaked.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Yes, isn't life tragic?
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Don't sulk, boy, for God's sake.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Has matron seen those boils?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22And here, Rowan is interviewed about performances like that one
0:02:22 > 0:02:25by Mary Marquis in 1980.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27You're almost a physical manifestation
0:02:27 > 0:02:29of a caricaturist like Rowlandson
0:02:29 > 0:02:32or, in the present day, Gerald Scarfe.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35What is it in you which tempts you
0:02:35 > 0:02:38to reveal to the rest of us
0:02:38 > 0:02:40characters which are very obviously people that we recognise
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and yet there's something else as well?
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Hmm...!
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Well, I don't know what it is about me, or in me,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52it's just something that you find that you can do
0:02:52 > 0:02:56and, therefore, you feel as though you should do it,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59if people want to enjoy watching it.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I mean, I think that a lot of the characters I do
0:03:02 > 0:03:05are rather extreme, and they tend to be large,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and even some of them reach into the grotesque,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12but I do hope that there's enough acting, if you like,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15goes into them to keep them credible.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I mean, I hope that although a lot of the characters are extreme,
0:03:18 > 0:03:23they should be real as well, and I don't only do extreme characters.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26In particular, in the live show that we're touring at the moment,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29I think it's... there are a lot of characters,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and, indeed, in Not The Nine O'Clock News,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I think there are quite a few characters that are quite low-key.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And there I suppose it's where the acting is more obviously,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41I hope, credible.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43When you're talking about people doing very little,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46the people that, some of the people you portray...
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- Yes.- ..I was thinking particularly of the man in church.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51- Oh, right, yes.- ..who's really doing nothing at all...
0:03:51 > 0:03:55- Yes.- ..and yet, it, from you, calls out qualities of mime,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58for instance, and very acute observation, as well.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Right. Right, the...
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Yes, the church sketch that we're doing in the live show at present
0:04:05 > 0:04:10was first thought up by my co-writer, Richard Curtis,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12and he just had this idea,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and he knows the sort of wavelengths on which I work,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19so he's very good at suggesting ideas that are possible,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23was the idea of a guy sitting in a church listening to a sermon,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and there's nothing happening, at least ostensibly, I mean,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29there's no plot, particularly, to the sketch,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32but it's just watching what that guy does.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37And, you know, sitting in a church, what you do, you watch..
0:04:37 > 0:04:38and then you...
0:04:42 > 0:04:45You know, there's a lot of that, a lot of looking up and down,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and then there's just the falling asleep,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49and it's just the way that people do fall asleep
0:04:49 > 0:04:52in churches, still trying to stay...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54To stay alive!
0:04:54 > 0:04:56To stay awake and alive
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and this guy, he just falls very close to Richard,
0:05:00 > 0:05:01who's sitting beside me,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06and then he just falls into a ridiculous posture on the floor.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And it is a sketch and it is a character
0:05:09 > 0:05:11who's doing nothing, really,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15but it's just the doing of nothing that can be very funny.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Rowan's big television break was Not The Nine O'Clock News.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21The show turned him, Mel Smith,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones into household names.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27A year after it launched,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Rowan was booked for what was genuinely a show-stopping appearance
0:05:31 > 0:05:33on Parkinson.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37It's been my pleasure for the past two years to share office space
0:05:37 > 0:05:40with a gang of certifiable lunatics who avoid identification
0:05:40 > 0:05:43by calling themselves Not The Nine O'Clock News.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44Jointly and separately,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47they've both delighted and horrified the nation
0:05:47 > 0:05:48with their anarchic humour.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Out of this combination of talent has emerged a young man
0:05:51 > 0:05:55who's been called Britain's greatest comedy hope since John Cleese.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58He's a strange mixture and an interesting psychological study.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01In real life, he's a farmer's son from Newcastle
0:06:01 > 0:06:03who is quiet to the point of being invisible.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Onstage, he often displays a kind of manic energy...
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- Come on!- ..which has led him to being described as this semi-lunatic
0:06:10 > 0:06:14- simmering psychopath. - For God's sake, hurry up!
0:06:14 > 0:06:18He's so slow, isn't he?
0:06:18 > 0:06:20It's pathetic.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22It's pathetic. Come on, let's get on with it, come on.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Let's get the bloody show on the road, for goodness' sake.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Come on.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Wait!
0:06:35 > 0:06:36Who...
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Who are we bloody waiting for, anyway?
0:06:40 > 0:06:41- Rowan Atkinson.- Rowing?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Rowan Atkinson.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Oh, Ron, oh, Ron, Ron, are you there, Ron?
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Come on, Ron, you're all right, come on!
0:06:51 > 0:06:54If you... I tell you, Ron, come on, don't be shy.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57I tell you, if you don't do it, I'll do it.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Right, stuff it, I'll do it.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03- Rowan Atkinson. - I'm here, thank you very much.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04APPLAUSE
0:07:12 > 0:07:14What happened when you first tried
0:07:14 > 0:07:16that marvellously manic character out?
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Cos that was on Not The Nine O'Clock News, wasn't it?
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Yes, that's Not The Nine O'Clock News, yes.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22It was, I think, probably in this very studio.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- Was it?- In this very studio that I first sat, very nervous,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29in the audience, cos it's a very nerve-racking thing to do,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32I can tell you, sit amongst those real people there,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35just to be about to perform, and I stood up,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37and I was in the middle of spouting
0:07:37 > 0:07:41and this...and this commissionaire came down from the back
0:07:41 > 0:07:43who hadn't been told of the fact
0:07:43 > 0:07:46that some strange member of the public was going to stand up
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and then shout at everyone. So he came up and he stood in front of me
0:07:49 > 0:07:51and said, "All right, Sir, it's all right, come on.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54"Just, just, just come quietly."
0:07:56 > 0:08:00And I said, and I said, "I'm on television."
0:08:01 > 0:08:03And he was facing me, away from the camera,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05and this was all shown, actually, in the second edition
0:08:05 > 0:08:08of the first series, all this happening, and the camera
0:08:08 > 0:08:10was luckily facing me, so it wasn't facing him,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14and the look of realisation on his face when he discovered
0:08:14 > 0:08:16that he actually was, his back at least,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19was on television and the look of complete horror.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Then he just turned, turned and disappeared.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27A great deal of your humour is very visual humour.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30You also observe people - or do you observe people?
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I mean, or can you demonstrate how watching human behaviour,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- you can transfer that into humour? - It's just, yes, it's just,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41it's just the very ordinariness of life that I so like watching.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46I've never consciously, again, copied any, any individual.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Characterisations that you tend to do tend to be based on people
0:08:50 > 0:08:53who you might have seen ten years ago but you can't remember
0:08:53 > 0:08:56for the life of you who they are, and they've just somehow,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00their mannerisms and things and just the idea of people...
0:09:00 > 0:09:03I mean, it sounds like an old cliche
0:09:03 > 0:09:05derived from the cliche that, you know,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09truth is stranger than fiction, and, actually just the way,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12you know, the person sitting opposite you on the train behaves,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16like a very... Right, a quick demonstration of a very ordinary,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20very inoffensive person doing nothing but somehow being funny.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22I'll do it. So, he stands up.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24And he's standing up, and he sits down.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57And it's just that kind of thing.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Strange.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01APPLAUSE
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Of course, one of the things about that kind of comedy, too,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11is in observing, or breaking the cliche, again,
0:10:11 > 0:10:14of how people respond in certain situations.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16I mean, I know that you do one about drunkenness, don't you?
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- Oh, right.- Which reverses what people normally think about.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Well, yes, it's there, it's... it is a cliche
0:10:23 > 0:10:26about trying to act drunk, is you feel as though you should act drunk
0:10:26 > 0:10:29and actually they say that the key to it is to act sober,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32and just to try and be sober, and it's just,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35it's just the fact that everyone exaggerates everything
0:10:35 > 0:10:38to such an extent, and they're sitting there...
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Yes, you're right, yes.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56And it's just that,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00it's just that you try and make things bigger all of the time,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02and drunkenness is an example.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Two years after that appearance came a role
0:11:07 > 0:11:10that would make Rowan Atkinson even more recognisable
0:11:10 > 0:11:13and define his work for the next decade.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16It was, of course, Blackadder.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Here he is on Wogan
0:11:17 > 0:11:20before the original series had even gone out
0:11:20 > 0:11:24when the only clue to the character was some very distinctive hair.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28You've been wearing that haircut for a bet, have you?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Which haircut?
0:11:32 > 0:11:33This one. Yes, no, this is,
0:11:33 > 0:11:38this is the haircut of the character that I've been working with
0:11:38 > 0:11:40for nearly a year now,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45and it's a programme which will be coming on television quite soon,
0:11:45 > 0:11:46at the end of May.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50It's something I didn't really want to talk about a tremendous amount
0:11:50 > 0:11:54because I know the haircut makes it difficult not to want to know
0:11:54 > 0:11:58what kind of character that could possibly lead a normal life
0:11:58 > 0:12:01with this cut, but it's a situation comedy,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04it's six half-hour programmes
0:12:04 > 0:12:05and it's called The Blackadder
0:12:05 > 0:12:08and it'll be on towards the end of May, I believe.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11- And we still haven't finished it, so...- A touch of the medieval,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13- I would say.- It is, exactly right.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16- Yes.- It's set in medieval times. - Quite.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Don't want to say too much.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21- No, I don't.- I get a lot of people on this show, do you notice,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24who refuse to tell me anything about themselves or the shows
0:12:24 > 0:12:26- that they're doing! - It's a mystery, yes.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Well, it's best to keep people waiting in anticipation.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Yes, it's that thing of not wanting to blow things up too much
0:12:32 > 0:12:34so people expect everything.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36- Yeah.- And then they're bound to be disappointed when they see it.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39I hope you won't be disappointed when you see it, but, anyway,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43- it's coming soon.- Do you see your face as your greatest asset,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45your facial dexterity?
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Mark how kindly I put that!
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Yes, facial dexterity.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53It's something that I never...
0:12:53 > 0:13:00I never realised I had until I was about 20, 21, only seven years ago,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04when I realised that I did have this face that seemed to have
0:13:04 > 0:13:07all the permutations that could be funny.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09And the problem is that you don't...
0:13:09 > 0:13:13You know, one doesn't like to be labelled a face-puller
0:13:13 > 0:13:15because you feel as though
0:13:15 > 0:13:17if you have got a face that, you know, that's malleable
0:13:17 > 0:13:19and can...and can go like that...
0:13:19 > 0:13:22you know, and can twist about,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24that you feel that people are going to assume
0:13:24 > 0:13:26that you're just, you know, that's all you can do
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and if in doubt, go, you know...
0:13:29 > 0:13:30and then someone'll laugh.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33But you don't want that,
0:13:33 > 0:13:38so I try and use it in a characterful way
0:13:38 > 0:13:40so that every character has his face
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and it tends to be different from some other characters, but I...
0:13:46 > 0:13:49But, yes, it's funny how sometimes, though, when you're asked a question
0:13:49 > 0:13:51and you can't remember what the question was halfway to the end.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55- Facial dexterity. - Yes, facial dexterity, of course!
0:13:55 > 0:13:59- Of course, yes.- You've always had an ambition to do a film.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02- Yes.- And I understand you've fulfilled that, have you?
0:14:02 > 0:14:03Well, yes -
0:14:03 > 0:14:07well, I mean, I've done those filmed versions of stage shows.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- Yes.- But otherwise, but I've always wanted to play a part
0:14:10 > 0:14:12in a James Bond film.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15I really always wanted to be the villain.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19I always wanted to be the man who said, "Not so fast, Mr Bond."
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Do you know that man?
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Just when he's about to escape, "Not so fast, Mr Bond."
0:14:24 > 0:14:26And I always wanted to say that in a film.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29But I did one last November, I think it was,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32which is the new Sean Connery Bond film, Never Say Never Again,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34which will be out sometime towards the end of the year, I suppose.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39But, unfortunately, I don't play a villain, I play a goody-goody.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I played the British consul in the Bahamas, who's very, very dry.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48- And...- It's not a serious part, is it?- It's...
0:14:49 > 0:14:51My ambition fulfilled!
0:14:51 > 0:14:53No, no, not really, no, it's got, it's got...
0:14:53 > 0:14:57But at least it's...it's a nice, I think, quite rounded character.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01You wouldn't have any ambitions to play the part of Bond himself?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04- Well, actually, actually... - Cubby, old Cubby,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07is looking for another James Bond.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Would I like to play James Bond?
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I, no, I once thought I'd like to play Doctor Who.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16But I didn't.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Such a shame Rowan never got to play the Doctor.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25As he demonstrates here, he's certainly got the acting range.
0:15:25 > 0:15:26I want to fire some emotions at you.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28- Blimey.- Love.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30Hate.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33Sexy.
0:15:34 > 0:15:35Bored.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38Evil.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41And, finally, suicidal.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Rowan and Richard Curtis weren't overly happy
0:15:46 > 0:15:49with the first series of Blackadder,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52but still felt the potential was there for something special.
0:15:52 > 0:15:58So, Blackadder was reborn as a cynical Elizabethan schemer.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59He had charm,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01even a certain sex appeal,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05and a loyal but ludicrous assistant, Baldrick,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07forever in tow.
0:16:07 > 0:16:08This new series of Blackadder,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11is it different from the humour of the first series?
0:16:11 > 0:16:12- Has it changed at all?- Well,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14it's not particularly different in style
0:16:14 > 0:16:16from the humour of the first series
0:16:16 > 0:16:18but I think it's significantly improved.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21A lot of the problems with the first series...
0:16:21 > 0:16:24I wasn't a great fan of the first series, I have to say.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25I thought it had its moments,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29but I thought that the moments were two few and far between,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32and this is an attempt to tighten it all down
0:16:32 > 0:16:34to make it simpler, tighter, cheaper,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36much, much cheaper than the last one.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Well, that's, that's our great leader Michael Grade.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41- That's right.- Has said that he wanted it cheaper,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- was that the point?- Yes, that's right.- Cheaper and funnier.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45He wanted more jokes per pound!
0:16:45 > 0:16:51So, I think the JPP ratio has increased substantially.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Well, we won't be able to judge from this little clip
0:16:53 > 0:16:58but let's have a brief, fragrant nosegay from the latest Blackadder.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00EVIL LAUGHTER
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Tell me, young crone, is this Putney?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Putney, that it be.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11"Yes, it is," not "That it be."
0:17:13 > 0:17:16You don't have to talk in that stupid voice to me,
0:17:16 > 0:17:17I'm not a tourist.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22I seek information about a wise woman.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25The wise woman. The wise woman?
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Yes, the wise woman.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Two things, my Lord, must ye know of the wise woman.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- Yes?- First...
0:17:34 > 0:17:35she is...
0:17:35 > 0:17:37a woman!
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And, second,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42she is...
0:17:42 > 0:17:43Wise?
0:17:44 > 0:17:47- You do know her, then. - No, just a wild stab in the dark -
0:17:47 > 0:17:49which is, incidentally, what you'll be getting,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52if you don't start being a bit more helpful.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56APPLAUSE
0:18:01 > 0:18:04So, not only are we getting more jokes to the pound, but we're...
0:18:04 > 0:18:06- Much better value.- Yeah. - So much better value.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08And that terrible pudding basin haircut is gone.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- Yes, it's gone. Yes.- And the beard, I mean, you look a bit, I mean,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15I would imagine many a young lady might fancy you in that.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18- Dashing.- Dashing is the word, yes.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Well, it was, it was my own beard, it's not stuck on.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23And it was, it was an attempt, really,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26to make me look completely different from the character
0:18:26 > 0:18:29in the first series, who as you say, did look absolutely terrible.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And this character is, as you probably gathered from that clip,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35extremely different. He's really quite smart,
0:18:35 > 0:18:37and quite smarmy and quite romantic.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40There's a lot of romanticism, I think, in this new series,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43- which there wasn't before. - Did you have a hand in writing it?
0:18:43 > 0:18:44I didn't this time.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Last time I did and this time I didn't.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- Is that because Michael Grade wanted it funnier?- Yes.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- No, he wanted it cheaper. - Cheaper!- So I didn't, no.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58And this was largely written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and, I think, as a result of my not being involved, actually,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I think it's slightly, it's slightly better.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05It's slightly funnier for that reason.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Is it in relation...
0:19:06 > 0:19:11What relation is Blackadder to this new Blackadder II?
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Right, Blackadder II is the bastard great-great grandson
0:19:16 > 0:19:18of Blackadder I.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21So, although we never saw Blackadder I with either a wife
0:19:21 > 0:19:23or a girlfriend, or anything,
0:19:23 > 0:19:28he obviously found some wench somewhere with which to procreate,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30- so...- Well, with that extraordinary codpiece he had,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- I'm surprised he was able to do anything.- Exactly.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Is it the start of what the Americans would call a dynasty?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Well, yes, there's a thought that next series,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42if this series goes well,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46then the plan is next time to probably make Blackadder VII,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48rather than Blackadder III,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50which is to move on a few hundred years instead of only moving on
0:19:50 > 0:19:53100 years like we have in this series into the Elizabethan period,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56and to move on to the kind of First World War,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58we think, is quite a funny idea.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Which might be Von Blackadder,
0:20:00 > 0:20:05which is the idea of a German air ace who is...who is the bastard,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09bastard great-great-great-great, grandson of Blackadder II,
0:20:09 > 0:20:10and then on into...
0:20:10 > 0:20:15- And then go on to Blackadder XII? - On to Blackadder XII, or Staradder.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20The new Blackadder was an instant hit and provided us
0:20:20 > 0:20:23with many of television's best-loved lines and moments.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Rowan, however, would always downplay
0:20:26 > 0:20:28how funny he was personally,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30despite all the evidence to the contrary.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I regard myself as, I think, as more of an actor than I am a comedian,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38to a certain extent. I mean, I seem to specialise in comedy
0:20:38 > 0:20:40because it's probably what I do best
0:20:40 > 0:20:44but, otherwise, I think the skills that you employ as a comedian
0:20:44 > 0:20:48are very...are very actory sort of skills and I can't, as you can tell,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- just sit here and be funny. I've got...- But, now, is that a burden?
0:20:51 > 0:20:52I've got to hide behind a character.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Is that a burden - because you know that people expect
0:20:56 > 0:20:58people of your stature to come on and be funny?
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- Now, do you find that as a weight? - Well, not so much any more,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05in a way, because it's almost quite a well-known cliche now
0:21:05 > 0:21:09that people who are funny on-screen are not remotely amusing off-screen.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11I mean, Eric Morecambe was a classic exception to that rule.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15He was a terribly funny man at all times, whenever you met him,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18and it's a wonderful talent, but it's a talent
0:21:18 > 0:21:21that I certainly haven't got and it's a talent that I think
0:21:21 > 0:21:24most comic performers of my ilk don't have.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28God had a good day when he gave you your face, didn't he?
0:21:31 > 0:21:33But is it your fortune or your misfortune?
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Well, I think it's been fortunate, all right, so far.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39I mean, I don't think about it a lot.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41I don't think about the faces that I pull,
0:21:41 > 0:21:46I just try and...try and be amusing inside a characterful persona,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- and generally the face suddenly starts...- As in fact...
0:21:49 > 0:21:52- ..starts to take off.- ..here, when you're walking down the street
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and you're here walking down the street on Not The Nine O'Clock News
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and waving to any person who happens to take an interest in you.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22By the 1990s, Rowan was introducing a new character to his fans,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27the sometimes infuriating, sometimes lovable, Mr Bean.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30At the same time, we were saying goodbye to Blackadder,
0:22:30 > 0:22:35who met a surprisingly poignant end in the trenches of World War I.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39That reduced people to tears, that ending of Blackadder.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41To a certain extent, that sad ending was thought up
0:22:41 > 0:22:43when we thought that the whole series -
0:22:43 > 0:22:44this was before it was ever screened
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and when it was being written, it's when the writers were convinced
0:22:47 > 0:22:49that the whole series was going to be lambasted
0:22:49 > 0:22:50for being tasteless, you know,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53for making any jokes about a situation
0:22:53 > 0:22:55as serious as the First World War.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59So, that ending was put there to, sort of, that was our serious bit,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01to sort of justify and to try to allay the criticism
0:23:01 > 0:23:04that actually never came, that no-one actually thought, in the end,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06that it was particularly tasteless.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08You remember it all very fondly, Blackadder.
0:23:08 > 0:23:09Yes, I do, actually, yes.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10It was a terrific time.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14What I enjoyed, really, was the shared responsibility,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17the fact that there was such a good team of folk to act with
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and to work with, and if you were in the middle of a scene
0:23:20 > 0:23:23and you, you know, you were having a little difficulty with it,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26or you didn't think that you were being particularly amusing,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29then you knew at any minute Tony Robinson
0:23:29 > 0:23:33as Baldrick was going to walk in with an extremely amusing vegetable
0:23:33 > 0:23:34and then you could, you know,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38you could metaphorically throw the ball to him and let him play with it
0:23:38 > 0:23:40for a while and you could sit back and...
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Why did you stop? I mean, that was a kind of inevitable finish,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47but it didn't have to be. Why did you stop after four series?
0:23:47 > 0:23:50No, I mean, he... The Blackadder and most people in it
0:23:50 > 0:23:54tended to die at the end of every series, in fact, it wasn't just,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56that was a particularly memorable death,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00but there was a death at the end of at least two of the other series
0:24:00 > 0:24:03as well, and, so, you know, merely the fact that he died in that series
0:24:03 > 0:24:05doesn't mean to say that, in theory, he couldn't come back.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08- Come back again, yeah. - Although I suspect that he won't.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Mr Bean would go on to become an international sensation
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and appear in two hit films.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Another of Rowan's creations,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21the not-so-secret agent Johnny English would do the same,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23confirming his position
0:24:23 > 0:24:27as one of our most successful entertainment exports.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31So, how does he manage to keep hitting funny bones
0:24:31 > 0:24:33in countries right across the globe?
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Perhaps our final clip contains something of the answer,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41capturing, as it does, a comedy master in full flow.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Pray silence, please, for the father of the bride.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Ladies and gentlemen,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and friends of my daughter.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10There comes a time in every wedding reception
0:25:10 > 0:25:14when the man who paid for the damn thing
0:25:14 > 0:25:20is allowed to speak a word or two of his own.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22And I should like to speak,
0:25:22 > 0:25:29much as my wife sang in the service that we've all just enjoyed...
0:25:30 > 0:25:34..with no real notes.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38As far as I'm concerned...
0:25:40 > 0:25:46..my daughter could not have chosen a more delightful, charming, witty,
0:25:46 > 0:25:52responsible, wealthy, let's not deny it, well-placed,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56good-looking and fertile young man...
0:26:02 > 0:26:05..than Martin as her husband.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09And I therefore ask the question...
0:26:10 > 0:26:15..why the hell did she marry Gerald instead?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22If I may use a gardening simile here,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27if this entire family may be likened to a compost heap,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and I think they can,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33then Gerald is the biggest weed growing out of it.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38I think I'd be more inspired by the sight of a cowpat.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Gerald is the sort of man I think people emigrate to avoid.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45He's the sort of chap who fosters kamikaze units,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48resolved to drive their cars into his living room
0:26:48 > 0:26:50until one of them is lucky enough to get him.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53As for his family,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56they are quite simply the most intolerable herd
0:26:56 > 0:26:58of steaming social animals I've ever had the misfortune
0:26:58 > 0:27:00of turning my nose up to.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04I spurn you as I would spurn a rabid dog.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06I would like to propose a toast...
0:27:08 > 0:27:09..to the caterers.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Whether it's a speech at a wedding,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19a man falling down a hole, or simply a very rubbery face,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24with Rowan Atkinson, it's always pure comedy,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and, when it comes to successfully pulling it off,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32he's shown time and time again that he's simply one of the best.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39# Everyone who meets his way
0:27:39 > 0:27:42# Oh, our love is like the flowers
0:27:42 > 0:27:46# The rain and the sea and the hours
0:27:46 > 0:27:48# Oh, our love is like the flowers... #