Mr. Bean was a British comedy television series of 14 half-hour episodes starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character. Different episodes were written by Rowan Atkinson, Robin Driscoll, Richard Curtis and one by Ben Elton. The self-titled first episode was broadcast on 1 January 1990, with the final episode, "Goodnight, Mr. Bean", on 31 October 1995

Based on a character developed by Rowan Atkinson at university, the series followed the exploits of Mr. Bean, described by Atkinson as "a child in a grown man's body",[http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2323922005 "Atkinson has Bean there and he's done with that"], interview by Lucy Cavendish in The Scotsman (Wed 30 Nov 2005), URL accessed August 3rd, 2006 in solving various problems presented by everyday tasks and often causing disruption in the process.

During its five year run the series gained large UK audience figures, including 18.74 million for the 1992 episode "The Trouble With Mr Bean"Viewing figures at the Internet Movie Database, URL accessed March 14th, 2008, which was the recipient of a number of international awards, including the Rose d'Or, and has had an enduring effect on popular culture. The show has been sold in over 200 territories worldwide, and has inspired two feature films and an animated cartoon spin-off.Facts and Figures at mrbean.co.uk, URL accessed August 4th, 2006

Rowan Atkinson (born 6 January, 1955) is an English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line, and Mr. Bean. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy,"The A-Z of laughter (part one)", The Observer, 7 December 2003, retrieved 7 January 2007 and amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4141019.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Cook voted 'comedians' comedian']