Rowan Atkinson has a cunning plan and it involves the return of favourite comedy characters such as Mr Bean and Blackadder.

The 71-year-old comedy legend will revive some of his most-loved sketches and characters as part of the special run of 30 Rowan Live shows when he returns to London’s iconic West End theatre district for the first time in four decades.

“It is 40 years since I last did a comedy sketch show in the West End, and 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,” Atkinson said on Tuesday (British time).

An announcement video for the West End run show Atkinson retrieving costumers for a priest, Mr Bean, Blackadder, and other characters, from a large basket in a dusty attic.

Next year’s show will also feature new material created with Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall.

“I first saw Atkinson perform on stage in 1976, 50 years ago – and it was instantly clear to all of us that we were watching a unique, once-in-a-lifetime talent,” Curtis, who worked with Atkinson on Blackadder among other shows, said.

“Fifty 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.

“It’s such a joy and honour for me to be part of a show that will include the very best of Rowan on stage – all his voices, shapes, faces and characters. I hope it will make people very happy.”

Atkinson made his TV debut in 1979 on sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News alongside Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It also introduced memorable characters such as a congregation-berating vicar and the surprisingly eloquent gorilla Gerald (who, if the promo video is to believed, may also get an outing in the West End).

But although some creations, including Edmund Blackadder, are returning for a limited run, Atkinson has previously made it clear the fallen prince will never be revived for a full project.

“[It would be] tricky. And what’s the point? You’d just be desperately trying to reproduce the success of what you’d done decades ago,” he told Britain’s Times newspaper in December 2025.

“You’re on a hiding to nothing. The only motivation would be money. But I don’t think that would bring me into the fold.”

Blackadder had after four seasons between 1983 and 1989 and is regularly cited as one of the best British sitcoms of all time. As well as Atkinson, it had a stellar cast, including Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson and Miriam Margolyes.

After Blackadder, Atkinson went on to star in hit sitcom Mr Bean for five years between 1990 and 1995 – for which he is best known by younger viewers. It was followed by the spin-off Mr Bean: The Animated Series and big screen movies Bean in 1997 and Mr Bean’s Holiday in 2007.

Despite Blackadder being apparently dead and buried, Atkinson hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Mr Bean – another favourite with fans – making a future comeback.

“I’m not saying never, but it’s certainly not in the realms of my thinking at the moment … 95 per cent of people who say hello to me on the street refer to me as Mr Bean, and that’s fine,” he said.

The upcoming stage show will be the first time fans have seen Atkinson as Blackadder since a live theatre sketch in 2012. He last played Mr Bean with a cameo in a 2017 Chinese film Top Funny Comedian: The Movie.

Rowan Live runs from February 8-March 13 at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre

-with AAP