Happy birthday, Mr Bean! Celebrating 30 years of a major comedy character
- Written by Benjamin Kooyman, Learning Adviser, Australian National University

January 1 1990, Mr Bean debuted on ITV to an audience of 13.45 million. The brainchild of Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, the pilot episode marked the birth of a major comedy character.
Bean has become so familiar, so comfortably part of our pop-culture tapestry, that it’s easy to miss...