Top Half - Rowan Atkinson

Thanks to BBC sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, Rowan Atkinson was a BAFTA-winning comedy star when he toured New Zealand back in 1983. Atkinson and Kiwi reporter Chas Toogood hatched a plan to turn the clichéd celebrity interview on its head, by Toogood never actually getting to interview his quarry. Atkinson shot each scene just once. The piece was done for regional news show Top Half in an Auckland hotel, near the end of a Kiwi tour. Atkinson's show Blackadder had debuted just two months previously. He would go on to star as Mr Bean and Johnny English. 

I'm sure the character on the couch was our first glimpse of Mr. Bean.

– Top Half reporter Chas Toogood on meeting Rowan Atkinson

Key Cast & Crew

Chas Toogood

Presenter

Rowan Atkinson

As: Various roles, Rowan Atkinson

John Harris

Producer