TWENTY five years ago, Rowan Atkinson introduced “Mr. Bean” and what followed has been sweet history. On Mr. Bean’s 25th anniversary, Atinkson on Monday celebrated at Buckingham Palace, London, like only Mr. Bean can. The 60-year-old actor-comedian rode up to the London landmark in character, atop his famous 1976 British Leyland Mini 1000 and his kooky antics won hearts of many on the streets.

    IT’S been 25 years since the world first met Mr. Bean.

    Since then, the largely silent character’s escapades have aired in more than 245 territories worldwide and made actor Rowan Atkinson a household name.

    To celebrate the milestone, here are some things even Mr. Bean’s most loyal fans might not be aware of:

    It all began with a mirror:

    Atkinson created the character of Mr. Bean when he was studying for his master’s degree at Oxford.

    “I was asked in my first term at Oxford to do a sketch in this one night show ... and I’d never written anything and I’m not naturally a writer, so I just had to invent five minutes of something at 48 hours notice,” said the British star.

    “I just stood in front of the mirror and started to mess about with my face basically and this strange, surreal, non-speaking character evolved.”

    Mr. Wren?

    Mr. Bean wasn’t always going to be called Mr. Bean.

    “We started with (Mr.) Zucchini,” said Atkinson.

    “Or Mr. Potato, or Mr. Cauliflower or Mr. Cabbage. And then we just thought, Bean. It’s short, it’s silly.

    “It was either that or the name of a bird, like Mr. Wren. Birds and vegetables tend to be the funniest names.”

    Mr.Bean is basically a child:

    “Whenever we try to think of Mr. Bean and how he would react in certain situations that we’re thinking of putting him in, I always imagine him as a 9-year-old boy,” said Atkinson.

    “They’re sort of anarchists at heart and I think that’s what Mr. Bean is, he’s an anarchist.

    “He’ll obey the rules as long as they suit him.”

    That also explains why his best friend is a teddy bear.

    A good time, not a long time:

    Can you believe there are actually only 14 episodes of Mr. Bean?

    The TV series, which aired from 1990-1995, later inspired two films: 1997’s “Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie” (which made US$356 million worldwide) and 2007’s “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” (which made US$325 million worldwide).

    True feelings:

    When people spot Atkinson in public, they tend to call him Mr. Bean rather than his actual name, which annoys the actor a little as he’s not actually a huge fan of the character.

    “I do have a love/hate relationship with him in that I love playing him because he’s such an unpleasant, selfish, childish, ridiculous figure, but at the same time I don’t like him as a person.”

    The last episode that never was:

    In a 1993 interview, Atkinson revealed that he had an idea for the last episode of Mr. Bean.

    “He sees this spaceship landing in a field and he stops the car,” said Atkinson.

    “He looks up and suddenly the door (lowers) and this bright light comes out of the spaceship and a Mr. Bean walks out of the spaceship ... and then another Mr. Bean and they all shake hands and then 25 more Mr. Beans all come out of the spaceship and pat him on the back and say ‘very nice to see you.’

    “And then all the Mr. Beans go up into the spaceship and the door goes up and that’s the end of Mr. Bean.”

    Unfortunately, the idea never eventuated on screen.

    Don’t expect Mr. Bean to return:

    He made a brief cameo during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, but don’t expect Mr. Bean to return to TV with fresh episodes.

    “He’s a character I’ve been playing for 20 or 30 years and I’m very happy to say goodbye to Mr. Bean now,” Atkinson said.

    “I don’t think I’m going to play the character again because I just don’t want to see him getting old.”

    (SD-Agencies)