Rowan Atkinson, the man best known for his creation Mr Bean, turns 61 on Wednesday, 6 January, despite attempts at killing him with death hoaxes time and again. Although to newer generations Atkinson is best know as the cartoonish Mr Bean, he used to be a starring member of "Blackadder", a BBC 1 sitcom still considered one of the best TV shows of all time.

Although "Blackadder" officially ran from 1983 to 1989 and had three special episodes, the last of which was aired in 1999, fans have been hoping for a return of the series with all of its original cast members. Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie have all gone on to become huge stars; especially Laurie, who is now best known as the titular House from the Fox series.

With more and more fans demanding the return of "Blackadder", Robinson had addressed the issue, claiming everyone was ready to do a Season 5, except they might not have the funds to cast "House" star Laurie in it. He was rumoured to have been earned up to $409,000 for each episode of "House", and teasing his old friend for it, Robinson said: "The only problem is Hugh's fee. He's a huge star now — or so he'd like to think."

The Independent had even quoted him as claiming Season 5 is "on the cards" and that he had spoken to all of his former cast-mates about it. However, since August 2015, there has been no update regarding the matter, and so at this point, we can only hope for a fresh season.

After all, both Rowan Atkinson and Tim McInnerny during interviews in their 2008 documentary "Blackadder Rides Again" had claimed the series was better off as a memory. "Times past; that's what they were!" Atkinson had said.

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