Rowan Atkinson has been responsible for some of the most successful UK comedy
exports in recent years. The film of Bean was a worldwide hit.
Tiger Aspect, the production company that Atkinson is a director of, has now
been sold on to America's IMG Media for around £25m, and the speculation that Mr
Bean aka Edmund Blackadder aka Mr Atkinson is probably around £4m better off
himself.
Tiger Aspect was originally formed by agent Peter Bennett-Jones as a vehicle
to produce the Mr Bean TV shows in 1988, but since then it has made some of the
most successful TV shows of the last decade.
These shows include The Lenny Henry Show, The Catherine Tate Show and
The Vicar of Dibley. They also helped popularise Bill Hicks in this
country when they recorded his Montreal show for Channel 4.
The sale to IMG Media means Tiger Aspect will be part of the largest
independant production company in Britain with an estimated turnover of
£183m.
