But Rowan Atkinson has another part to play: that of the doting boyfriend.

The 60-year-old actor stepped out with his girlfriend Louise Ford, 32, in London, the twosome looking loved-up and relaxed in each other's company.

The Blackadder star has been dating the comedy actress, who is half his age, for about a year.

Rowan and Louise went public with their romance about a year ago, after his 23-year marriage to Sunetra Sastry came to an end.

The couple met when they appeared together in 2012 in the West End comic play Quatermaine's Terms.

And, somewhat ironically, he was photographed with his wife in one of their last pictures together going for dinner after a performance of the same play.

But since they made their relationship known, he has been spotted with Miss Ford openly in public and outside her two-bedroom flat in a leafy, affluent suburb in south London.

Rowan has two grown-up children with his ex-wife, whom he married in 1990.