Rowan Atkinson has signed up to star as Fagin in the forthcoming West End stage production of Oliver!.

The BBC and Andrew Lloyd Webber are searching for a new Nancy and three boys to take turns to play Oliver in the show.

But Sir Cameron Mackintosh announced today that Mr Bean star Atkinson would play Charles Dickens's fictional criminal.

Blackadder star Atkinson, 53, said playing Fagin was a long-held wish.

He said: "In the 1980s I enjoyed doing a lot of West End theatre and since then have been distracted very much by Mr Bean and film-making.

"I had been thinking for some time about returning to the stage and the idea of the role of Fagin, which has long intrigued me - some time ago I even played the role in a school production - seemed like too good an opportunity to miss."

Sir Cameron said: "I'm thrilled that Rowan Atkinson has finally reviewed the situation and succumbed to his long-held ambition to play Fagin.

"We have been discussing the possibility on and off for many years and to me this idea has always promised the perfect marriage of a brilliant mercurial role with a brilliant mercurial comic actor."

Sir Cameron's production of the Lionel Bart musical opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in December.

The 1994 London Palladium production of Oliver! played 1,366 performances over three years and grossed more than £40 million at the box office, breaking the then record for the longest run at that theatre.

The new show will feature a 100-strong cast and orchestra and songs including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You've Got to Pick-a-Pocket Or Two, I'd Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah, and As Long As He Needs Me.

In 1981, Atkinson, whose film credits include Johnny English, Four Weddings And A Funeral, and Love Actually, became the youngest performer to have a one-man show in the west End.