Welcome to a new feature at TQS. Benedict Watch is a new column where we keep you up to date with the most important of current events – what’s going on with Benedict Cumberbatch.
The inaugural post is on the subject of Parade’s End, his latest high-quality BBC drama venture. Airing from 24th August on BBC2, Parade’s End is an adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford’s tetralogy (that’s a series of for four related novels – not meaning to patronise but I didn’t know that). The books are set before, during and after the First World War. Having not read the books we’ve researched heavily using the academian’s favourite tools, Wikipedia and Google, and we’re informed that comparisons with Downton Abbey are ill-advised.
Commissioned by HBO (always a good sign in my opinion – Game of Thrones? Sex and the City?), the series was likened by Empire Magazine to Downton meets The Wire and features a heavyweight British cast. Benedict plays Christopher Tietjens, a government statistician serving in the British Army. Possible typecasting, then, for an actor who’s starred in his fair share of period dramas but then he does wear antiquated attire so elegantly. The story centres on a love triangle between Tietjens, his wife and a young suffragette. Cumberbatch, military uniform and a love triangle? Ideal viewing, clearly.
Stick with us for more up-to-the-minute Benedict news.
Parade’s End begins Friday 24th August on BBC2