Benedict Cumberbatch’s résumé is nothing if not diverse.
From Smaug the Terrible to a modern-day interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Coyle’s legendary sleuth who operates out of 221b Baker Street, Cumberbatch has consistently challenged himself with new and exciting roles, with his latest venture leading him to BBC TV drama, The Child in Time.
An adaptation of Ian McEwan’s synonymous novel, The Child in Time places the British thesp in the time-worn shoes of Stephen, a children’s author whose daughter vanishes into thin air during a routine trip to the local supermarket. It laid the foundation for a “dark” and “exposing” performance, and while promoting his latest gig to The Telegraph (via Digital Spy), Cumberbatch admitted that he welcomed the dramatic turn as a much-needed break from both Sherlock and Doctor Strange.
It’s great playing a man who drinks cups of tea, has normal conversations, daydreams, doodles on a pad and isn’t talking at a million miles an hour or firing energy out of his hands.
Tackling something so harrowing soon after the birth of his child is an admittedly strange move for the actor, who acknowledged the “odd” timing later in the interview.
It might look like an odd choice for a new father to be tackling a drama about losing a child. It worked for me because it’s a London shoot, and I’ve got a newborn.
Sherlock has been placed on ice ever since its somewhat divisive fourth season, and series showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have been understandably coy about the show’s future. Should season 5 ever materialize, it’ll likely take two-to-three years before Cumberbatch’s whip-smart detective waltzes back onto the screen. With Doctor Strange, it’s an entirely different ballgame, as last year’s solo pic has paved the way for Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme to appear in Avengers: Infinity War. Look for that one to arrive in May of 2018.
The Child in Time, meanwhile, aired yesterday evening via BBC One.