Benedict Cumberbatch is returning to the BBC to produce and star in a 90-minute television adaptation of Ian McEwan's bestselling novel, The Child in Time. The 40-year-old will play a children's author named Stephen Lewis who has to deal with the sudden death of his daughter, Kate. Speaking about the role, Benedict said: "I read the novel years ago and it stayed with me — profound, beautiful, and very moving. Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty."
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Benedict will produce and star in The Child in Time
This isn't the first time that Benedict has appeared in an Ian McEwan adaptation; he also appeared as the antagonist Paul Marshall in the 2007 war drama Atonement. Speaking about the Doctor Strange star's role in the upcoming adaptation, Ian said: "I'm thrilled to have my novel in the hands of such a high level creative team. I have fond memories of Benedict playing a brilliant and key part in the movie adaptation of Atonement. Now, it's a great honour to have this actor of such immense resource, experience and subtlety in the lead role of The Child in Time."
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Benedict's character Sherlock recently topped a poll of the most popuar BBC characters
Meanwhile, Benedict's most famous role as Sherlock Holmes in BBC's Sherlock, recently topped a worldwide poll of the most popular BBC television characters. Benedict said that he was "honoured" by the vote, adding: "Who would have thought a high-functioning sociopath could be so popular… All over the world?" The character was swiftly followed by the Doctor from Doctor Who, and Idris Elba's John Luther from the detective show, Luther. Sherlock's fall from a rooftop in the season two finale of Sherlock also came out on top in a poll on the most iconic moment in a BBC show.