Proving that Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the busiest bees in all of Hollywood, Sky and Showtime have today premiered the first trailer for Patrick Melrose, a five-part limited TV series based on the semi-biographical novels of Edward St. Aubyn.
As the title suggests, Cumberbatch plays Melrose, a self-proclaimed “narcissistic, schizoid and suicidal alcoholic” who journeys through a harrowing childhood and addiction before the inevitable road to recovery. Indeed, Patrick Melrose promises to be a sweeping drama, given each episode is devoted to one of Aubyn’s five novels. Toss in the addition of Jennifer Jason Leigh and Hugo Weaving as Melrose’s troubled parents and you have the basis for must-see television.
From France to New York to modern-day Britain, the Edward Berger-directed series has been earmarked for a 2018 premiere on Showtime (Sky for those across the pond), while the official synopsis reads as so:
The limited series will be a true television saga, both gripping and humorous from Nicholls’ adaptation, with a dramatic sweep that encompasses the South of France in the 1960s, New York in the 1980s and Britain in the early 2000s.
Joining Cumberbatch, Weaving and Jason Leigh on the cast list are Anna Madeley, Blythe Danner, Allison Williams, Pip Torrens, Jessica Raine, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Holliday Grainger. Meanwhile, David Nicholls (One Day) adapted Edward St. Aubyn’s novels for the small screen, so when it comes to Showtime’s hot new property, there’s real caliber both behind the lens, and in front.
Billed as a subversive, savage and funny addition to Cumberbatch’s oeuvre, Patrick Melrose is expected to air later this year, by which point Marvel fans will have already caught a glimpse of his Doctor Strange standing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Infinity War.