Frankenstein and Benedict Cumberbatch

Way back in 2011, there was a theatre event in London that I wish I could have seen.

The National Theatre presented a play called Frankenstein. On alternate nights, Benedict Cumberbatch (the star of Sherlock on British TV) and Jonny Lee Miller (the star of Eleementary on American TV) played Victor Frankenstein and the Creature alternately. (The review does refer to him as a Monster, but in actuality he was a creature, turned into a monster by the neglect of his creator/parent.)

Frankenstein review at the Guardian

 Apparently both performances were filmed, but they are only available in the UK!  Perhaps with Cumberbatch's sky-rocketing stardom, it will now be made available to American audiences.

What intrigues me about this play is the fact that the two actors alternated the roles on alternate nights. I would have loved to see the different emotions and physicalities that the two men brought to the part.

It's easy to imagine Johnny Lee Miller being afraid of Cumberbatch's Frankenstein - Cumberbatch is several inches taller. Less so to think of Cumberbatch being afraid of Miller except for the awful look of the creature and also the sheer strength the creature possesses.

Jonny Lee Miller as the Craeture

The above is a series of gifs put up by

teflonly.tumblr.com

There are several more there so check them out.

Shakespeare and Benedict Cumberbatch: Dated Death

Dated Death is my term for "the annotated" Benedict Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch has appeared in two issues of Shakespeare magazine, an online webzine:
http://www.shakespearemagazine.com/

But, the main purpose of the Shakespeare and Benedict Cumberbatch entries is to list every usuage of Shakeaeare - quotes, plots, etc., in Cumberbatcch's ouvre.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Cabin Pressure: "Limerick" episode

Martin (Benedict Cumberbatc) and Douglas (Roger Allam) are flying from Hong Kong to Limerick with a certain small but very precious cargo. It's a long way from Hong Kong to Limerick (slightly longer than to Tipperary) and Douglas gets on the intercom and announces to the (empty) cabin that he's bored, and that they'll be flying "until the last syllable of recorded time."

That is a line from Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy in the play, Macbeth. He has just learned of his wife's death.

— To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

Benedict Cumberbatch's most impish smiles

There were quite a few impish smiles from Benedict Cumberbatch on display in his Sherlock Holmes: The Abomominable Bride.

This smile from the first scene where he and Watson meet is not particular impish, but if you watch the scene you can see that, as Holmes, he's actually quite nervous - this quick smile when he first starts talking to Watson, then the way he darts quick glances at him rather than looking him full in the face. He's nervous about wanting to impress Watson and getting a roommate so he can afford his suite of rooms.

Above is that impish smile, when the wife of Sir Eustace comes to visit them with a case. Watson has to continually remind Watson that their task is to prevent Sir Eustace from being murdered, not actually being murdered.

Serendipity: Benedict Cumberbatch and Patek Philippe watches

I am a freelance writer by profession. Last week I received a commission to write four articles on "super cars" and "luxury watches."

Yesterday listened to the Cabin Pressure episode, Limerick, for the very first time, and heard Benedict Cumberbatch as Captain Martin Crieff describe his new watch he had purchased in Hong Kong as a Patek Phillipe watch.

I had never heard of a Patek Phillipe watch before - the only luxury watch I'd ever heard of was a Rolex (which Benedict Cumberbatch pronounced Rule-ex rather than Roh-lex.).

So this morning, I started my research on luxury watches for the article, and found an article on a Patek Phillipe watch. (Last week a 1940s-circle Patek Phillipe watch, one of only four in existence,  sold at auction for $17 million!)

You can listen to Cabin Pressure: Limerick and every other episode in the Cabin Pressure series starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole and John Fennimore by supporting this site:

The TeleChronomicon Files: Where it is Always 1895 - Chapter 2

The TeleChronomicon Files: Where it is Always 1895

Chapter 2

In the TeleChronomicon 

Technicians Gallahadion and Azra sat at the control console, checking the various screens and gauges.

The door to the control room slid open and Leonatus entered. He ambulated to his control chair and seated himself.

REPORT.

Gallahadion pressed a final button, then undulated to face Leonatus.

THE EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN A SUCCESS, LEONATUS. THE STORY THAT CREATED THIS ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, UNIVERSE 6A4321888333-AA, ENTITLED THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE WHEN IT WAS BROADCAST FROM EARTH, HAS ENDED, WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DOCTOR WATSON SEATED IN THEIR BAKER STREET FLAT CONTEMPLATING AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE IN WHICH THE TWO OF THEM EXIST IN MODERN DAY EARTH.

Gallahadion fluttered his wings excitedly. 

THE TIMELINE OF THE UNIVERSE CONTINUES FORWARD, he REPORTED, more calmly than he felt. THREE WEEKS HAVE PASSED. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DOCTOR WATSON CONTINUE TO LIVE THEIR LIVES. 

DELICIOUS, exulted Leonaus. DELICIOUS. 

Azra had continued to check his own screens and turned to face Leonatus.

TODAY, OUR SUBJECT HAS BEGUN FILMING A NEW EPISODE OF THE TELEVISION SERIES SHERLOCK. I HAVE THE COORDINATES.

VERY GOOD, AZRA. BRING THE SUBJECT UP ON THE VIEW SCREEN.

Azra turned back to the console and pressed a few buttons.

A smaller screen within the larger screen glowed into three-dimensional life. On the screen, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch was standing on the modern day set of Sherlock, dressed in contemporary clothing, waiting patiently while a hairdresser ensured that his hair was styled properly.

BRING UP THE SHERLOCK OF UNIVERSE 6A4321888333-AA, Leonatus ordered.

Gallahadion pressed a few buttons, and a second screen glowed into three-dimensional life.

In this universe, in this time-stream, it was night. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, looking exactly like the actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman of Ur-Earth, were dressed in evening clothes, and seated in the balcony seats of the Queen’s Hall. On the stage, a violinist was performing.

Gallahadion and Azta looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes.

This was it. This is what they had been working for two Earth years to achieve.

They were going to attempt to withdraw a subject from his own timeline, from Ur-Earth, and transport him into the body of a subject in an entirely different universe – one that was occupying an entirely different timeline over 100 years in the fictional past.

Theoretically it could be done. But in Actuality….they were about to find out.

CHARGE THE TELECHRONOMICON, ordered Leonatus.

Gallahadion reached out and pressed a button. TELECHRONOMICON  CHARGING, he acknowledged.

ACQUIRE THE SUBJECT, ordered Leonatus.

Azra pressed another button and a square of transparent white light appeared over the body of the actor, Benedict Cumberbatch.

SUBJECT HAS BEEN ACQUIRED, Azra reported.  

VERY WELL, said Leonatus. ON MY COMMAND

Gallahadion and Azra rested their fingers on the appropriate buttons on the control console of the TeleChronomicon and waited.

January 15, 2016, Baker Street Set, Bottle Yard Studios, Bristol, UK, Ur-Earth

Benedict Cumberbatch stood patiently, waiting for wardrobe to finish their last minute ministrations.

When the last of the minions had signified satisfaction with their work, they withdrew behind the cameras. 

Benedict seated himself in his chair and picked up the violin. The scene would open with him playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Something to add a touch of humor to what would then go on to be a pretty serious piece of work…. 

He placed the violin beneath his chin…

NOW.

Suddenly, a swirl of black-and-white kaleidoscopic stripes enveloped him. He had the sensation of falling…falling…falling

March 15, 2016, Queen’s Hall, London, England, Earth, Universe 6A4321888333-AA

Sherlock Holmes sat with his eyes closed, enjoying the music sweeping over him. Tivadar Nachez, Hungarian violinist extraordinaire, was in rare form tonight. The music was glorious…it was transporting him far beyond this world, into a world of his imagination…

But suddenly… a swirl of black-and-white kaleidoscopic stripes enveloped him. He had the sensation of falling…falling…falling

Benedict Cumberbatch opened his eyes with a gasp.

Then he gasped again. Instead of being on set, surrounded by bright lights and cameras, he was seated in a… in a…. where was he?

It was a concert hall…and down below on the stage someone was playing the violin in front of a wacking great orchestra. He looked to the left. Martin Freeman was sitting beside him, dressed in a tuxedo…wearing a moustache. 

Benedict looked down at himself. He was wearing a tuxedo also.

They seemed to be in a private box. No one else was in there with them.

Benedict looked upward. There was a ceiling up there, with chandeliers. 

He looked around wildly. No camera, no lights, no film crew.

Martin had noticed his agitation and leaned toward him.

“Holmes,” he whispered. “What’s the matter?”

Benedict stared at him. Holmes?

Martin placed a hand on his arm. “Holmes, what on earth is the matter?”

“Nothing….Watson,” Benedict said, forcing himself to smile reassuringly. 

He turned back to face front, looking down at the violinist. Away from Martin’s gaze – Watson’s gaze? – he allowed his eyes to widen. 

Was he having some sort of psychotic break? If he was having a psychotic break would he know he was having a psychotic break?

Because he knew who he was. And he knew where he was supposed to be. And this surely, surely couldn’t be Victorian, England.

And he couldn’t be sitting beside someone who looked exactly like actor Martin Freeman but who was actually Doctor John Watson.

Or….could he?

TO BE CONTINUED

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Hollow Crown on Great Performances in December!

From http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Benedict-Cumberbatch-More-Star-in-THE-HOLLOW-CROWN-on-PBSs-Great-Performances-20161116

THE HOLLOW CROWN: THE WAR OF THE ROSES is a lavish three-part follow-up to the BAFTA winning The Hollow Crown, which aired in 2013 on THIRTEEN's Great Performances.
The first series of The Hollow Crown covered the so-called Henriad comprising Richard II, Henry IV, Parts I and II and Henry V. Now, The Wars of the Roses - which comes to GREAT PERFORMANCES on three consecutive Sundays beginning December 11 at 9 p.m. - picks up the story with epic film versions of Henry VI (in two parts) and Richard III.

 Benedict Cumberbatch plays Richard of Gloucester (pronounced Gloster) who appears in small roles in Henry VI part 1 and 2, and of course is on stage for practically every bit of Richard III.

Here's a review - it is going to be a treat when it hits American screens:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2016/may/21/benedict-cumberbatch-the-hollow-crown-richard-iii

Richard III is my favorite Shakespeare play, and to see Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III - heaven!

And it is actually very fitting because apparently, according to DNA testing of the bones, Cumberbatch is a distant relation of the last Yorkist king!

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-32052800

Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III. That white necklace is of a white boar - his badge

You may have read that the bones of Richard III were actually found underneath a carpark in Leicester (pronounced Lester) a few years ago. Benedict Cumberbatch actually attended the ceremony when they re-interred his bones, and read a poem written especially for the occasion.

Recording the finale of Cabin Pressure with Benedict Cumberbatch

I just found this story someone was kind enough to share about attending what I assume was the fourth season of the radio comedy series Cabin Pressure

http://rebloggy.com/post/cabin-pressure-recording-gag-reel/37106222597

(It was posted 3 years and 11 months ago, which would make it 2013).

According to this author, all of the episodes were recorded one after the other on the same day. Benedict Cumberbatch left after his final scenes as he had to get on a plane for somewhere.

It is really a fun read - the cast clearly had a good rapport.

I didn't realize there were quite so many flubs, but of course they'd all be edited out before going over the air (probably several months later). [This is a far cry from the Paul Temple mystery radio series of the 1950s and 60s that I love. They recorded one episode a week, and it went out live!]

From the anecdotes recounted I wasn't sure what episodes were being talked about, but I do assume it was the fourth, and what they probably thought was the last series of the program.

Here's that URL again.

http://rebloggy.com/post/cabin-pressure-recording-gag-reel/37106222597

You can buy the complete series here:

The TeleChronomicon Files: Where it is Always 1895

 This is Benedict Cumberbatch fan fiction, featuring him in his role as Sherlock Holmes. I don't know Mr. Cumberbatch, the descriptions of his actions in the following serial come out of my own imagination.

The TeleChronomicon  Files: Where it is Always 1895

The Benefits of Humans (From The Encyclopedia Hunanica, by Cavan the Sivaboth)

Where does “imagination” come from?

When a writer sits down at a desk and the words flow from the mind to the fingers to the instrument of transcription…from whence come the ideas, the people, the events that make up that story – whether a print story, television script or motion picture script?

For a long time, the Sivaboth had thought that creative humans – a relatively small subset of the human beings who live on the planet they themselves called Earth -  were simply tapping in to one of the infinite number of alternate universes that exist side-by-side (like leaves in a book, to use a human analogy) and writing of events that happened in that universe.

Then Leonatus the Sivaboth discovered that this was not so. It was the acts of the humans themselves that created these alternate universes. Each time one of these stories was completed a universe for it to inhabit sprang into being, fully formed. 

Leonatus continued his investigation into this human phenomena, and sought to gain access to these alternate universes. He found that those universes created by print – story, novel, or script - were inaccessible to be viewed. But those universes that were disseminated through an electronic medium – radio, and television, and motion pictures when broadcast via the television – could be viewed.

After decades of work, Leonatus perfected his invention -  the TeleChronomicon , which enables its controller to view any of these alternate universes desired. 

After yet more work, Leonatus turned the TeleChronomicon  into the source of a vast entertainment complex. Sentient beings on every planet in the galaxy subscribe to TeleChronomicon  broadcasts. The appreciation of humans as the source for this “imagination” – which no other beings in the galaxy possess – has ensured that the Earth and its inhabitants are extremely valuable to the galaxy, and the planet and indeed its entire solar system has been made into a preserve. No beings are allowed to approach it, except for TeleChronomicon  technicians.

 This preserves Universe-A, our Ur-Universe, for the forseeable future. While in alternate universes Earthlings have invented faster-than-light travel and humans have spread throughout the galaxy, in the Ur-Universe this will never occur. 

Leonatus continues to research the practical applications of the TeleChronomicon .

Chapter 1

In the TeleChronomicon 

In the control room of the TeleChronomicon , technicians Gallahadion and Azra sat at the control console, facing a viewing screen that ran the entire length of the wall. Behind them, in the control chair, sat Leonatus.

CHARGE THE TELECHRONOMICON , ordered Leonatus.

Gallahadion reached out and pressed a button. TELECHRONOMICON  CHARGING, he acknowledged.

The dull grey of the viewing screen began to glow. There was a faint humming.  

AZRA, LOCATE THE SUBJECT.

Azra pressed various buttons. A smaller screen appeared in the larger screen. Numbers ran across the left side of this screen and across the bottom.

IT IS JANUARY 5, 2015, EARTH TIME, reported Azra. 

On the screen, a group of humans milled about on a television set. Cameras and lights were focused upon the furnishings of the flat called 221B Baker Street. 

Azra pressed another button and a square of transparent white light appeared over the body of an actor standing to one side of the room, eyes closed, a violin resting under his chine.

SUBJECT HAS BEEN ACQUIRED, Azra reported.  

VERY WELL, said Leonatus. ON MY COMMAND

Gallahadion and Azra rested their fingers on the appropriate buttons on the control console of the TeleChronomicon  and waited.

221B Baker Street Set, Bottlewood Studios, Bristol, UK, Earth

Benedict Cumberbatch stood patiently on his mark, eyes closed, feeling the polished wood of the violin beneath his chin. Behind him, he heard the murmured voices as director Douglas Mackinnon blocked Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington on their marks while ensuring that the cameraman had everything set up properly.

He, as Sherlock Holmes, would be in focus in the foreground at all times, while Martin and Amanda were blurred behind him. 

Benedict was running through his lines and visualizing himself playing the violin. He knew that when he opened his eyes he would be able to see Eos – his violin instructor – behind the lights, and would match his fingering and bow movement to hers.

“Action,” called the director.

NOW.

Many years ago, Benedict had seen an episode of The Avengers called “Escape in Time.” Each time one of the characters was sent back in time there was a weird musical sound and the sensation of the actor falling backward down a rushing tube. Poorly done and unconvincing, he had thought at the time. But now, for a second, with his eyes closed, he could see himself falling…falling…just like that.

He opened his eyes and began to play….and then stopped.

He didn’t stop because he could not see Eos. He couldn’t see anyone. Where there should have bright lights and more importantly an extremely large camera with crew gathered behind it, there was nothing but sumptuously decorated wall.

Behind him, he heard familiar words.

“It was an affair of international intrigue,” Martin was assuring Amanda.

“It was a murdered country squire,” Amanda snapped back with perfect timing.

Shouldn’t he be playing? Benedict thought, even as the voices behind him continued.

“Nevertheless, matters were pressing.”

“I don’t mind you going, my darling.” That was Amanda, being reasonable. “I mind you leaving me behind.” 

“But what could you do?” demanded Martin, laughing dismissively.

Amanda replied, her voice rising in frustrated fashion at the obviousness of her reply. “What do you do except wander round, taking notes, looking surprised?”

That was his cue.

“Enough!” snapped Benedict, lowering the violin even though he hadn’t been playing it.

He turned to glare at them and stopped. 

The set was all right. There was supposed to be a sumptuously furnished wall behind them. But there was a ceiling, too. There were four walls. There were gas lights flickering in their jets and an aroma that was a combination of tobacco, after shave, and human sweat.

“The stage is set,” Benedict said, distantly, desperately trying to remember his lines and take in what he was seeing at the same time. 

What the hell? Had he gone into this Mind Palace that was going to be the climax of this particular episode? Had he gone insane?

Martin and Amanda…surely not Doctor Watson and his wife Mary…. were looking at him.

Benedict continued in a distant voice as his mind worked desperately. “The curtain rises. We are ready to begin.” He could hear himself speaking – even in rehearsal he’d never delivered the lines better.

“Begin what?” said…Mrs. Watson?...curiously.

Benedict took a deep breath. “Sometimes to solve a case one must first solve another,” he said slowly, musingly, his eyes looking inward. He’d perfected all this during rehearsal, thank God.

“You have a case then?” Dr. Watson sounded delighted and surprised.  “A new one?”

“An old one. Very old. I shall have to go deep….”

“Deep?” said Watson. Or was it Martin? “Into what?”

“Myself,” said Benedict.

He took a deep breath

.

NOW.

“Cut.”

Again Benedict felt himself falling down a horizontal tunnel, (how was it possible to fall down a horizontal tunnel, he thought) through a swirl of kaleidoscopic black and white.

Then he exhaled audibly.

The lights were back. The cameras were back. The people were back. The ceiling was gone. The impossible walls of the flat were gone. He was back on set.

“Ben? Ben?”

Benedict turned to look at the director.

“You okay?” the director asked. 

Benedict smiled quickly. “Of course. I’d just been daydreaming for a second. Very vivid. Sorry. Won’t happen again.”

That’s what it must have been, Benedict thought. Just a daydream..

The director smiled. “Okay, let’s take it from the top, please.”

In the TeleChronomicon 

WELL, GALLAHADION?

Gallahadion was leaning over the console, checking the various instruments.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE CREATED, he reported. TELECHRONOMICON OFF. TIMELINE STILL RUNNING. WE HAVE SUCCESS.

EXCELLENT!

Azra flapped his wings a couple of times, excitedly.

WHAT NOW, LEONATUS? he asked. SHALL WE SEND HIM BACK THERE AGAIN?

NO. WE WAIT UNTIL THIS STORY, THIS ABOMINABLE BRIDE STORY, COMPLETES ITSELF. WE WAIT TO SEE IF THE TIMELINE CONTINUES AT THAT POINT, OR IF THE UNIVERSE GOES INTO A LOOP. IF THE TIMELINE CONTINUES, THEN WE CONTINUE OUR EXPERIMENT.

VERY GOOD, LEONATUS.