Benedict Cumberbatch and Sherlock Holmes is match made in history

Why does actor Benedict Cumberbatch cut such a dash as British literary detective Sherlock Holmes?

That's elementary, according to genealogy website Ancestry.com. Cumberbatch is distantly related to author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the brilliant but quirky sleuth some 130 years ago, the website said on Sunday.

Cumberbatch, 40, star of the Emmy award-winning BBC TV series, "Sherlock," is a 16th cousin, twice removed of Doyle.

The two are related through 14th century English nobleman John of Gaunt, who, according to records, was Cumberbatch's 17th great-grandfather and Conan Doyle's 15th great-grandfather, Ancestry researchers said.

John of Gaunt, born about 1340, was a son of England's King Edward III, meaning that Cumberbatch and Conan Doyle also have a distant royal connection.

"How rare that an actor in a major series has the chance to play a character created by a relative, especially one as iconic as Sherlock Holmes," said Jennifer Utley, a family historian at Ancestry.

"Sherlock," a modern twist on the life and investigations of the 19th century London detective, first aired in 2010 and returns for its fourth series on Sunday on both U.S. and British television.

The show, in which Cumberbatch plays Holmes as a haughty, socially inept detective to Martin Freeman's calm, practical Dr. John Watson, is the most popular TV drama in Britain, according to ratings data, and has been sold to 180 other countries.

Conan Doyle published the first of about 60 Sherlock Holmes stories in 1887. The eccentric, violin-playing character has since become one of the best-known fictional detectives in the world and the inspiration for hundreds of movies, stage plays, books and TV shows.

Ancestry said its researchers looked at everything from church records, censuses, land deeds, newspaper announcements and tombstones to establish the link between Cumberbatch and Conan Doyle.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Code breaker's manuscript sells for USD1 million

NEW YORK - A 56-page handwritten notebook that belonged to World War 2 Nazi code breaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing, played by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the film "The Imitation Game," sold for more than USD1 million at an auction in New York, Bonhams said on Monday.

Turing, a British mathematical genius, led a team of cryptographers who cracked the wartime Enigma code, which the Germans had considered unbreakable. Their work is credited with hastening the end of the war and saving lives.

Cassandra Hatton, senior specialist in Bonhams' fine books and manuscripts department, said the result of the auction as a testament to Turing's legacy. Bonhams declined to name the buyer.

"It reflects his importance in history. I think he is someone who merits further study, and I hope this contributes to increased interest in him and his work," she said in an interview.

The auction also reaffirms a growing interest in scientific material, the history of computers, space, exploration and early science, she added.

Part of the proceeds from the sale will go to an unspecified charity.

The notebook, which had never been seen in public, is considered the only existing, extensive manuscript by Turing. It dates back to 1942 and was left to his friend Robin Gandy. In it Turing worked on mathematical formulas and the basics of computer science, giving insights into the workings of his brilliant mind.

Gandy added his own notes between the pages of Turing's musings and kept the notebook hidden until his death.

Turing, a homosexual, never received credit for his groundbreaking work during the war. He committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 41 while receiving hormone treatment. It was an alternative to imprisonment after he was charged with gross indecency in 1952 for having sex with a man. Homosexual sex was a crime at that time in Britain.

Sixty years after his death Turing received a rare, royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth for his gay conviction.

Cumberbatch received a best actor Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Turing in the film, which won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. The film is based on the book, "Alan Turing: The Enigma," by Andrew Hodges.

"This notebook shines extra light on how, even when he was enmeshed in great world events, he remained committed to free-thinking work in pure mathematics," Hodges said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BBC's Sherlock returns from the dead

LONDON -- Benedict Cumberbatch made his long-awaited comeback as Sherlock Holmes on Wednesday, but the hit BBC series still left fans scratching their heads over how the super-sleuth managed to cheat death.

The show's creators teased fans by depicting some of the more far-fetched ways Holmes may have survived, in a nod to the speculation that has swept the Internet since he leapt from a rooftop a year ago in an apparent suicide bid.

The BBC series, starring Cumberbatch as a modern-day version of the 19th century British detective, has been broadcast in more than 200 countries since 2010.

When British Prime Minister David Cameron set up a page on China's Twitter-like website Weibo in November, one of the most popular questions he was asked was, "When is the third series of 'Sherlock' due for release?"

There were plenty of surprises for fans in the first episode of the new series, including a cameo appearance by Cumberbatch's own parents.

But some viewers complained that the storyline, centering on a terrorist plot to blow up the British parliament, was difficult to follow.

Fans delighted and disappointed alike flooded the Internet with comments and reactions.

The Times newspaper gave the episode four stars, but complained: "You wait two years to find out how Sherlock dunnit, and three solutions come along at once."

The series has helped both Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who plays his loyal sidekick Doctor Watson, to Hollywood stardom.

Freeman plays the eponymous "Hobbit" in the new movie trilogy.

Cumberbatch starred last year as the villain in the latest "Star Trek" film and as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in "The Fifth Estate". He also features in the latest instalment of "The Hobbit" as the voice of the dragon Smaug.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com