Benedict Cumberbatch News

[Arcadia]

Arcadia, ??????

That's me reading Camper's post and imagining the results. I should have known Sitty would save me the trouble.....

 

So, all the fans of the one have to do is spread hostility against the other leading actors, and S4 goes up in smoke and flames.

So, you thought you might as well be the first to start spreading, eh?

[Inge l-w]

Dear Arcadia, that would be the furthest thing from my mind under any circumstances!

I want S4, daydream about it in meetings, I long for it, despite my personal issues with Mr Moffat's handling of some things.

Just pop over to Radio Times and check for yourself!

As the Gauls told Alexander the Great, the only thing they were afraid of is the Heavens falling down on them. That's how I felt reading the stuff, as if the Heavens had already fallen! Barbed wire bats on the one hand and unfortunate utterances on the other, I shall leave you to your own conclusions.

[besleybean]

Ok calm down, everybody.

Nothing is cancelled yet, Steven said so...

[J.P.]

Yesterday, while I was reading a Johnlock fanfic (imagine that! :o ) Sky News was running on the telly and as I rose my eyes from the monitor I saw Ben's pic. As it turned out - he and a bunch of celebrities wrote an open letter to Cameron, criticizing the actions in the refugees crisis. 

The commentators criticized the letter, cannot quote them, but one of the points were that one should rather donate their money on the refugees, than on paying The Guardian(?) for publishing the text. Which, to be honest, is also what I think, knowing the price range of such things. On the other hand, we don't know if and how much they donated. Still, I would like the celebrities start their appeals for donations with donating themselves and talking about it.

 

[End rant mode]

 

Links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11856640/Benedict-Cumberbatch-records-charity-message-for-Syrian-refugees.html

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2015/09/10/benedict-cumberbatch-fronts-short-film-to-help-raise-money-for-refugee-children/

http://www.contactmusic.com/benedict-cumberbatch/news/stars-sign-open-letter-over-refugee-crisis_4913998

[Boton]

Celebrity involvement in issues that have political over- or undertones is tricky.  In general (not saying anything pro- or con- BC's actions), I would prefer to see a celeb make a donation to a cause and leave the contacting of politicians as a private behavior.  That is, he's welcome to write a letter to Cameron as a private citizen, but, IMHO only, he should only publicize his own donation and efforts to help people as an example of how he hopes others behave.  

[J.P.]

Good I'm not alone with this...

[Inge l-w]

If Benedict and the other left-leaning celebrities posted in the Guardian, you can expect Martin and the right-leaning celebrities to post in the Telegraph. It stands to reason, but he also made an appeal at the theatre, and it is one of the duties of his new position as CBE to undertake charitable drives. He donated personally, the Mail commented, (gossipy tabloid), but you know the saying: you garner more by taking a little from a lot of people than a lot from a few people.

[sittything]

Martin is right-leaning?   I've never gotten that impression... from my American perspective, at least.

[Boton]

If Benedict and the other left-leaning celebrities posted in the Guardian, you can expect Martin and the right-leaning celebrities to post in the Telegraph. It stands to reason, but he also made an appeal at the theatre, and it is one of the duties of his new position as CBE to undertake charitable drives. He donated personally, the Mail commented, (gossipy tabloid), but you know the saying: you garner more by taking a little from a lot of people than a lot from a few people.

 

I do agree that it is a good thing for celebs to use their "megaphone" to inspire others to help out.  I guess I would just rather see an open letter to the people of the U.K. in The Guardian urging everyone to help more than I would like to see the same message positioned as an open letter to Cameron.  Just leave the politics aside as a personal matter and focus on helping others.  That way, you stand a good chance of attracting right, left, and center to addressing the problem in a tangible way.

 

And that's way enough of my political soapbox for one day.

[joanneta1]

Dear Sitty, for the Scottish referendum, Martin had made a sort of party broadcast urging them to stay in the union under the auspices of the Tories, so that would count as right-leaning, more or less.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... which would explain why he has voted Socialist Labour? 

 

Actually, the only political plug I recall Freeman making at about that time was an appeal to Scots to support the Labour Party, rather than the Scottish National Party.  If he spoke out about the separatist referendum, I must have missed it.

 

[Inge l-w]

My recollection is not exactly clear, either, but I distinctly remember that he got involved in the whole Scottish referendum thing for one of the rather more right-wing sides. Politics, not really my thing, although as a family we tend to vote for people, not parties.

By the way, have you seen Inseparable? Benedict playing split screen twins in a gut- wrenching story! And it's not even fan fiction major character death, which I avoid like the plague! Absolutely heart-stopping sad and uplifting! He's a genius, he doesn't have to play the "populist" Sherlock to show off!

[sfmpco]

Here's an interesting little article on Ben.  Love his quote about Sherlock:

 

''He's an extraordinary man whose appeal lies in being so very different and difficult and someone whom people find strikingly attractive and compelling. He's the ultimate outsider hero.''

 

http://www.contactmusic.com/benedict-cumberbatch/news/benedict-cumberbatch-i-m-no-sex-symbol_4915656

[Arcadia]

I could swear I read that about a year - or more - ago..........minus the Christopher part, of course.

[sfmpco]

I could swear I read that about a year - or more - ago..........minus the Christopher part, of course.

 

You might have. Most news on him is just a remix.

[Inge l-w]

Or he has created stock answers to stock questions by female journalists. I have always felt that Kitty Riley was one of the most realistic characters in the series.

[sfmpco]

He definitely has stock answers.  And stock words.  Peripatetic is one of his favorites. 

[J.P.]

Sometimes he can be as thick as Sherlock...

 

His fans are perfectly capable to differ between him and his characters. Sherlock is sexy on his own. Ben is sexy on his own (and plenty of us have problems to see them as one person anyway)

 

And OF COURSE he wasn't popular with girls. They were GIRLS - and the wrong ones! Now we are (mostly) grown ups and have different priorities.

 

I think it's time Sophie finally explains it to him.

 

Or I will do it, dammit!

[Inge l-w]

OK, his slip-up about Sherlock being "populist" is forgiven, due to my discovery of Nightjar. It's almost funnier than the Simpson-like snippet he made about a year ago. And it may explain his complete loyalty to iPhones over the years.

[Boswell]

OK, his slip-up about Sherlock being "populist" is forgiven, due to my discovery of Nightjar. It's almost funnier than the Simpson-like snippet he made about a year ago. And it may explain his complete loyalty to iPhones over the years.

I wouldn't have known he said that if it weren't for your post, thanks Inge; and I actually like it that Cumberbatch speaks  his mind instead of going to painful lengths to achieve political correctness. I prefer my celebrities to be outspoken rather than overly guarded. It's the only way to get any sort of glimpse into how they really are as people, and I find it very heartening that actors like Cumberbatch are too passionately devoted to their work to be constantly thinking about their image and choice of words. Of course, Cumberbatch is hardly Bohemian in that sense, but I'd rather hear sincerely meant abuse from his lips than a PR-manufactured, perfectly constructed statement meant only to please.

Coming to 'populist', from interviews I have watched dating to 2010-'11, I gather that Cumberbatch was in two minds when told he was the makers' choice to play Sherlock, because of the immense popularity of, and the sheer number of productions involving, that character - this series had to be something special and different in order to really work and be a worthy addition to a serious actor's resume. It wasn't a hard argument to follow and the rationale was quite logical. I believe that his use of the word 'populist' was in that spirit, and see no reason why it should be otherwise. He's not a maverick but he's hardly snobbish either.

[Inge l-w]

Dear Boswell, Benedict knows he is Sherlock #70, and you're absolutely right about forthrightness being better than stilted homogeneity, but to take my argument into Godfather territory, if you disrespect your character, you disrespect your audience: that is what I took exception to. I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, he just happens to be one of the Sherlocks, and as long as he wears the name tag such remarks are beneath his upbringing. Mycroft and Mummy Holmes would certainly have pulled him up for lack of manners.

P.S. Not to mention that in every single one of ShadowDweller's Sherlock quizzes I ended up being him! Not 'populist', certainly!

[J.P.]

http://www.islandecho.co.uk/news/benedict-cumberbatch-christens-son-at-mottistone

 

Can someone explain the term fitting in this tweet?

[Boton]

http://www.islandecho.co.uk/news/benedict-cumberbatch-christens-son-at-mottistone

 

Can someone explain the term fitting in this tweet?

 

A "fitting" in that context is a tailoring job.  One "fits" a suit to a person to make sure it hangs just right, the pants are the correct length, etc.

 

You can say that someone had a suit "fitted" to him, or you can refer to the session at which measurements were taken and pinning was done for future sewing to be a "fitting."  It's common, for example, for brides to have several "fittings" to get their wedding dress tailored to them.

[J.P.]

Thanks, Boton.

 

BTW, have seen two pics of Ben and Sophie on their way to (or from) the church on Twitter, but they are clearly paps and you see literally nothing.

[Boswell]

http://www.contactmusic.com/benedict-cumberbatch/news/bbc-drama-chief-ben-stephenson-says-licence-fee-needs-to-be-increased-to-save-dramas_4721825

I do hope this doesn't prove to be bad news for British television in general and Sherlock in particular.