Free Benedict Cumberbatch by Justin Lewis Page B

Pressure
is already sorely missed, but at least it came to an end before the comedy grew stale.
    He had shown his comedy credentials in
Cabin Pressure
, but Cumberbatch had become a star because of
Sherlock
. The combination of comedy and stardom meant it was only a matter of time before he got the call to do a panel show. In October 2010, he became the latest guest host for
Have I Got News for You
on BBC1. Although Angus Deayton had done a sterling job as chairman and scriptwriter on the show since its inception in 1990, from 2002, a different guest host chaired each show, from Bruce Forsyth and Charlotte Church, to Alexander Armstrong, Jo Brand and Kirsty Young, and countless others.
    An apprehensive Cumberbatch had been a fan of
Have I Got News for You
since his teens. ‘My family and I used to make it a routine TV date to relish,’ he said, just before the recording. ‘Like a moth to the flame, I am terrified butcannot resist.’ He was the first host of the 40th series, with regulars Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, and guests Victoria Coren and Jon Richardson. ‘From people I know who have done it before, it is really good fun, however heavy the laundry day may have to be the next morning.’
    Suddenly, then, Cumberbatch was being asked to be himself (rather than play someone else) on television. It was a pleasant surprise. ‘With fame, you do get the most extraordinary perks and experiences, whether it’s chairing programmes or having a voice in the political field, because you happened to have a large audience who listened to you for three nights a year ago. It’s both beneficial and odd, the usual yin-yang thing. But by and large, good.’
    * * *
    By 2006, Cumberbatch’s voice work was spreading beyond radio to audiobooks and advertising voiceovers. He had the sort of voice you might recognise, even if you couldn’t yet quite put a name to it. In time, his voice would help to sell pet food, ice cream, insurance and cars. The live touring version of David Attenborough’s BBC series
The Blue Planet
would employ him as narrator, in which his commentary over action of dolphins, whales, tropical fish, penguins and polar bears would in turn be accompanied by a remarkable music score from the composer George Fenton. On television documentaries, he would read from William Golding’s diaries for an
Arena
special, commentate on footage of the southern Pacific Ocean, and narrate more of Stephen Hawking’s findings into the universe.
    One of his most affecting contributions in voiceover work came in 2005 with a Channel 4 film about Rick Rescorla, the Cornish-born security boss at Morgan Stanley merchant bank in New York. In 2001, Rescorla had died in the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, while helping to save over 2,000 lives. But he had been predicting for over a decade that the Towers could be vulnerable to a terrorist attack and had taken every effort to tighten security at the World Trade Center, as well as advising on improving evacuation routes.
    In 2012, Cumberbatch was involved in two epic events as a reader. At the end of July, he read a short piece of prose in praise of London as ‘the beating heart of the nation’, as part of Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games. Two months later, he participated in a reading project about a gargantuan mammal. Launched as part of the Plymouth International Book Festival,
The Moby Dick Big Read
was an online reading marathon in which each of the 135 chapters of Herman Melville’s
Moby Dick
was read by a different person. As well as Cumberbatch, those taking part included Stephen Fry, Sir David Attenborough, Will Self, Neil Tennant, Rick Stein, Cerys Matthews and Simon Callow. The opening section was voiced by the actor Tilda Swinton.
    Cumberbatch’s voice was also called upon for a new iPhone video game in 2011.
The Night Jar
had the ingenious twist of having no visual content. It placed the player on a spaceship in complete darkness, with the object of