A brief history of Hawking
The story of world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is to be told for the first time in a major new BBC drama.
Benedict Cumberbatch will star as the young Stephen Hawking who, as a bright and ambitious PhD student at Cambridge University, is diagnosed with the debilitating motor neurone disease and given two years to live.
Against the odds he goes on to achieve worldwide acclaim and success, in particular with his astounding book A Brief History Of Time.
Benedict Cumberbatch previously starred in Cambridge Spies, Silent Witness and Spooks, all for the BBC.
Michael Brandon, who is currently starring in Jerry Springer- The Opera, will also star as an American Nobel prize-winning scientist whose work provided physical evidence to back up Hawking's Big Bang theory.
