Benedict Cumberbatch is balding in new Channel 4 Brexit drama
The Sherlock star plays a Vote Leave mastermind
Ever wondered how Benedict Cumberbatch might look as a balding anti-EU strategist? Us neither. But thanks to recently-released imagery of the Sherlock star in a new Channel 4 Brexit drama, we don’t have to.
Cumberbatch has adopted his bald bold new look to play Dominic Cummings, the real-life campaign director of Vote Leave in a one-off two-hour drama currently titled Brexit (subject to change).
The show will also star Black Mirror’s Rory Kinnear as Craig Oliver, former Prime Minister David Cameron’s Director of Communications, Cummings’ opposite number in the Remain camp.
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Based on first-hand accounts from the key players involved, the drama will explore how the opposing data-driven campaigns were run, and the decisions that led to one of the biggest political surprises in British history.
The Crown’s John Heffernan will play political lobbyist Matthew Elliott, Call the Midwife’s Liz White will Mary Wakefield – a journalist and Dominic Cummings’ wife – and Kyle Soller (Poldark) will take the role of Zack Massingham, founder of a data technology company that helped target voters through social media.
We’ll also see a few politicians portrayed, with Richard Goulding (The Windsors) playing Boris Johnson, Oliver Maltman (The Crown) as Michael Gove and Paul Ryan (The Five) as Nigel Farage.
The show is penned by James Graham – the man who wrote X+Y and election play The Vote – and will be directed by Black Mirror's Toby Haynes.
