First look at Benedict Cumberbatch in his epic new decade-spanning TV saga ‘Melrose’

The first official image of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch in his new TV drama Melrose has been released.

Set in the South of France in the 1960s, New York in the 1980s and Britain in the early 2000s, the five-part mini-series is based on the popular series of semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St Aubyn.

Cumberbatch, who plays the titular Patrick Melrose, is joined by Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) as Melrose’s parents, alongside Anna Madeley (The Crown) as his wife.

Each episode will be devoted to one of St Aubyn’s five novels, exploring Melrose’s life, from his abusive youth at the hands of his father and the mother who tacitly condones the behaviour, to the outrageous playboy he becomes and the struggles he endures to defy the damage of his own past.

Written by David Nicholls (One Day), Patrick Melrose “hilariously skewers the upper class as it tracks its protagonist’s harrowing journey from a deeply traumatic childhood through adult substance abuse and, ultimately, towards recovery.”

Melrose will premiere in 2018 on Sky Atlantic in the UK and on Showtime in the US.