BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, Series 2 Last year, Benedict Cumberbatch gave Sherlock Holmes a new lease on life in Sherlock, Series 1. The San Francisco Chronicle called him “a Sherlock for the 21st century.” The Boston Globe hailed his “focused, hyperactive lead performance.” And Variety pronounced him “wonderful.” In December he opened in two blockbuster films: Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, in which he stars as Major Stewart; and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, adapted from John LeCarré’s spy thriller, where he portrays the mole hunter Peter Guillam. In other year-end news, he starred in Wreckers, with Claire Foy and Shaun Evans, and he and Jonny Lee Miller shared the best actor prize at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for their alternating roles as Frankenstein/the Creature in the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein. Next up for Cumberbatch is Smaug the dragon in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, in which he also does the voice of Necromancer. On MASTERPIECE, he starred in Small Island, played the protagonist in The Last Enemy, and won best actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival and a Golden Nymph Award for his lead role in To the Ends of the Earth. Other notable parts include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking, William Pitt in the historical filmAmazing Grace, Scarlett Johansson’s husband in The Other Boleyn Girl, the villain in Atonement, and he was the male lead in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at the Almeida Theatre under the direction of Richard Eyre. Martin Freeman Dr. James Watson in Sherlock, Series 2 Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Dr. Watson in Sherlock, Series 1 was hailed as a “new incarnation…close to irresistible…multilayered and far more than a mere foil to Holmes” (Zap2it, Tribune Media Services). Freeman has worked his subtle magic in a string of films, including Nativity! and Confetti with writer/director Debbie Isitt, Breaking and Entering for director Anthony Minghella, and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for Garth Jennings. Currently in the works is The Hobbit for Peter Jackson, in which he stars as protagonist Bilbo Baggins with Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and a hobbit hole full of other great actors. MASTERPIECE viewers saw Freeman in Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop, where he was the deranged puppeteer Mr. Codlin. His other television work includes The Office UK with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, Charles II, and The Robinsons. Freeman was last on stage in late 2010 in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park at the Royal Court Theatre. -more- Press Tour Biographical Notes, Page 2 Lara Pulver Irene Adler in Sherlock, Series 2 The only woman ever to turn Sherlock’s eye is played by Lara Pulver, who says of her character, Irene Adler, “The brilliant thing is Irene and Sherlock just get each other to the core.” Pulver was recently seen in the final series of BBC’s spy drama MI-5 (aka Spooks), in which she played the gutsy section chief Erin Watts. Also on television, she starred as the Fairy Queen in the vampire series True Blood, and she co-starred as the prime minister’s intern in HBO’s The Special Relationship opposite Michael Sheen’s Tony Blair and Dennis Quaid’s Bill Clinton. She also played the troubled Isabella on the hit BBC series Robin Hood. Pulver’s many stage roles include a critically acclaimed turn as Lucille Frank, the young wife of tragic lynching victim Leo Frank, in Parade, a performance that earned her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Gillian Anderson Miss Havisham in Great Expectations Beloved by MASTERPIECE viewers for her Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated, multi-award-winning performance as Lady Dedlock in Bleak House, Gillian Anderson tackles another of Dickens’ complex heroines in Great Expectations: the insane, vindictive, ethereal Miss Havisham. Also on MASTERPIECE, she recently starred as the Duchess of Windsor in Any Human Heart, adapted from William Boyd’s elegiac novel. To the rest of the universe, she is best known for her work on The X-Files in its television and motion picture versions, which won her many acting accolades. Other film credits includeThe Last King of Scotland, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Duncan Ward’s Boogie Woogie, The Mighty, Playing By Heart, Terrence Davies’s The House of Mirth (British Independent Film Award for Best Actress, Best Performance Award from the Village Voice Film Critic’s Poll), and The Mighty Celt (Audience Award IFTA). She also had a cameo in the comedy Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, which earned rave reviews worldwide. Most recently, Anderson appeared in the television adaptation of Moby Dick with Ethan Hawke, William Hurt, Charlie Cox, Eddie Mar- san, and a gigantic white whale, and she was seen in the British action comedy Johnny English Reborn, starring as a secret agent in MI-7 opposite Rowan Atkinson. Douglas Booth Pip (grown up) in Great Expectations Douglas Booth launched into the limelight with his sensational portrayal of Boy George in the 2010 BBC biopic Worried About the Boy (“mesmerizing” –The Telegraph). Also in 2010, he starred in the television miniseries The Pillars of the Earth, produced by Ridley Scott and based on Ken Follett’s gripping historical novel. Earlier, he appeared in Julian Fellowes’ time-travel film, From Time to Time, and in 2011 he starred opposite Matt Smith and Imogen Poots in the Christopher Isherwood biopic, Christopher and His Kind. This year he can be seen as the male lead in the comedy filmLOL , starring opposite Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus, and he plays Sean in Geography of the Hapless Heart in one of five short films about intimacy in major cities around the world (his: London). Later this year he will appear as the most romantic, tragic male lead of them all, Shakespeare’s Romeo, in Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet, adapted by Julian Fellowes, and co-starring Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet. -more- Press Tour Biographical Notes, Page 3 Vanessa Kirby Estella (grown up) in Great Expectations Vanessa Kirby got her big break with a trio of starring roles at the acclaimed Octagon Theatre: Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, in which she played the beautiful, tragic Ann Deever (Rising Star Award at the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards), Regina in Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Lancaster Evening Post raved, “Vanessa Kirby, as Helena, justifies all the awards this young actress has already received—in less than a year in the job. Remember the name.” She garnered her third and fourth Ian Charleson Award nominations for performances as Isabella in the National Theatre’s production of Women Beware and for Rosalind in As You Like It at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. She also played Dana in Anya Reiss’s hotly anticipated second play The Acid Test at the Royal Court, inspiring the Independent’s critic to call her, “a star, if I ever saw one.” On television, she recently appeared in the six-part BBC espionage thriller The Hour, set in Cold War-era England, opposite Ben Wishaw, Dominic West, and Romola Garai. Shaun Evans Detective Constable Endeavour Morse in Endeavour Shaun Evans was just applauded in the US for his performance as the brainy sidekick to a psychotic mobster in the British miniseries The Take, which had its American premiere last fall on Encore. With Endeavour, he gets to play a smart guy on the other side of the street, the young Endeavor Morse on the rocky road to becoming Inspector Morse. MASTERPIECE viewers may remember him as the Earl of Southampton in The Virgin Queen. His screen credits include the just released Wreckers, with MASTERPIECE actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy. He co-starred in Telstar: the Joe Meek Story with Kevin Spacey and Pam Ferris; as well as the critically acclaimed Boy A, in which he played the best friend of Andrew Garfield’s juvenile ex-con. Evans was also in the comedy dramas Being Julia opposite Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, and Michael Gambon; Cashback; and Sparkle with Stockard Channing and Bob Hoskins. His stage work includes Shakespearean roles at Guildhall and a UK tour with the award-winning play Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall. At the West End’s Trafalgar Studios, he portrayed Kurt Cobain opposite Danny Dyer’s Sid Vicious in Kurt and Sid by Roy Smiles. Abigail Thaw Dorothea Frazil, editor of the Oxford Mail, in Endeavour Acclaimed on British television and stage, Abigail Thaw was first seen on MASTERPIECE in the recent MYSTERY! broadcast Poirot: The Clocks. Acting runs in the family, since she is the daughter of the late John Thaw, legendary star of Inspector Morse. In Endeavour, Ms. Thaw plays the editor of the Oxford Mail, who discusses crosswords and astrology with the young Morse, concluding that they must have met in another life—as indeed they have! She recently guest-starred in the long-running British television detective drama Midsomer Murders, and she has been seen in small screen productions ranging from the comedy-drama Love Soup to the literary classic Vanity Fair, in which she played Jane Osborne in an adaptation by Andrew Davies for the BBC. Thaw’s most recent theater credits (and kudos) include Entertaining Angels (“most compelling performance” –Birmingham Post), Whipping It Up (“brilliant” –The Scotsman), Absent Friends (“outstanding” –Daily Telegraph), Juliet and Her Romeo (“steely” –The Observer), and Sold (“excellent” –The Guardian). -more- Press Tour Biographical Notes, Page 4 Rebecca Eaton Executive Producer, MASTERPIECE Recently named one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2011, Rebecca Eaton took over the helm of the PBS series MASTERPIECE THEATRE and MYSTERY! in 1985, and oversaw the highly successfully relaunch of MASTERPIECE in 2008 with three distinct programs strands (Classic, Mystery!, and Contemporary) new hosts, and a new look.