The story of Professor Stephen Hawking's early years. It is 1963, and our young cosmologist celebrates his 21st birthday. At the party is a new friend, Jane Wilde - there is a strong attraction between the two. Jane is intrigued by Stephen's talk of stars and the Universe. But she realises that there is something very wrong when Stephen suddenly finds that he is unable to stand up.
Acting
Cumberbatch's physical transformation is genuinely unsettling
Direction
Philip Martin captures Cambridge's golden haze cracking apart
Writing
The thesis defense scene is nail-biting nerd theater
Director
Philip Martin
Benedict Cumberbatch
Stephen Hawking
Peter Firth
Sir Fred Hoyle
Tom Ward
Roger Penrose
Lisa Dillon
Jane Wilde
John Sessions
Dennis Sciama
Phoebe Nicholls
Isobel Hawking
Michael Brandon
Arno Penzias
Tom Hodgkins
Robert Wilson
Alice Eve
Martha Guthrie
Adam Godley
Frank Hawking
Matthew Marsh
Dr. John Holloway
Anastasia Hille
Nurse Susan McClean
Christian Rubeck
Reporter
Bertie Carvel
George Ellis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cumberbatch prepared by meeting Hawking himself, who later said it was like watching his younger self — high praise from a man who literally discovered time.
This 2004 BBC film directly inspired 2014's 'The Theory of Everything' — Cumberbatch's version is colder, more cerebral, less Hollywood romance.
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