Benedict Cumberbatch made my heart stop

TELEGRAPH
By Gillian Reynolds
6:45AM BST 22 Apr 2015



Everyone loves Benedict Cumberbatch now but radio listeners loved him first, mostly for playing the Captain in John Finnemore’s Cabin Pressure, a wonderful Radio 4 comedy about a tiny airline played by a sterling ensemble (Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, Cumberbatch and Finnemore), elegantly directed by David Tyler of independents Pozzitive. It began in 2008, ran four seasons with a two-part finale to round it off last Christmas, recorded on a night when Cumberbatch fans blocked the street outside the studio because, by that time, he was TV’s blockbusting Sherlock and a film star too.

He was an interesting choice for My Dear Bessie (Radio 4, Monday) because this role wasn’t heroic or comic but the voice of a real life soldier, Chris Barker, writing from Libya in 1943 to a girl, Bessie Moore (Louise Brealey), whom he knew but not well. She was a Morse code operator at the Foreign Office who was surprised to get his first letter, but glad. They’d both just been through broken romances and, surprisingly quickly, the words they exchanged began to smoulder on the page.

It takes sensitivity to bring such a relationship to believable life, to capture in voice alone the physicality of their responses to each other’s words. Cumberbatch’s slightly Cockney Chris and Brealey’s shy but sharp Bessie did it beautifully. When he proposed, by letter, and she replied that they hadn’t even met since the letters began, my heart stopped. But not for long. Because they did get married, if kept apart by the war just a bit longer, and stayed married for 58 years. Bessie died in 2004, Chris the next year. Their granddaughter opened the blue box that held their letters in 2008. Simon Garfield compiled them into a dialogue, Sara Davies adapted it for radio and Gemma Jenkins, the producer, found the perfect cast. I can still hear their voices.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11553503/Benedict-Cumberbatch-My-Dear-Bessie-review.html

Benedict Cumberbatch fans go wild for actor’s recording of the last ever Cabin Pressure

RADIO TIMES
Ben Dowell
9:46 PM, 23 February 2014

Ben Dowell is in the audience for Sunday night’s recording of the last ever edition of Radio 4 comedy Cabin Pressure as Cumberbatch fans bid the show a fond farewell



You don’t normally get these kind of crowds and this kind of hype for a Radio 4 comedy recording.

They are normally sedate and polite affairs where it is usually quite easy to get a free ticket.

Not this time.

http://lifeofcowie.wordpress.com/tag/john-finnemore/

Because even before Benedict Cumberbatch stepped onto the stage at the RADA studios in central London on Sunday night for a recording of the last ever edition of Radio 4 comedy Cabin Pressure we knew this would be different.

Cumber-fans were waiting outside the venue for hours before the recording - and were there when it was over.

They had already broken a record – for the most ever ticket requests for a single Radio 4 comedy recording ever with 22,854 applications. Other single episodes of popular Radio 4 shows can have up to 17,000 requests but this latest figure is unprecedented.

Such was the demand that the BBC took the unusual step of issuing a random draw to choose which fans will get to see the show.

And fortunately your correspondent was among the lucky few in the audience at London’s RADA studios, an intimate venue with a capacity of just 200 people.

We are not allowed to talk about the episode – it is due to air on Christmas Eve 2014, a good ten months away – so no spoilers. What I can say is that the roar that greeted Cumberbatch when he came on stage - and he winked at the audience - was deafening.

I can also add that the one-off, 45-minute episode marked the end of the popular sitcom which is set in a small airline business and stars Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam and writer John Finnemore alongside Cumberbatch. And its many fans will not be disappointed.

Charting the flipside of international air travel, Cole played forbidding divorcée Carolyn Knapp-Shappey who bosses around her pilots with all the panache we have come to expect. Allam was fabulous as smooth-talking Douglas and Cumberbatch’s Martin, a struggling semi-competent pilot, provided a masterclass in comic timing.



Guesting in the last episode were a range of top name stars including Anthony Head and Timothy West.

Being the last ever episode it was also an emotional affair but the cast also clearly enjoyed themselves - especially when they made errors. (Cumberbatch, who was sporting burgundy slacks and a grey shirt, made very few, although Stephanie Cole swore mightily when she made a rare slip which brought the house down).

READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-02-23/benedict-cumberbatch-fans-go-wild-for-actors-recording-of-the-last-ever-cabin-pressure

Benedict Cumberbatch fans break ticket record over final episode of Cabin Pressure

RADIO TIMES
Ben Dowell
4:22 PM, 11 February 2014



Benedict Cumberbatch fans have broken yet another record – for the most ever ticket requests for a Radio 4 comedy.

According to the BBC there have been 22,854 applications for the recording of his final performance in the comedy Cabin Pressure – the highest number of requests for a single recording of a radio comedy in BBC history. Other single episodes of popular Radio 4 shows can have up to 17,000 requests but this latest figure is unprecedented.

The deadline for applications was 10am today and the BBC says that due to the unprecedented demand it will be operating a random draw to choose which fans will get to see the show. Some press tickets have been allocated and RadioTimes.com will be among the lucky few in the audience at London’s RADA studios, which is understood to have a capacity of just 200 people.

 The one-off, 45-minute episode be recorded this evening and will mark the end of the popular sitcom which is set in a small airline business and stars Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam and writer John Finnemore alongside Cumberbatch.

Charting the flipside of international air travel, Cole plays forbidding divorcée Carolyn Knapp-Shappey who bosses around her pilots – Allam’s smooth-talking Douglas and Cumberbatch’s Martin, a struggling semi-competent pilot. Finnemore plays her idiotic son Arthur.

Four series of the comedy and one Christmas special have so far aired between 2008 and 2013, and this one-off will be the last.

Explaining the decision to end with a single episode rather than a series, Finnemore wrote on his blog late last year: "When I was planning series three, I decided that (BBC and cast permitting), I would write two more series, and build towards a cliff-hanger, followed by a special.

"I knew by then how important it is when writing an episode to have the ending in mind, and I thought the same would probably be true of a series."

READ MORE HERE:http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-02-11/benedict-cumberbatch-fans-break-ticket-record-over-final-episode-of-cabin-pressure

Cabin Pressure, B.B.C. Radio Four. Series Four Review.

Published on February 15, 2013 by admin in TV and Film
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Benedict Cumberpatch, Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, John Finnemore.

The B.B.C. has always given comedy shows that gain a good following on the radio a big leg up to television when the time was right, the crossover a seamless and natural curve in the life of decent shows that grow up to big favourites on the small screen. From the days of Hancock’s Half Hour , the B.B.C. has nurtured the radio comedy like a gleaming talented child. It is a bit surprising to find that even after four series of the hilarious and cleverly written B.B.C. Four Extra programme Cabin Pressure, it still doesn’t seem to be any closer to getting the nod to transfer over.

It maybe that it stars one of the most bankable actors on television and film at the moment in the Captain’s chair, the very cool Benedict Cumberbatch but these things can be got round.

READ MORE: http://www.liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk/2013/02/15/cabin-pressure-b-b-c-radio-four-series-four-review/

SCOOPED BY TEE PAULSON AT SCOOP IT!BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!

Benedict Cumberbatch: Audio clip from "Cabin Pressure" (RADIO TIMES)

Susanna Lazarus
4:05 PM, 22 January 2013
In tomorrow night's episode of Cabin Pressure, Carolyn is going on holiday, leaving her tiny charter airline, MJN Air, in the 'capable' hands of her crew Martin, Douglas - and Arthur, who is put in charge of the fictional fax machine. But by the sounds of this preview clip of tomorrow's episode the crew are, indeed, under pressure following Margaret's strict instructions on how to run the ship (or, er...plane).

READ MORE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-01-22/listen-to-a-preview-clip-of-benedict-cumberbatch-in-cabin-pressure

Benedict Cumberbatch: Cabin Pressure; In Concert: a week in radio This contemporary sitcom has an impressive cast, including Benedict Cumberbatch, and a script packed with superb lines (GUARDIAN)

Nosheen Iqbal

Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the prissy, uptight captain in Cabin Pressure. Photograph: Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images Europe

Light relief in the dreary first full working week of the year came from the return of Cabin Pressure to Radio 4. One of the station's few contemporary sitcom successes (more on that subject another week), it has lured Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam back for a fourth run at playing odd-couple pilots Martin and Douglas. The pair man MJN Air: a tinpot, one-plane budget airline owned by middle-aged divorcee Carolyn, played by Stephanie Cole. It's an impressive cast – Allam does a great line in supercilious grumps and he is in his element as the snarky first officer to Cumberbatch's prissy, uptight captain. But perhaps the real star of the show is its writer John Finnemore, who also plays Carolyn's doofus air-steward son, Arthur.

"The code red is there to stop me being too helpful, and I can't stop being too helpful by being more helpful," he bumbled at his mum, in a script packed tight with superb lines. The crew had assembled for Birling Day, the annual jolly enjoyed by their stupidly rich (and often drunk) regular customer, who charters a flight each year to take him to see the Six Nations rugby final. Except this year, the match was taking place at Twickenham, a short drive from Birling's own house. No matter.

READ MORE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2013/jan/10/cabin-pressure-in-concert-radio?_tmc=PyFAG0M1lP2LmAW5KJegGwTnt3ivfDU8rhR0yNh4crQ 

Benedict Cumberbatch: How to Listen to Cabin Pressure Series 4

If you’re here on this site, you will doubtless have at least a passing interest in listening to the brand new series that starts tomorrow. Here’s a quick guide for how you can do so…

Broadcast time: Wednesday 9th January 2013 18:30BST on BBC Radio 4

UK Listeners
Tune in to BBC Radio 4 on 92-95 FM, 103-105 FM or 198 LW
Radio 4 is also available on Medium Wave using the following locations as a guide:
Aberdeen – 1449 MW
Belfast – 720 MW
Carlisle – 1485 MW
Cornwall – 756 MW
Enniskillen – 774 MW
London – 720 MW
Londonderry – 720 MW
Newcastle – 603 MW
Plymouth – 774 MW

International Listeners
Despite us Brits being the valiant license fee payers, radio is not treated the same as TV shows by the BBC and Radio is broadcast online for the whole world to enjoy. Regardless of your nationality (with possible exception of North Korea), you can listen live online at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_fourfm/listenlive
If, for whatever reason, that fails you, try this one instead which opens as a popup:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

Some media players such as Real Player also have radio feeds and you may be able to use those also.

Everyone
All users will have access to episodes for a minumum of 7 days after their respective broadcasts on the radio section of the BBC iPlayer.

Thorny Issue
Please don’t be tempted to record/download the episodes and make them available online – I know inevitably someone will, but this contravenes the BBC licence. If you want a copy to keep for ever and ever, they will be made available for purchase and won’t be expensive. Let’s face it, it’s worth a couple of quid! Remember that the one thing that drives ANY kind of production is sales, so if you would like continued production, like I do, then buying your own copy would only help the BBC decide to make more!

VISIT THIS SITE to access all the links: http://www.cabinpressurefans.co.uk/interest/how-to-listen-to-cabin-pressure-series-4/?_tmc=vi7I1AQp6EnrNDtdC_vN2OAWh_j4pTQR6TVEzeSEhLs

Benedict Cumberbatch: Cabin Pressure Radio 4 | 2, 16 December, 6 January (BBC)

The return of the hit sitcom written by John Finnemore starring Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam, Benedict Cumberbatch. and indeed, John Finnemore.

"An inspired new sitcom" The Observer
"I cannot find a single flaw in it. So top marks." Independent on Sunday

Cabin Pressure is set in a small airline business. The flipside of the glamorous world of international air travel is hilariously mundane: small cargo runs, stag nights, shifting a panther for the odd oil sheik, bussing over a load of journos to a freebie in Monte Carlo and trying to avoid getting diverted to Birmingham.

Run by the forbidding divorcée Carolyn Knapp-Shappey (Stephanie Cole) (an unfortunate marriage, namewise, but in Carolyn's opinion, marginally better than Carolyn Shappey-Knapp), her two pilots are the smooth, experienced and almost-certainly-fired-by-a-big-airline-for-all-round-naughtiness Douglas (Roger Allam), and struggling almost competent pilot and sweaty man Martin (Benedict Cumberbatch). All round help is provided by Carolyn's near idiot son, Arthur (John Finnemore).

Due to the popularity of this show we are operating a random draw for tickets.

You can register for tickets at any time until Sunday 25 November at 10pm.

You can apply for a maximum of two tickets and one recording per household.

Good luck with your application.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TICKETS http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/shows/cabin_pressure_dec2012

Thanks again to Your Scoop It! Benedict Cumberbatch for this heads up

http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch/p/3394626389/bbc-be-in-the-audience-cabin-pressure-series-4-recording-registration-closes-25th-november?_tmc=5D9aG2xmTYrY0awF_EAp41TXgWNWMKvHQ1QNSpkbQp4