March 1 (UPI) -- Sherlock and Doctor Strange icon Benedict Cumberbatch is to star in Melrose, a five-part, limited series written by David Nicholls and based on the semi-autobiographical novels of Edward St. Aubyn.
The co-production between Showtime and Sky Atlantic will begin shooting in New York, London and the South of France in August. Cumberbatch will play the title character, "an aristocratic and outrageously funny playboy who struggles to overcome the damage inflicted by a horribly abusive father and the mother who tacitly condoned the behavior," a press release noted.