Benedict Chocobatch
Wednesday 1 April 2015
TV's "dishiest drama actor" gets a chocolate makeover for Easter
- Benedict Cumberbatch voted dishiest TV drama actor, beating other home-grown talents including David Tennant and Idris Elba
- Six foot sculpture made out of 40kg's of chocolate will be at Westfield Stratford City on Good Friday
- Created to celebrate launch of TV channel Drama on uktvplay.co.uk
Images available to view, download and use HERE
Watch the 'making of' video on YouTube HERE
#Chocobatch
A life-size chocolate sculpture of the acclaimed actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been unveiled following a national poll which named the star as Britain's dishiest TV drama actor.
The Sherlock star beat off strong competition from Broadchurch's David Tennant, rumoured potential James Bond Idris Elba and Aidan Turner, current star of Poldark to claim the tasty title ahead of the forthcoming Easter weekend break.
The research, which surveyed 2000 British women, and subsequent chocolate sculpture, were specially commissioned to celebrate today's launch of TV channel Drama on UKTV's on demand service, uktvplay.co.uk.
The top ten dishiest TV drama actors: 1 Benedict Cumberbatch 12% 2 David Tennant 11% 3 Sean Bean 8% 4 Idris Elba 8% 5 Damian Lewis 5% 6 Aidan Turner 4% 7 James Nesbitt 3% 8 Rupert Penry-Jones 3% 9 Laurence Fox 2% 10 James D'Arcy 2%
A crew of eight worked on the construction of Cumberbatch's confectionary counterpart; a process which took over 250 man hours. The team, including a sculptor, chocolatier and model maker began by interrogating the actor's measurements and assessing images from red carpet appearances to help them perfect Benedict's look and create an accurate model even down to the smallest detail.
A suited and booted homage was chosen to reflect the star's numerous red carpet appearances over the last year and a base model was painstakingly sculpted before the final model was cast entirely out of luxuriously thick, hollow Belgian milk chocolate - weighing in at 40kg. Once the chocolate had set, the team perfected and defined Benedict's distinctive features, to ensure the star looked red carpet ready.
Lead sculptor Tim Simpson said,
You can't rush perfection. Benedict has such a distinctive look that it was a challenge but a pleasure, to recreate him in chocolate. A secret combination of methods ensured we got a great likeness - we're sure his legions of fans will approve!
Benedict Cumberbatch will next be seen on Drama in Silent Witness, 12th April at 9pm, whilst James Nesbitt and Rupert Penry-Jones also feature this season. Sean Bean stars in Sharpe, which is on the channel this summer. Viewers will be able to enjoy watching Damian Lewis in The Forsyte Saga and David Tennant in United on uktvplay.co.uk from today.
Adrian Wills, General Manager of Drama said
With Drama launching on UKTV Play this Easter, it was the perfect opportunity to pay homage to the fantastic talent we have on the channel, including of course, Benedict Cumberbatch. Hopefully he'll make it through Easter weekend in one piece.
A life-size sculpture of Benedict Cumberbatch made out of chocolate was unveiled today to celebrate the launch of Drama on UKTV's on demand service uktvplay.co.uk from 1st April.
The sculpture will be at Westfield Stratford City on Friday 3rd April. To follow the action, use the hashtag #chocobatch
ENDS
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Kerry Parker, Head of Network Communications
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Notes to Editors:
About UKTV Play
UKTV Play is the on demand TV service that lets you watch shows from Dave, Yesterday, Really and Drama whether you're on the bus, at work (we won't tell) or on the sofa. Among the gems on offer are Storage Hunters, Suits, Crackanory, Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted, The Forsyte Saga, The Road to Coronation Street and Forbidden History, so it's never been easier to fill your boots with great stuff from UKTV. You can get UKTV Play on PC and Mac, and there's an app for Android devices, iPhones and iPads. Or you can put your feet up and watch on the telly, thanks to Virgin TV and YouView. If you're an M+ subscriber on Virgin Media, shows from other great UKTV channels - Gold, Watch, Alibi, Good Food, Home and Eden - are on the menu as well.
uktvplay.co.uk / Get the iOS app on iTunes
About Drama
Sky 158, Virgin 190, Freeview 20, BT and TalkTalk 020
Drama is a channel that is passionate about bringing you Britain's best-loved dramas. From period through to contemporary and comedy, the channel is a treasure trove of classics which showcase the greatest stories ever told in an entertaining and engaging way.
With programmes including Call The Midwife, Pride and Prejudice, Sharpe, Larkrise to Candleford and Silk, viewers can indulge in a handpicked range of the nation's most celebrated TV dramas.
About UKTV
UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers every month.
UKTV's eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, Watch, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food - include the most popular non-PSB channel in the UK and account for 9% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £278m, and EBITDA of £67.4m. It invested a record £125m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.
UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.
Now celebrating its 22nd year at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster to be recognised by Best Companies.