Benedict Cumberbatch: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

4. Richard III - The Hollow Crown (2016)

For many fans, Benedict Cumberbatch's finest performance wasn't one captured on screen at all (albeit apart from beam-backs into cinemas) - in the exceptional Frankenstein. He was incredible as both monster and maker, and it was merely a confirmation of his ability as a stage actor.

His second most purely theatrical performance comes in Richard III, the finale of the second run of the exceptional The Hollow Crown (a series which also made the best of Ben Whishaw back in 2012). There is something about his profile and presence that lends itself rather perfectly to Shakespeare: the Bard was the master of monstrous, dominant performance writing - soloquies that burst forth from stages to be the most memorable elements of grand productions and distilled entire characters in comparatively small, pregnant speeches.

That is exactly the sort of dynamic that suits Cumberbatch so well in Richard III, in which he plays both monster and man again - this time wrapped in the same body - and there is a passion and a subtlety that is as complex as it is impressive.