The Sherlock star is plotting a Cumber-back: Benedict Cumberbatch will star in and executive produce a multi-decade tale of an upper-class playboy’s abuse and addiction. Melrose will adapt Edward St. Aubyn’s series of Patrick Melrose books into a limited series, the network announced in a release. The five-episode series will follow Melrose through a few days at various stages of his life: in the South of France in the 1960s, New York in the 1980s, and Britain in the early 2000s. (With a timeline this broad, how exactly will they decide to age him?) The Melrose character is a self-destructive playboy trying outrun memories of his abusive father. David Nicholls (Far From the Madding Crowd, One Day) is writing all of the episodes, according to Showtime, and the show will start shooting in August.