Benedict Chocobatch Wednesday 1 April 2015 TVs 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 40kgs 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 #Chocobatch A life-size chocolate sculpture of the acclaimed actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been unveiled following a national poll which named the star as Britains dishiest TV drama actor.
The Sherlock star beat off strong competition from Broadchurchs 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 todays launch of TV channel Drama on UKTVs 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 DArcy 2%
A crew of eight worked on the construction of Cumberbatchs confectionary counterpart; a process which took over 250 man hours. The team, including a sculptor, chocolatier and model maker began by interrogating the actors measurements and assessing images from red carpet appearances to help them perfect Benedicts look and create an accurate model even down to the smallest detail.
A suited and booted homage was chosen to reflect the stars 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 Benedicts distinctive features, to ensure the star looked red carpet ready.
Lead sculptor Tim Simpson said,
You cant 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 - were 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 hell 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 UKTVs 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
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 youre on the bus, at work (we wont 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 its never been easier to fill your boots with great stuff from UKTV. You can get UKTV Play on PC and Mac, and theres 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 youre 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 Britains 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 nations most celebrated TV dramas.
About UKTV UKTV is the multi-award winning media company that reaches over 42 million viewers every month.
UKTVs 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 companys 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 N
