Discovery Channel Airs HAWKING, Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Today

By: TV News Desk Jan. 10, 2015

Discovery Channel marks Stephen Hawking's 73rd birthday (Jan. 8) with the airing of HAWKING, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, tonight, Jan. 10 at 10 PM ET/PT. HAWKING explores the life of a young Stephen HAWKING who, as a bright and ambitious 21-year-old PhD student at Cambridge University, is diagnosed with the debilitating motor neuron disease and given two years to live.

Against stacked odds, HAWKING went on to achieve scientific success and worldwide acclaim, in particular with his best-selling book A Brief History Of Time. HAWKING is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Founder of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge, his other books for the general reader include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universe and The Universe In a Nutshell.

HAWKING was nominated for Best Single Drama in the 2005 BAFTA TV Awards, and Cumberbatch received his first BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actor for the film. Cumberbatch won the Golden Nymph for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Film or Miniseries for his portrayal of Hawking. The film also features Michael Brandon as Arno Penziaz, Tom Hodgkins as Bob Wilson, Lisa Dillon as Jane Wilde, Phoebe Nicholls as Isobel HAWKING and Adam Godley as Frank Hawking.

HAWKING is produced by BBC where Laura Mackie and John Lynch serve as executive producers, Jessica Pope is producer, Peter Moffat is writer and Philip Martin serves as the film's director.