The first trailer for the upcoming series Patrick Melrose is now available for you to enjoy, and if you're the sort of person who likes Benedict Cumberbatch being quirky, then enjoy it you will. It helps to be familiar with Edward St. Aubyn's novels focusing on the title character, an aristocratic playboy who struggles with substance abuse and childhood trauma. Cumberbatch is solid casting for this role and the new trailer shows exactly why.

Patrick Melrose, a five-part mini-series, will dedicate one hour to each of St. Aubyn's books, adapted by BAFTA award-nominee David Nicholls, while traversing the 60s, 80s, and 2000s, and traveling from France, to New York, to Britain. Also starring Hugo Weaving, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anna Madeley, Allison Williams and Blythe Danner, Edward Berger's series is set to air on Sky Atlantic and Showtime later this year.

Check out the first trailer for Patrick Melrose below (via The Playlist):

Here's the mini-series' official synopsis:

Based on the acclaimed Patrick Melrose series of novels written by Edward St. Aubyn and adapted by BAFTA award nominee David Nicholls (Far From the Madding Crowd, One Day), Melrose gleefully skewers the British upper class as it tracks the titular characters harrowing odyssey from a deeply traumatic childhood, through adult substance abuse and ultimately, towards recovery and redemption. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Sherlock) plays Patrick Melrose, an aristocratic and outrageously funny playboy, who struggles to overcome the damage inflicted by an abusive father and a mother who tacitly condoned the behaviour.

 

A true television saga, Melrose is both gripping and humorous, with a dramatic sweep that encompasses the South of France in the 1960s, debauched 1980s New York and sober Britain in the early 2000s. Melrose will devote an hour to each of the five novels, with each episode storytelling a few complicated and intense days in Patrick's life.