Hawking (2004 film)

Hawking is a 2004 BBC television film directed by Philip Martin. It chronicles Stephen Hawking's early years as a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, following his search for the beginning of time, and his struggle against motor neuron disease. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Hawking and premiered in the UK in April 2004. The film received positive reviews, with critics particularly lauding Cumberbatch's performance as Hawking. It received two British Academy Television Awards nominations: Best Single Drama and Best Actor (Cumberbatch). Cumberbatch won the Golden Nymph for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Film or Miniseries. Cumberbatch's portrayal of Hawking was the first portrayal of the physicist on screen not by himself. At Stephen Hawking's 21st birthday party he meets a new friend, Jane Wilde. There is a strong attraction between the two and Jane is intrigued by Stephen's talk of stars and the universe, but realises that there is something very wrong with Stephen when he suddenly finds that he is unable to stand up. A stay in hospital results in a distressing diagnosis. Stephen has motor neurone disease and doctors don't expect him to survive for more than two years. Stephen returns to Cambridge where the new term has started without him. But he cannot hide from the reality of his condition through work because he can't find a subject for his PhD. While his colleagues throw themselves into academic and college life, Stephen's life seems to have been put on hold. He rejects the help of his supervisor Dennis Sciama and sinks into a depression. It is only Stephen's occasional meetings with Jane and her faith in him that seem to keep him afloat. The prevailing theory in cosmology at the time is Steady State, which argues that the universe had no beginning – it has always existed, and always will – and Steady State is dominated by Professor Fred Hoyle, a plain-speaking Yorkshireman, and one of the first science TV pundits. Stephen gets an early glimpse of a paper by Hoyle that is to be presented at a Royal Society lecture.