MINISERIES PREMIERE: This new Showtime miniseries stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, playing a British aristocrat with a serious drug addiction – and a childhood past more than dark enough to explain it. Based on the semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St. Aubyn, this five -part drama is darkly comic in spots, and just plain dark in others. But because of the performances, you won’t want to miss it. That goes for Cumberbatch, most certainly, who makes you feel both his physical and mental torments – but it also goes for co-stars Hugo Weaving, Jennifer Jason Leigh and others, who are so good in flashbacks to Patrick’s boyhood that you don’t even miss Cumberbatch when he’s gone. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. And for reviews by other TVWW writers, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.

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