The first episode of the five part Sky Original Production, Patrick Melrose, will be available on demand from Sunday 13 May 2018 and air at 9pm that day on Sky Atlantic and TV streaming service NOW TV.

Based on the acclaimed semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St Aubyn, the drama follows the harrowing yet hilarious journey of Melrose, played by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Sherlock), in a true television saga that sweeps through the South of France in the 60s, New York in the 80s and Britain in the early 2000s.

Each episode of the drama is devoted to one of the five Patrick Melrose novels, skewering the upper class as it tracks its protagonist’s outrageous journey, from a deeply traumatic childhood through to adult substance abuse and, ultimately, towards recovery.

The star-studded cast also includes Hugo Weaving (The Matrix trilogy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Anna Madeley (The Crown), Blythe Danner (Meet the Fockers), Allison Williams (Girls), Pip Torrens (The Crown), Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife), Prasanna Puwanarajah (Doctor Foster), Holliday Grainger (Strike), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones) and Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones's Baby).

BAFTA Award nominee David Nicholls (Far from the Madding Crowd, One Day) has written all five episodes of the television adaptation. 

Watch a clip below