Lost in New York

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a TV puppeteer whose son goes missing in 1980s Manhattan

Most parents would do just about anything for their kids – even building a life-size monster puppet to help a missing boy find his way home.

Well, that’s the plan for a desperate dad played by Benedict Cumberbatch in new Netflix thriller Eric, which unravels the mystery of a nine-year-old’s disappearance in 1980s New York.

BAFTA-winning writer Abi Morgan (The Split) has partnered with the producers of Chernobyl for the six-parter, which follows puppeteer Vincent Anderson (Cumberbatch), a creative but tortured genius who appears to be living the high life while hosting a wildly successful kids’ TV show, Good Day Sunshine.

Behind the scenes, however, Vincent is battling personal demons and neglecting his family, which is suddenly ripped apart when his young son, Edgar (Ivan Howe), goes missing on the way to school one morning. 

Consumed with guilt, Vincent becomes increasingly erratic, but when he stumbles across his son’s sketches of a big blue monster puppet called Eric, he fixates on a plan to get the character on TV, hoping it will convince Edgar to come home.

SPIRALLING

‘Vincent is at a tipping point at the start of the series,’ says Sherlock and Doctor Strange star Cumberbatch, 47, as he meets TV&Satellite Week to discuss the show. ‘The crisis has yet to be full- blown, but it’s pretty bad.