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Benedict Cumberbatch on Alan Turing's legacy and the challenge it presented for The Imitation Game crew

The British actor delivers a nuanced turn as the riddle-solving father of computer science with a brilliant mind and a tortured soul

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"[Alan Turing's] importance is massive compared to how people know him," says Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the code-breaking scientist in The Imitation Game.

Even before the Oscars were given out earlier this week, victory already belonged to the subject of The Imitation Game. Dubbed the "father of the modern computer", Alan Turing is famed for breaking German naval codes and his work on the Nazis' Enigma cipher machine during the second world war.

But it's taken decades for the late British mathematician to gain wide public recognition for his work.

"His importance is massive compared to how people know him," says Benedict Cumberbatch, who delivers a tour de force as Turing.

Part of the reason for this is the fact that all work carried out at Bletchley Park, the British government's code-breaking centre, was kept secret long after the war ended, with participants signing the Official Secrets Act.

Codebreakers like Joan Clarke, played in the film by Keira Knightley, kept the secrets of their work until long after the war was over.
Codebreakers like Joan Clarke, played in the film by Keira Knightley, kept the secrets of their work until long after the war was over.
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