SWIGGING whisky in a posh restaurant, Benedict Cumberbatch takes the drink straight . . . straight from the bottle.

And this is one of his tamer moments as the troubled title character in Sky Atlantic’s new sex, drugs and expletive-filled series Patrick Melrose.

Benedict Cumberbatch will play drug-addled, drunken artisto Patrick Melrose in a new Sky Atlantic series Credit: ©Sky UK Ltd

The drama is based on the life of author Edward St Aubyn, the suicidal son — and victim — of a paedophile who blew much of a seven-figure inheritance on heroin.

He was so addicted that he did not fear overdoses, as he contemplated taking his own life so often.

Edward said: “It was like a heartbeat, from adolescence through to my late-twenties, ‘I want to live, I want to die, I want to live, I want to die’.”

Now 58, the writer has been described as having the air of someone puzzled, and impressed . . . that he is still breathing.

The drama shows Benedict's character Patrick trying to give up heroin Credit: showtime

He lived his life, as Sky Atlantic viewers will see, like a posh version of drug-addled 1996 movie Train- spotting.

Patrick has been the central figure in Edward’s five semi-autobiographical novels. In the history of well-to-do wastrels, few have let rip on their livers or violated their veins with such devastating abandon as the author or his alter-ego.

He started injecting cocaine and heroin aged 16 while at the £37,000-a-year Westminster School and carried his addiction to Oxford University.

Edward, who is godfather to one of Earl Spencer’s sons and has met the Queen several times, said that as a student he was “always having overdoses and being revived in hospitals”.

Hugo Weaving plays David, Patrick's abusive paedo dad

He would fill a biro with heroin to get high during his exams but forget to bring one with ink in.

Edward added: “I was always running away. I’d go to a tutorial to apologise for not having done my essay with a taxi waiting outside to take me to Heathrow.”

Another time he stubbed cigarettes out on his hand to stop himself falling asleep while driving on the motorway after a heroin binge.

The Sky drama sees Patrick attempting to give up the substance, something that took Edward 12 years.

In the trailer we see Patrick drinking by himself Credit: ©Sky UK Ltd

In the trailer for the series, which begins on Sunday, a waiter asks Melrose whether anyone will be joining him for dinner. He shoots back: “I f***ing hope not.”

This abrupt manner stemmed from Edward’s buttoned-up and highly abusive childhood. His American mum Lorna, the daughter of wealthy industrialists, could not protect him from his paedophile father, Roger.

The Old Etonian, a former Army lieutenant and doctor, raped Edward from the age of three until he was eight, when Lorna divorced him.

Edward has said that his novels were “very painful to write because of the nature of the material”.

Anna Madeley plays alongside Benedict in the new series Credit: ©Sky UK Ltd

He and his sister Alexandra, lived with their mum and avoided seeing their father.

When Edward turned 18 he came into money left by his hugely wealthy grandma.

He never revealed how much he received other than “loose change at the bottom of her handbag from her point of view”. Friends suggested it was several million pounds.

But he know how to spend it. Edward said: “In those days you could go to a park in New York and buy any number of uppers and downers of various sorts, and acid.

The dad played by Hugo Weaving is thought to be behind the title character's self-destructive behaviour Credit: Getty - Contributor

“I used to open the drawer when I still had my eyes closed, reach in and take three without knowing what they were. There was a sense of adventure.

“To kill time until I found out what I’d taken, I would have a fix, smoke a joint, and turn on the TV, where you could dimly see the Road Runner through the snowstorm.”

Benedict’s character is seen wearing an eye-patch in the new series after injuring himself during one particularly heavy session.

Edward, too, partied hard, blowing £3,500 a week on drugs. He could simply ring a fund to wire thousands more into his account.

The author published his book Never Mind after he got sober

In 1979 he went on to study English at Keble College, Oxford, where he became friends with Hugh Grant and Nigella Lawson.

He confessed to his tutor that he was a heroin addict, who suggested he buy a television instead as “they are very relaxing”.

His father died from a heart attack in 1985 and in the Sky series we see alter-ego Patrick reluctantly collecting his abuser’s ashes. Roger’s death prompted Edward into getting his life back in order.

He dated writer and Oxford pal Nicola Shulman, who helped him kick his habit.

Benedict is a fan of the book and hopes to do Edward's words justice Credit: Showtime

They married in 1987 but divorced after three years.

Edward has admitted to being arrogant and hard to live with at times.

He said: “There was no doubt that I was intensely irritable, explosive, capable of making hurtful remarks, very difficult to be married to, or to live with, because I was unstable.”

Now single, the author has a daughter, Eleanor, and a son, Lucian with two different former girlfriends.

The 41-year-old actor is hoping to introduce a new kind of reader to the Patrick Melrose story Credit: ©Sky UK Ltd

The last time he took heroin was in 1988. That same year he vowed he would end his life if he never got round to writing a novel. By 1992 the first Patrick Melrose book, Never Mind, was on the shelves.

Before it got there, and considering the scenes of abuse it contained, Edward decided he had to tell his mum that his father had raped him.

Her response “wasn’t totally satisfactory”, he later recalled, with Lorna telling him: “Me too.”

Edward added: “She was very, very keen to jump the queue and say how awful it was for her.”

Drama's syringe ben-efit By Rod McPhee BANISH any memory of the quirky but lovable Sherlock – Benedict Cumberbatch has been reborn as a chain-smoking, alcoholic, bed-hopping junkie with a foul mouth and even fouler temper. With its graphic scenes, his latest role as heroin-addicted posh-boy Patrick Melrose will not just stun his army of fans. Close-up shots of him plunging heroin-filled syringes into his arm, projectile vomiting and trying to kill himself will leave most of them shocked. This five-parter chronicles a battle against addiction, with both tragic and hilarious consequences. Try to not guffaw as Patrick walks through a hotel lobby, only to find that his latest hit has reduced him to a staggering zombie and he ends up sliding face-first down a wall. When a smack dealer hands him a huge, blunt needle to inject with, Patrick cries: “Christ, that’s not a syringe, it’s a bike pump!” But it is difficult not to pity a man whose problems all stem from his traumatic childhood. As his full story is gradually revealed in this five-parter, we realise it is all down to his evil, domineering father. His fight to blank out the painful memories of his youth mean that among the funny, frenzied and frightening moments, are genuinely moving ones, too. Benedict’s brilliance in every scene makes this drama truly addictive.

While Lorna, who died in 2005, claimed not to know about her husband’s paedophilia, Edward is doubtful that she never heard his screams.

Years of psychoanalysis, putting his past down on the page and twice becoming a father have helped the writer to overcome those demons. Despite Edward being dyslexic, Never Mind was a triumph, earning him a legion of fans.

One of whom is Benedict, who is certain to introduce a new group of readers to the Patrick Melrose story with the Sky drama.

The Public school-educated actor, 41, is also co-producer of the series and is keen to do Edward’s carefully crafted words justice.

He said: “I felt I had a slight lock into this world. But you always approach a much-loved literary character with trepidation.

“I know I’m not making the movie I have in my head as a reader of these books, let alone everyone else who comes to it with their expectations.”