Well, fancy that. There you are, making a programme about the disappearing charm of London’s Soho and who should you bump into but Benedict Cumberbatch, the Sherlock actor who cares passionately about the subject.


That is at least what appears to happen to EastEnders and New Tricks actor Larry Lamb as he pounds the streets of London W1 in upcoming More4 documentary series Disappearing Britain.

Cumberbatch, a supporter of the Save Soho campaign to protect the area’s distinctive character, says: “What is unique about Soho is the street level interaction, small spaces for live music, venues for shops for artisan crafts and coffee shops that aren’t brands and chains. If you homogenise Soho then you lose the colour.”

Here’s an exclusive clip of their encounter…

The six-part series also sees music journalist Mark Ellen tell Lamb how everyone from The Rolling Stones to Elton John and David Bowie started their careers in Soho.

The intrepid Lamb then finds a piece of hidden music history upstairs at fabled guitar shop No Tom where owner Ron Smith shows him graffiti art work drawn by Johnny Rotten who lived above the premises in 1977…

Disappearing Britain examines the best of British heritage and explores our love affair with our history, landscape and culture using a range of personalities.

Lamb is joined on the show by fellow actress Maureen Lipman and presenter Michael Buerk, who explores some of the beautiful parts of the country he knew as a young reporter more than 40 years ago.

Emilia Fox, Don Warrington, Wendy Craig, Peter Davison, Mica Paris and Bill Paterson will also pop up to discuss their own personal heritage passions throughout the series.


Disappearing Britain starts on More4 on Thursday 8th October at 9pm