Benedict Cumberbatch is "a bloody good Hamlet" according to his mum

When asked what she thought of Benedict's performance, she said: "a bloody good Hamlet. Extraordinarily proud".

Her son wore trainers and dressed down attire in Lyndsey Turner's modern version of Shakespeare's infamous play and Wanda said she was reminded of when Benedict was a "lively" boy and commented on the energy of his performance.

She told The Mirror: "He was quite lively growing up, but I thought that was phenomenal."

Downton Abbey stars Dan Stevens and Allen Leech were in the audience as well as Benedict's wife Sophie Hunter and 'Sherlock' writer Mark Gatiss, who is a close friend of the actor and said he "always new he had it in him".

The support and praise was likely welcomed by the star whose earlier performances were blighted by interruptions and technical difficulties and the 'Sherlock' actor even stunned the audience when he swore after losing concentration.

The 'Imitation Game' star had been looking forward to playing the part of Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy for a long time and always thought when he reached his late 30s he would be the right age to portray the famous character.

He previously said: "I don't know if there is such a thing as a right age to play the part, but 36 or 37 seems appropriate to me, so I need to do it before long."