Hawking (2004 film)

Hawking is a BBC television film about Stephen Hawkings early years as a PhD student at Cambridge University, following his search for the beginning of time, and his struggle against motor neuron disease. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Hawking and premiered in the UK in April 2004.

At Stephens 21st birthday party he meets a new friend, Jane Wilde. There is a strong attraction between the two and Jane is intrigued by Stephens talk of stars and the universe, but realises that there is something very wrong with Stephen when he suddenly finds that he is unable to stand up. A stay in hospital results in a horrifying diagnosis. Stephen is suffering from motor neurone disease and doctors dont expect him to survive for more than two years. Stephen returns to Cambridge where the new term has started without him. But he cannot hide from the reality of his condition through work because he cant find a subject for his PhD. While his colleagues throw themselves into academic and college life, Stephens life seems to have been put on hold. He rejects the help of his supervisor Dennis Sciama and sinks into a depression. It is only Stephens occasional meetings with Jane and her faith in him that seem to keep him afloat. The prevailing theory in cosmology at the time is Steady State, which argues that the universe had no beginning it has always existed, and always will and Steady State is dominated by Professor Fred Hoyle, a plainspeaking Yorkshireman, and one of the first science TV pundits. Stephen gets an early glimpse of a paper by Hoyle that is to be presented at a Royal Society lecture.He works through the calculations, identifies a mistake, and publicly confronts Hoyle after the great man has finished speaking. The row causes a stir in the department but, more importantly, it seems to give Stephen the confidence to get started on his own work. At almost the same time Stephen is introduced to a new way of thinking about his subject by another physicist, Roger Penrose. Topology is an approach that uses concepts of shape rather than equations to think about the nature of the universe, and this proves to be the perfect tool for Stephen, who is starting to find it very difficult to write. Penroses great passion is the fate of dying stars. When a star comes

Source: Wikipedia