Benedict Cumberbatch's spectacularly odd Sherlock-themed car ad

Just when you thought you’d seen the last of Benedict Cumberbatch sleuthing around London (at least until the next season of Sherlock), one frankly ludicrous car ad emerges. From China, no less.

Capitalising on Cumberbatch’s growing popularity over in Asia - and subliminally hammering home the British traditions of MG Motors to Chinese audiences - the ad sees the rakish star taking a mysterious phone call from a shiny red phone box and finding a set of keys for a motor parked over the road.

Pouring over the orange vehicle from the outside like someone who’s never seen a car before, our hero uses all his skill to deduce exactly how to turn the engine on (a button!), before proceeding to go through his entire repertoire of facial expressions. He wasn't Oscar nominated for nothing, clearly.

Once behind the wheel, we see him driving around a miraculously empty central London (it's like a remake of 28 Days Later minus the bodies). After tearing it up in the countryside with some mud-splatted vigour, the finale sees him head back into town before jumping over a closing Tower Bridge. As you do.

Funnily enough, you don’t need to be Sherlock to know he got paid an absolute fortune for this.