Sophie Hunter Sophie Hunter played Venessa in the " Torchwood " television story " " . Her parents are Anna Katharine ( née Gow ) and Charles Rupert Hunter . She is granddaughter to General Sir Michael James Gow , Aide - de - Camp General to the Queen from 1981 to 1984 , and great - great granddaughter to John Edward " Galloper Jack " Bernard Seely , 1st Baron Mottistone , an important figure in political and military circles of early twentieth century Britain . She is niece to renowned pianist Julius Drake and to Lieutenant - Colonel Sir Malcolm Ross GVCO , OBE , Extra Equerry to the Queen . Hunter ' s family is also related to Jane Birkin ' s family . She attended St . Paul ' s Girl School in London and then graduated at Oxford with a Masters Degree in French and Italian . She later moved to Paris to study at the École internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq . She more recently trained at Saratoga International Theatre School under Anne Bogart . In 2015 she got married to a long time friend : Benedict Cumberbatch . Their first son , Christopher Carlton , was born on June 1st the same year . Her work in theatre , film , television and music earned her praise across Europe and the USA . In New York ' s Access Theatre she adapted and directed a new version of Ibsen ' s Ghosts ( 2010 ) and created an installation / performance of Benjamin Britten ' s The Rape of Lucretia ( 2011 ) . Other credits include : Enron ( 2010 - Ass . Director - West End , Broadway ) and The Terrific Electric ( 2007 - Barbican ) for which she and her fellow artists of Boileroom were awarded the Oxford Samuel Beckett Award for new voices in experimental theatre . With her company she has devised and performed in international touring productions of Silverland ( 2007 - Arcola , Brits Off Broadway ) , Hamlet ( 2005 - Al Bustaan Festival , Beirut ) , Volpone ( 2001 - Avignon ) and Ubu Roi ( Baryshnikov Arts Center ) . She was selected to be the 2011 British artist in residence at SoHo ' s Location One where she won the British Artist Fellowship . Her roles in film and television include Torchwood ( 2009 ) , Midsomer Murders ( 2004 ) The Curse of Steptoe ( 2008 ) and Henry VIII : Mind of a Tyrant ( 2009 ) . In 2004 she played Maria Osborne alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Reese Witherspoon in Vanity Fair . She also took part in various independent productions such as Burlesque Fairytales ( 2009 ) . Sophie Hunter worked as a Creative Director on Loma Lights ( 2013 ) one of the largest public arts programs in New York and co - conceived Don ' t Major in Debt “ Student House ” ( 2012 ) . She was one of the creative minds behind Punchdrunk ' s New York transfer of Emursive ' s Sleep No More and The Forgotten ( 2012 ) an immersive theatre experience which launched the McKittrick Hotel ' s literary gatherings " Secret Sunday Salon " . She also serves as Collaborating Director and Conceiver to the Phantom Limb Company known for its work with marionette - puppetry focused on collaborative , multi - media theatrical production and design . With the Phantom Limb Company in 2013 Hunter took part in a month long residency in Captiva Island ( Florida ) with The Rauschenberg Foundation . Her venture into the music industry includes The Isis Project ( 2005 ) , Songs for a Boy ( 2011 ) and " Virtual Friend " in Armin Van Buuren ' s Mirage ( 2011 ) . Hunter ' s focus has now mainly shifted to Opera and Classical Music . In 2013 she was Creative Director for a preview of the still in - progress Tesla in New York by Jim Jarmusch and Phil Kline . In 2015 she directed Ruby Philogene , MBE , in Benjamin Britten ' s cantata Phaedra at the 4th Happy Days International Beckett Festival and Britten ' s The Turn of the Screw for Aldeburgh Music staged in Snape Maltings and London ' s St . Luke ' s baroque church . Hunter co - founded Lacuna Theatre in 2007 . She is Director at Boileroom . She is a member of the performance collective The Militia Canteen .