IT’S the news all you billions of One Direction fans have been waiting for – their third album will be released in time for Christmas.

Details about the group’s third offering have been a closely guarded secret. But Louis Tomlinson told me they started working on it weeks ago.

He said: “We’ve already started recording the album, we started about a month ago. We’ve been writing and recording it while on tour. We are really happy with it. We don’t want to rush it but it will be out for Christmas.”

The boys are busy working on the record with the same close-knit team who helped both their previous albums hit the US top spot. Louis, Liam, Zayn, Niall and Harry have all been involved in the writing process – separating in various pairs for inspiration. They have then been recording vocals in their hotel rooms while on tour thanks to a portable recording studio.

Louis added: “We have the film coming out as well so we are all pretty shattered but we are all having a great time. We have had a week off this week before heading on to Europe for the tour.”

A source close to the band said: “There was talk about the boys taking some time off before the next album but it was decided to release the record while they are so popular. The band are going from strength to strength so it would be silly not to have an album out in time for the profitable Christmas market. All the lads are incredibly hardworking and career minded. Although they are knackered, they all love what they are doing.”

Nothing we didn’t really know already but nice to have a confirmation. Even if it does mean that they basically won’t have any time off this year. Unsurprisingly too, this all comes under the guise of yet another promo for Yorkshire Tea… And of course, they’ve all had such a relaxing ”week off”…

Remember when actors wanted to be versatile? Benedict Cumberbatch does

Ask the next 10 people you meet—or interact with on Facebook or Tumblr—if they’ve heard of Benedict Cumberbatch, and you’re likely to get at least a few affirmative answers. The actor’s popularity has been building steadily since he started playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC’s update of the series, and his brilliant turn as the villain in Star Trek: Into Darkness may be the role that finally makes him a household name. (Not an easily pronounceable one, admittedly, but a household name nonetheless.)

But ask people if they’ve heard of Cabin Pressure, and you’ll get more than a few blank looks. However, if you have a Cabin Pressure fan in your circle of friends, trust me, you will be assimilated…The show is sweet and funny and thoroughly addictive. And more than that, I think it helps explain what makes Cumberbatch such a rare and compelling actor.

It turns out the man who’s rapidly becoming known for playing cold, calculating geniuses has a completely different side. Once you hear him play Cabin Pressure’s Martin Crieff, the almost pathologically insecure captain of a decrepit charter plane, you’ll never look at him the same way again—and that’s a good thing. It shows just what a well-rounded, versatile actor Cumberbatch truly is, and it reminds the rest of us just what an important quality versatility is.

In fact, a lifelong obsession with classic movies has convinced me that versatility is one of the best tools an actor can have…But this kind of versatility, it seems to me, is becoming rarer among actors these days. The British, to their credit, still seem to encourage it, but Hollywood, not as much. I’m not sure we even understand anymore what genuine versatility looks like…Maybe having a strong sense of who you are makes you more comfortable in a wide variety of circumstances and genres. And that in turn gives you even greater confidence and security as an actor.

Does the same hold true for Benedict Cumberbatch? It’s a little early in his career to say for sure. And it’s true that the hilariously awkward Captain Martin Crieff and the ruthless “John Harrison” (I’ll use the alias for the sake of those who haven’t yet seen the new Star Trek) have little in common. Or is it? Mannerisms and motives—and willingness to wipe out human life on a massive scale—aside, they’re both passionate, driven, eccentric loners who are nevertheless deeply committed to the relationships they do have. As is Cumberbatch’s Sherlock.

We may have found a pattern here, after all. It looks as if, deep down, there’s something much more substantial and consistent to Cumberbatch’s persona than an ability to jump down from great heights wearing a long coat.

Also, the fact that he’s stuck with Cabin Pressure throughout its run, even while he was busy shooting to stardom on TV and in film, says something about Cumberbatch’s dedication to his craft. Drama is impressive, but comedy, as Cary Grant firmly believed, really proves an actor’s mettle. Many of the qualities Cumberbatch shows in Star Trek: Into Darkness—the excellent timing, the physicality, the veering between superhuman restraint and uncontrollable emotion—are qualities that may be best developed by sweating to get a laugh out of an audience.

There’s no doubt that if you saw that simultaneously icy and ferocious performance of Cumberbatch’s on the big screen this past weekend, you saw something special. But if you haven’t yet heard him desperately hunting up and down a cabin full of passengers for an elusive lemon, or being tricked into delivering a cabin address in the world’s worst French accent, or saying things like “I carried the sheep for you. I climbed the tree. I rode the back of the truck. But now I have to X-ray these geese” … you’re missing out.

-The Atlantic [x]