Benedict Cumberbatch 'bowled over' by fans' reaction to engagement

Benedict Cumberbatch fans might be weeping on the inside over the Sherlock star's engagement — but he's seeing nothing but their love, he says.

• Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock star, announces engagement to director Sophie Hunter

​"It's a crazy old love bomb to drop and the amount of love that comes back to you, that was the thing that (fiancée Sophie Hunter and I) are both just sort of bowled over by. It's wonderful."

Cumberbatch and Turner announced their engagement by posting an eight-line notice on the births, deaths and marriages page of The Times newspaper in London on Nov. 5

The 38-year old actor says he and Hunter liked the old school approach and says even if he wasn't famous he would have been "equally happy to announce my marriage to the most incredible woman I've ever met" in the same way. "It was controlling it and letting the world know but in a quiet and sort of sober and traditional manner."

The pair met while appearing together in the 2009 thriller Burlesque Fairytales.

Cumberbatch spoke at a special screening for Penguins of Madagascar Sunday night, in which he voices the character of a super spy wolf, opening in theatres Nov. 26. He also stars in The Imitation Game, about code-breaking genius Alan Turing, opens on Nov. 28.