Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, the current darling of Hollywood's biggest producers, is putting his big screen career on hold to return to Britain and take on the Bard on TV.

Cumberbatch will star in one of three filmed adaptation of Shakespeare's plays, Richard III, for the BBC later this year.

The 37-year-old actor is also planning to take on Hamlet in a stage production on London's West End next year.

It's a bold move for Cumberbatch who has, since 2012, starred in a string of Hollywood blockbusters.

They include Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, in which he voices the dragon Smaug, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness, in which he played the villain, Khan.

Cumberbatch has also starred in 12 Years a Slave, The Fifth Estate and August: Osage County, alongside Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Ewan McGregor.

The new BBC adaptation of Richard III will be executive produced by Sam Mendes and produced by Rupert Ryle-Hodges (Downton Abbey).

It will be written by Ben Power and directed by Dominic Cooke.

In a curious twist, Cumberbatch's Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman is also taking on Richard III – but on the stage.

Freeman will play the doomed king in a stage production on London's West End.

Freeman is also to star in the TV adaptation of Fargo, which will launch in the US this month. It will air in Australia on SBS.