Benedict Cumberbatch reads a hilarious open letter to people who don't lock bathroom doors

[@sean.butterworth]

This man is such a joy to watch and listen to! He’s just terrific at portraying, in such an accurate manner, the state of mind of the author at the time of writing

[@classicerynn8452]

Benedict's reading of hilarious letters is the best! Please have him read more of them! ❤️❤️

[@sireeniddir1972]

Andrew perfectly captures the paranoia of using public bathrooms, and the compulsive need to constantly check that the door is locked is so accurate.

[@sireeniddir1972]

@@Waterdancer Public bathroom locks can be very dodgy, depending on the lock, so locked doesn't always mean DEFINITELY locked. You know?

[@faenethlorhalien]

Public toilet doors here in Japan, most of the time, are either tilted or weighed slightly in some way that makes them open up unless locked, so you'd usually notice.

[@paolagrando5079]

That's a great idea.

[@ModelsExInferis]

Another reason to view Japan as the best country on the planet!

[@aish125]

Yeah, I'm Japanese too. Those doors are fully open when unoccupied. But if there are very bold people who don't mind closing doors? 🤣(Unlikely tho)

[@rumination2399]

Interesting.

[@ianmarsden6276]

Clever idea.

[@JungianHeights]

I’ll never forget an experience I had five years ago. I was visiting a relative in hospital, and I went to the bathroom. I HAD locked the door. All of a sudden, I see two feet standing outside my stall, so I get myself ready. The door slowly starts to open and I kick it back with my foot. Then, the person outside yells: “Sorry!” , to which I reply, “It’s ok!”.

[@khunagnes]

*audible gasp*

[@floradiamonds]

​@@khunagnes 😅

[@sherrinunya4079]

Hilarious, they weren't sorry and it wasn't ok!!

[@Sashazur]

I once opened an airplane lavatory door only to find an older lady sitting on the toilet. She squawked in surprise and I slammed the door shut! For some reason I have the impression that she intentionally didn’t lock it because she was scared to possibly get stuck in there. It was 50 years ago and I still remember it clearly. 😳

[@paladro]

sounds like you revisit the memory often ;)

[@ChristopherCricketWallace]

he used his best American accent for this one😂

[@Firefly12569]

My mum once went into a public toilet where the door was missing. She just doesn't care 😂

[@alisonhall4465]

You must have the same mum as me ! 😂

[@seattlegrrlie]

I am your mom 😂

[@ClideIsListening]

My grandmother just exited the car and leaned on it as she used the bathroom in a parking lot💀

[@mysterirhys]

Every school I ever went to removed the doors in the boys room (don’t know about the girls, never asked)

[@jediarcherbc709]

No door means no need to lock it! No chance that it will jam and not unlock! Absolute freedom and an easy exit when business concludes!

[@MonserratFoster]

I remember walking in on someone in the toilets of a museum and after the person annoyingly said "occupied" I remember replying "well it's hardly my fault, you didn't lock the door"

[@tigressnsnow]

Many locks are broken

[@MonserratFoster]

@@tigressnsnow you'd be surprised how many are not broken in the netherlands.

[@nahuelma97]

I British-yfied this in my mind and now you said "Well, you didn't lock the door, so it's hardy my fault, isn't it?!" in a very British accent. Accurate or not, that's how I subconsciously chose to hear it 😂😂

[@sakshisahu7325]

Benedict can honestly make us laugh soo hard 🎉❤😇& the author is really Very OPEN in his letter. Hahaha🤣

[@mitchweiner]

His American accent is excellent!

[@susanhuntley9262]

Except for "nonchalant"

[@anahata2009]

Except for process and nonchalant. But he eventually seemed to get into a more natural groove.

[@crystalclear6864]

And the body language! Showing how the character is feeling in his body movements. Great actor

[@kiddozoo]

Caught me off-guard.

[@leaaugusta9924]

Love him but it's really not

[@nesnibila4888]

i had to get a pee sample for the hospital and some caretaker lady undid the lock from the outside of the cubicle while i was using the toliet, walked in, made eyecontact, smiled and waved, took some towels from the corner (it was a large end cubicle) and left. i was so far past shock i just left feeling bemused note, this was not a single occupancy bathroom on a ward. this was a regular public bathroom setup on a busy corridor

[@footfoot104]

It’s a good thing the letter didn’t use the word “penguin”

[@rumination2399]

Definitely appropriate to have this read in an American accent

[@kindabatooni9314]

He’s the best ❤

[@jossposs3400]

I've never walked in on someone in a public toilet, but apparently it's common? One thing that's happend repeatedly though is that people keep trying opening the door after that first time. Like? You can clearly tell when a door is locked and when it's stuck 🤦‍♀️ And even when you don't, why would you assume the bathroom door is stuck? Anyway, it drives me crazy.

[@berglettemom6045]

His non-British accent is impressive, but I prefer Ben’s regular accent.

[@aprildudko3981]

You wouldn't know he was not born in the United States, his accent is so good.

[@celticphoenix2579]

Public bathroom door locker here. I always lock the door and check it. I was once busy doing the necessary for a woman on the rag, when someone knocked on the door. I called out "occupied" as one does only to have her knock twice more before trying to open the door. By this point I was hurrying but could see under the side partition that the next cubicle over was open so I was not too concerned. I was therefore utterly shocked and dumfounded when this woman got to her knees and looked under the door straight at my crotch and freshly unwrapped sanitary product. She then made eye contact at which point I calmly said: "Hi?". She promptly left the public bathroom. To this day I honestly have no idea what she was thinking. It still amuses me no end, but hopefully the image burned into her brain will be enough that she never ever does that again. A couple of years later they replaced all the cubicles with walls and doors that go all the way to the floor, so we can hope.

[@maddoxbruce4621]

YEEEES another one :))

[@vidhoard]

Very funny haha. Also BC is just amazing.

[@tyton4032]

Starting this video with the toilet door open now slowly closing it

[@kolpik3708]

In extremely awkward situations such as the one described by Benedict; I have a tendency to blurt out OCUPADO. No, I don't speak Spanish. Strange as it already is, sometimes I'm the one doing "the interrupting" and I still say it. No clue as to why.

[@CatsandJP]

I’ve accidentally open toilet doors on people but I’ve a tendency to ask people when I meet them “ how you doing” without thinking so imagining the embarrassment when someone has their pants around their ankles.

[@KalliJ13]

I knocked on a door once prior to barging in and the occupant shouted "Come back with a warrant!" Made us both laugh.

[@CatsandJP]

@@KalliJ13 I love that one 👏

[@SeverusSnape12345]

I don't understand why people don't lock the doors to the bathroom or their stalls. I don't know how many times I opened the stall not knowing someone was in it. The only time I had the door not be locked was literally the lock's amd installers' fault. I had made sure the door was locked and latched. But the way the installers had installed the latches, they didn't line up right and were barely close enough together to latch. People shutting the doors harder than necessary in neighboring stalls caused the lock to be unlatched without my knowledge until people opened the door to the stall I was in. I have since avoided using that particular stall to keep that from happening again.

[@jediarcherbc709]

I rarely lock the door because I'm worried it will jam or otherwise not unlock. I like the confidence that I will be able to quickly open the door and leave when my business is finished...

[@nonFireresist]

I've listened this on the best place in my flat...

[@rridderbusch518]

My husband keeps our bathroom door OPEN! Worse yet, while sitting there he can see the side door's window. I can't convince him that if he can see the door's window -- the people outside the door can see him. He has an I.Q. of 150+ but doesn't have any common sense. *HELP ME!*

[@CatsandJP]

1. Nail it shut 2. Give him a bucket or a chamber pot 3. Paint the window white or opaque. 4. Show me a man who has commonsense…..they are a rare breed in fact almost extinct 😂

[@myladycasagrande863]

The only saving grace in that situation is that people outside (mostly) aren't looking in.

[@beverleypeacock]

Private bathrooms are very diffrent than public ones. Don't worry though. People can't see in unless it's dark and the lights are on. I think keeping the bathroom door open at home is a sign of trust. I think trust in a relationship is great. Sorry you find it distasteful.

[@cindyneff6499]

Same. I just don't get it.

[@IlGattonero13]

@@beverleypeacock … Leaving the door open could also be a sign of thoughtless narcissism. In this case, the behavior clearly distresses his wife, yet he continues to do it.. I think that closing the bathroom door is a gesture of respect for those who live with you. I guess it all depends on the household.

[@JacquelineHahn1]

In ancient times toilets were very public

[@Paulafan5]

They also drank from lead lined cups. Good times...

[@martingoldfire]

A sales rep in a company I used to work for walked in on the CEO having a poop💩 But since he was a drummer, selling drums for a large musical instrument grocery, he just leaned over him and asked how his day was going. Drummers, never met a sane one😂

[@DC-wt2vi]

Can he read this out as my Supreme Commander, Martin Crieff next, please? ✈️ Signed, GERTI

[@fictionfan0]

It's not just those single-room restrooms either; I've seen instances of people not even bothering to close individual stalls solely on the basis of, "My back is turned."

[@Angels-3xist]

Possibly the most twee and cute way to tackle the concept of consent.

[@amesbabom]

If you're in Lock, if you are out Knock

[@HenrikEnquist]

Who were in charge of the lighting? Extraordinary work, I salute you! Kudos and thank you! I enjoyed this as much as the "main feature", which was great, btw.

[@marcmelvin3010]

While I am entirely in sympathy with the writer, and would certainly lock the door if I ever went into a city or somewhere where I actually had to use a public restroom, not having it so is something you can get used to, or like me, become almost obsessive about bathroom privacy. None of the four Navy ships I served on almost 50 years ago had doors on the stalls. The last of them, a still-serving relic of the Second World War, not only didn’t have stalls, but the toilets were set a few feet apart, with the toilet paper on pipe stanchions between them so that you shared with the guy on the stool next to you. Most endearing of all was that the opposite row faced you, so that if you both leaned forward at the same time a little too far, you could bump heads. Sleep was a rare luxury, but privacy was utterly nonexistent, and all these decades later, I still prize both of those.

[@comealongcomealong4480]

@Marc Melvin Important historical details - thanks for sharing. You could maybe record some of these daily life experiences on an old ship - they're eye-opening, a bit funny, humbling and very instructive! /My grandfather served in the navy before and during WW2. I've recently been able to connect why my grandparents home toilet was not flushed after a wee. (So the look and smell of their toilet was 'different' for us grandkids. Timber seat, really old china bowl, and an elevated cistern with a metal pull-chain. Quite entertaining 😃) It was the years long habit of saving water, essential onboard a serving vessel.

[@georgielancaster1356]

In Oz, in droughts, we don't flush wee. If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down... but did the ship loos use that appallingly wasteful normal US flush, or did they use the Australian/English flush, where the water just tumbles and does not fill the bowl and then empty? That always seems so unclean to me. The excess water carries any loose small matter right up to the top, then recedes, to leave bacteria right up the sides. In the UK/Oz flush, the water tumbles down and pushes everything down the bottom and round the U bend. I don't know why there is not a regulation in the US, now, that makes it a requirement to replace loos with the less wasteful version. Of course for a few decades now, we have the half flush/full flush, for wees and... no 2s. So i think now, you choose a flush of 3 litres or 6 litres. Before that came in, people had started lessening wasted flush water, by putting a brick in the cistern, which must have saved a litre or two, per flush. Or you could fill a 2 litre milk bottle with water and put it in the cistern. In rural areas, in Oz, with no neighbours, in the old days, men would sit on the verandah, and smoke, after dinner. It was the tradition to plant a lemon tree or two, in front of the verandah, for household use, and men were encouraged to just stand on the edge of the balcony, and pee on the lemon trees. Great source of nitrogen, less trouble to walk out the back and down the garden, to the 'outside dunny' (long drop). Or the tin you had to empty, each month! Usually other fruit trees planted around the outside dunny, too. They flourished and kept the little shed cooler.

[@leaaugusta9924]

Sounds almost ancient Roman!

[@KevDaly]

The worst is that a lot of them have broken locks (I think even intentionally by the management), so you have to hold the damned door closed.

[@tammyhodges4447]

EXACTLY

[@xxsuperheroxx3701]

Just remember that the people who didn't wash their hands touched that door knob. Just saying...=/

[@CatsandJP]

Or worse asking for a helping hand 🤮

[@mrcat3493]

I went into a public restroom and a guy in the stall was FaceTiming his wife. WTF is wrong with people.

[@faezehmohammadi-hs2iw]

👏👏👏👏👏👏 😊😊😊😊😊😊 excellent 👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@ModelsExInferis]

Right, now I *know* I'm living in a simulation! How the hell else am I to explain this popping up mere days after I accidentally walked in on a woman on the bog in Morrisons?! I was mortified, she was on her phone, just having a nice, relaxing... Whatever in a food shop, with the door unlocked, no biggie! And no, she did not wash her hands, yurk!

[@leaaugusta9924]

🤢

[@paladro]

leaving the door unlocked, is how i meet new people. ;)

[@rrsjr]

This just happened to me at a 7-11. And one of the cashiers had the audacity to admonish me for not knocking, saying "Don't you knock on the bathroom door at home?" Seriously, wtf is wrong with some people?

[@leaaugusta9924]

I'm 100% on your side! No, I have never knocked on the bathroom door at home! It's the responsibility of the person inside to protect their own privacy.

[@puirYorick]

I was bursting and finally located a Gent's. Opened the door and saw the old-style tall urinal straight ahead as I went in. As I was availing myself... another guy walked in behind and went along to use the bowl about 8 feet deeper into the oversized and apparently single-user room. Okay, I was in a hurry and didn't scope out the situation properly then lock the door but I hadn't thought I was meant to due to the room being so big. Most department store toilets have multiple stalls and basins plus an entire row of urinals and electric hand dryers. The other dude was some kind of wacko to use the lone open "sitter" though.

[@Cora.T]

Frankly, ive forgotten to lock a door in a public bathroom maybe once or twice in my life. It can happen, its not the end of the world, though it is embarrassing 😂 however feeling the need to obsessively check might be an OCD thing. Also there are people who dont lock the door on purpose, i have a friend who was locked in a tiolet as a child and is now afraid to lock a door. She generally makes someone stand in front of it though. Or people could also not lock it for safety reasons, you know if they're heart attack prone for example, if they have issues then someone can reach them A fun story an elder friend told me: he was a freight airplane pilot, and sometimes the king and his escort would travel with freight airplanes to Afrika to go hunting. Now the king was rather old and was thus not allowed to lock his door so that someone could reach him if something happened. My friend webt to the toilet, opened the door, to find the king on the trone. So he in a very upbeat manner went "pardon me your majesty" and slammed the door shut 😂

[@lilianportela1941]

I don't care that people talk about you I just care what the fuck does it matter that I feel the rest of it Benedict Cumberbatch I love you ❤❤❤

[@BA-ng9bx]

The locks and latches on public toilets never work! Yep, you got to knock; and gently, so you don't accidently open the door while knocking.😄

[@Memo2Self]

Why isn't this guy cast in more comedies? (And no, "The Grinch" doesn't count.)

[@Sound_Tech]

If you're that paranoid about closing the door, how are you also so brazen as to waltz into a toilet without knocking? Like, I would think someone so anxious about being walked in on would be equally cautious of walking in on someone. Even when the door is locked, I much prefer someone knock on it rather than veinly shaking the handle.

[@cecilecochet6198]

Assistant !

[@mrstock7986]

I used to lock the bathroom door. If at all mechanically possible. Like Andrew here, and 'normal' people tend to do. But now i share the house with a cat who will scratch violently and incessantly at any closed door that has one of his servants behind it. The only option is to leave the door ajar, not just unlocked, _ajar,_ and wait for the cat to check on you, go about his merry way again, and then do your business. But don't close the door. Ever.

[@idreamtiwasbackatmanderley414]

In Paris there used to be a restaurant where in the ladies bahroom the stall doors were made of one way mirror : in the inside you could look out. I hated it!

[@leaaugusta9924]

Interesting though!

[@tahoemike5828]

Man A: "Didn't your mother teach you to wash your hands after going?" Man B: "No, she taught me not to pee on my fingers."

[@safcforme]

So NOT a bathroom then? It's a toilet!!!

[@jediarcherbc709]

Dear Andrew... Have you considered the possibility some of us our scared that if we lock to door, it will never unlock again and we will be trapped in there until someone comes to let us out? We desire to be able to freely exit the bathroom once our business is done, but a lock keeps us in as much as it keeps you out. Please be considerate of the needs of us who leave the doors unlocked, and think of the situations when leaving it unlocked is the logical choice no matter how rare that scenario seems... Sincerely, Someone who only recently started locking bathroom doors after getting over the above anxiety...

[@josh2Sides2]

Occasionally sounds like Christopher Walken

[@Algorithmicgeneratedwordsalad]

So my aunt went to a reenactment where all the women were in very large hoop skirts and they had removed the bathroom doors and there was a line of people in my aunt had been chit chatting with people for several hours and absolutely 100% had to go there was only one bathroom out of three that had an act of door on it and she just threw her skirt up at the back and sat down and one lady was so offended my aunt looked at her without stopping and said well if I have something you've never seen before it's not like you're going to know what it is

[@gpoop23]

Man, the original lyrics to "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" just weren't as iconic as the version they went with.

[@jenshep1720]

as someone who has ocd (thankfully not with this particular compulsion), i think andrew has ocd

[@UltraSuperDuperFreak]

What on earth did that man experiance on a bath room making him write that letter ? Anyway i cant say i agree with him. I lock the door and asume its working honestly.

[@CatsandJP]

Imagine Andrew Forrester camping out in the woods and he has to dig a hole to use “the bathroom “. It’s probably “below” him to do that. What if he forgot the toilet paper, he would have to improvise and use a leaf or two which would be quite “rough” on him. I think he’s a real s💩t for complaining. 😂

[@markiliff]

Well that Forrester should be worth a few grand to the trick cyclist profession

[@loraineriddell7157]

🤣🤣👌

[@averyalexander2528]

What perfect timing I find this video on a day where I had the door opened on me in the bathroom. I wish I could respond to that woman, so I will do so here. It seems to be uncommon that I forget to lock the door but today, I was rushed. Tired, and sick, and with bigger stresses on my mind. The habit to lock and check seem to have completely been missed and I didn't think about the lock until you opened the door. Of course when you opened the door, I don't really know what to say. I wasn't embarrassed to be seen on the toilet at least today, though I should be embarrassed for leaving the door unlocked. What does one say to quickly convey "I'm not uncomfortable I just worry that you are. But also don't mean to imply you should just be okay with watching strangers shit?" Even that statement is certainly not ideal. "Sorry you had to see that" that's probably it. I just hope you aren't carrying the embarrassment of catching me in the bathroom with you. I assume not, we both know it's not your fault. I will share a habit I did form to avoid this. oddly I did remember to do this when I went into the fateful bathroom visit. Crack the door open and stick your arm hand into the room. it'll give time for the person to react if they're in there before they're ever *seen.* I'm probably not gonna persuade anyone to do that though, and that's fine. After all, we all certainly know that I am full of shit. Regards.

[@johncornell7103]

I knew a girl in college who left the door open while using the toilet ( either function) it was to the rest of quite off putting

[@huangdabao]

In china, most of the toilets don’t even have doors

[@Bobbobob12647]

I'll lock a stall door, but I'll not often lock a bathroom door. Especially if there's space for more than one person.

[@notlikely4468]

This is why we need national service Most military barracks don't have doors on the toilets And some don't even have cubicles A year of that and your inhibitions will be....altered Teaches you tolerance And to appreciate the simple benefits of civilian life

[@marypasco2213]

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go. The world can stand aside and wait!

[@karenlindley.9756]

Haaaaaaaa😂😂😂😂😂

[@nardo218]

lol this is such a martin crieffien letter. douglas never locks the door.

[@sorenrichenberg3313]

Wow I didn't know Benedict could speak English

[@cecilecochet6198]

Mais à l'intérieur c'est un chinois ! 😂😂😂

[@brandon13k]

Why not knock?

[@tigressnsnow]

Why is he using an American accent?

[@jewel65]

Letter was written by American

[@dan.j.boydzkreationz]

*Guilty* sometimes

[@CatsandJP]

Glad someone admits it 👍

[@comealongcomealong4480]

@Dan J. Boyd Realised I've done this too, quite aware of my vulnerable position and gambling that no-one else comes in. Sometimes it's a quiet location, past the busy use times. So - door, schmoor - no need. Othertimes, the dimensions of the stall are SO micro, so Japanese - especially if you're attempting to squeeze around the toilet door with a backpack, or suitcase, or bags of shopping. Maybe you're wearing a bulky Winter coat as well. The physics of it all, combined with a pressing need, become too much - and the solution is to keep that entrance wide and open.

[@Sushi2735]

Ouuuuuuuu! Certain things in life should always be be get private. No one want that photo memory stuck in their brain! Yuck 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@seattlegrrlie]

Yeah, honey, some of us totally don't care

[@nahuelma97]

Does he read these in an American accent just for fun now? Lmao tryna get the whole world to think he's an American instead of a Brit?

[@rachelwitherspoon4394]

I just can't listen to his American accent. Not that its bad, just his own accent is soooo much nicer.

[@perievonpeggie1341]

Any USA heads know where this cartoonish-sounding accent is supposed to be from? Is it passable/awful/well-done-for-a-luvvy-hun/spot on the nose devastating or pretty good? Respaaanses in a ledder with exclamation maaarks yeeeeea wide

[@Gojoseon]

It’s not the most convincing Brit’s American accent (that goes to Hugh Laurie) but it is ok because it’s Benedict Cumberbatch.

[@CatsandJP]

Oh really it is just a bit of fun. The accent is not the point, it’s called entertainment.

[@perievonpeggie1341]

@@Gojoseon Aaaah okay theeeeeyn. Baynendaaayk geyts a Caaahmberpaaahs Go Joseon! (withoowwit the baaaahd bahts of coahrse)

[@perievonpeggie1341]

@@CatsandJP Entertainment is very subjective I guess. I shall endeavour to gloss over both the weak-tea and rancid portrayals of real regional speech and instead devote my energy to accepting mirth without listening to the screwed warbled-mewling that is holding me back from the joy you get from it. Taaahnks

[@perievonpeggie1341]

@@CatsandJP i will look into this new thing that you call 'entertainment' and relax. Thank you and to your pajamas made of stray cats that you put together on an autumn night as you listened, uncaringly to those poor moggies mewl-bark-hiss-gasp as you mentally and subsequently, physically skinned them to pass the time. Entertainment.