Golden Globes 2015: Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne to compete for best film actor

The British actors will go head-to-head for their portrayals of two of the country's most famous academics

Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne (PA)

Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne will compete for the best film actor prize at the Golden Globe awards for their portrayals of eminent British intellectuals.

The pair are among a host of British stars and productions up for prizes at the awards, seen as a possible guide to the Oscars, including Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike who battle for best film actress.

Golden Globes 2015 nominations in full

Cumberbatch is recognised for his performance as Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, while Redmayne is up for his role as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, which had its UK premiere only this week.

They face another British actor in their category, David Oyelowo, for his performance as Martin Luther King in civil rights drama Selma, as well as Steve Carell for Foxcatcher and Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler.

Jones is nominated for her portrayal of Prof Hawking's first wife Jane in the biopic examining their relationship and career successes, with Pike honoured for her appearance in Gone Girl.

Pride, the story of gay activists joining forces with striking Welsh miners, receives a best picture nod.

Other Brits who have impressed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association include Keira Knightley for best supporting actress (The Imitation Game).

Dame Helen Mirren is nominated for best actress in a film comedy or musical for The Hundred-Foot Journey, alongside Emily Blunt for the Stephen Sondheim adaptation Into The Woods.

Ralph Fiennes’s role in The Grand Budapest Hotel sees him up for best actor in a film comedy or musical, against the likes of Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Joaquin Phoenix and Christoph Waltz.

The Theory Of Everything and The Imitation Game are also up for best picture along with Selma, Foxcatcher and Boyhood which US director Richard Linklater filmed over a period of 12 years.

Selma's Ava DuVernay becomes the first black female film-maker to be nominated for the best director award.

Birdman, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's dark comedy about a former superhero actor - played by Keaton - attempting a Broadway comeback, leads the field this year with seven nominations, including the best film (comedy or musical) category.

British nominees in the television categories include Downton Abbey actress Joanne Froggatt, Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) and Ricky Gervais, nominated for his comedy Derek.

BBC One drama The Missing is up for the award for best television movie or mini-series, while Martin Freeman and Clive Owen are recognised for their roles in Fargo and The Knick respectively.

Downton Abbey is again nominated the best television drama award, as are Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, House of Cards and The Affair - a Showtime series that has also earned nominations for its British stars Ruth Wilson and Dominic West. Jake Gyllenhaal's sister, Maggie, receives her own nomination for her leading role in BBC miniseries The Honourable Woman

Notable snubs included Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, the World War II tale of Olympic runner and POW Louis Zamperini, Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men.

Redmayne said: “I was in the middle of attempting to do all my holiday shopping in a day when I got the call. I am beyond thrilled to be nominated alongside such a stunning quartet of actors.”

Read more: Eddie Redmayne could not watch Benedict Cumberbatch play Stephen Hawking