Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter are expecting their first baby

BENEDICT Cumberbatch is set to become a father for the first time.

Sophie Hunter, left, and Benedict Cumberbatch arrive at the 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015, in Palm Springs, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

BENEDICT Cumberbatch is to become a father for the first time.

The Imitation Game star’s fiancee, Sophie Hunter, is pregnant, The New York Post reports.

The 38-year-old actor — who’s a contender for the best actor Golden Globe this weekend for his role in the WWII drama and is expected to garner an Oscar nomination — is delighted and excited about becoming a dad, we’re told.

Sources also said the low-key couple, who were engaged in early November, are planning to marry sooner than expected, in the next few months.

One source told The New York Post: “Sophie is a few months along, and both she and Benedict are very excited about it. They are also quietly planning to marry in early spring.”

Happy couple ... Sophie Hunter (L) and Benedict Cumberbatch attend the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. Picture: AFP

Cumberbatch and Hunter, 36, an actress and theatre director, were most recently spotted together last Saturday at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where she disguised her bump with a long Just Cavalli maxidress and a discreetly placed purse.

The festival honoured The Imitation Game — which stars Cumberbatch as mathematician Alan Turing, who broke the Nazi Enigma code during WWII — with an award for ensemble cast.

His co-star Keira Knightley, who didn’t make it to Palm Springs, is also pregnant for the first time.

Co-stars ... Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley in a scene from The Imitation Game. Picture: Supplied

On the red carpet, Cumberbatch, who is back filming TV series Sherlock, which turned him into an international sex symbol, politely sidestepped reporters’ questions about his and Hunter’s upcoming nuptials. When asked about their wedding plans, he said he was busy reprising his role as Sherlock Holmes and, “One thing at a time!”

Cumberbatch and Hunter announced their engagement with a modest, somewhat old-fashioned notice in the “forthcoming marriages” section of the Times of London in November.

When asked about the charming announcement, he told USA Today, “It’s what I would have done if I wasn’t famous.” His spokeswoman didn’t get back to us.