There are always rumours abound about who the next James bond will be, but did you know that many actors worked on BBC productions before they joined MI6?
Daniel Craig
Let's start with the current 007.
One of Daniel Craig's breakout roles was in Our Friends In The North as Geordie Peacock. He also played the lead, Prof. Fluke Kelso, in TV movie Archangel.
Pierce Brosnan
Yet another Bond had some of his earliest roles in the BBC. The Mamma Mia star played Robert Gould Shaw in the 1982 costume drama Nancy Astor - 13 years before he was drinking vodka Martinis.
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton was mainly a theatre actor before taking his role as James Bond, but when he wasn't in theatre he worked mainly with the BBC. Dalton famously played Mr. Rochester in the BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre in 1983, four years before his role as Bond.
Sean Connery
The original. Before he became the coolest man in the world and launched a multi-billion dollar franchise, Sean Connery was Henry Percy, commonly known as Harry Hotspur, in BBC series An Age of Kings.
Sean Bean
We can't talk about Pierce Brosnan without mentioning Sean Bean as the villainous Alec Trevelyan. The Lord Of The Rings actor has been mainstay of the BBC since his role as Lovelace in Clarissa and has more recently played Father Michael Kerrigan in Broken. Sean has also recently been announced as a new cast member for WWII drama World On Fire.
Dame Judi Dench
A living legend and one of the best British actors of all time, Dame Judi Dench had her big break at the BBC playing Terry Stevens in Theatre 625. Dench played the straight-talking M for 17 years, starting in GoldenEye. Judi was last on your screens in her documentary, Judi Dench: My Love Of Trees.
John Cleese
A man who needs very little introduction. John played R in The World Is Not Enough, before being promoted to Q in Die Another Day. As one sixth of Monty Python he was on screens from 1969 before going it alone with the brilliantly funny Fawlty Towers in 1975. John will also feature in a Christmas special of the BBC One comedy Hold The Sunset.
Naomie Harris
Naomie Harris started her career as a child actor back in 1987 as Joyce in Simon And The Witch and played Maggie in Peter Kosminsky’s political drama The Project. Harris then went on to star in blockbuster films such as Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Moonlight. She plays Eve Moneypenny in the James Bond series.
Ben Whishaw
One of Ben Wishaw's first leading roles was in the BBC's crime drama Criminal Justice as Ben Coulter. Since then, he's been the voice of Paddington and played Norman Scott in BBC factual-drama A Very English Scandal. Whishaw took over from John Cleese as Q.
Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike played Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. Before that, the Gone Girl actor played Lady Harriet in BBC mini-series Wives and Daughters. Rosamund also stars in the new BBC adaptation of Watership Down, which will be on our screens this Christmas.
Gemma Arterton
Gemma Arterton was in Tess of the D’Urbervilles the same year as she appeared as Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace. She’ll star alongside Rosamund Pike in Watership Down.
Find out about the actors who are tipped to be the next Bond and worked with the BBC here.
