David Tennant has revealed he was in the running to be cast as James Bond instead of Daniel Craig.

Appearing on the Acting For Others podcast, the Doctor Who star said he had no idea he was being eyed for the role until recently.

Asked if he’d ever been in the running, Tennant said: “I never believed I had, until I worked with a director recently who had worked with the Broccolis who said, ‘Yeah, you were on the list that time.’

“I was like, ‘What time? What are you talking about?’ He went, ‘Yeah, the last time.’ I suppose it must have been Daniel Craig, before that I would have been a child.”

He added: “I think it was quite a long list and I don’t think I was ever very near the top of it. But apparently so.”

The role of 007 went to Daniel Craig in 2006. The actor went on to play the secret agent for 15 years before bowing out in No Time To Die.

Earlier this month, producer Michael G. Wilson ruled out the possibility of a “younger” Bond, claiming the next actor will likely be in his thirties.

”We’ve tried looking at younger people in the past, but trying to visualise it doesn’t work,” he said.

“Remember, Bond’s already a veteran. He’s had some experience. He’s a person who has been through the wars, so to speak. He’s probably been in the SAS or something. He isn’t some kid out of high school that you can bring in and start off. That’s why it works for a thirty-something.”

The producer later stressed that casting has not yet started for the new 007, “no matter what others tell you”.

Meanwhile, Wilson and fellow Bond producer Barbara Broccoli also played down speculation that Idris Elba could be named as Daniel Craig’s successor.

“We love Idris,” Broccoli told Variety. “The thing is, it’s [the next Bond film is] going to be a couple of years off. And when we cast Bond, it’s a 10-12-year commitment.”