DA505 main
26/7/05
6:57 pm
Page 15
JAMES
BOND
OR DR WHO?
Jon Hill investigates
speculation is rife as to who will be the next actor to
don the tux and make with the casually misogynistic
asides as the planet’s most famous spy. A popular
James Bond Internet fan-site is conducting an
ongoing poll as to whom fans think the next Bond
should be. There is a drop-down menu with some
50 actors to choose from. The one thing these
actors have in common? They are all white.
Similarly, before David Tennant was announced as
the BBC’s new Doctor Who, replacing the outgoing
Christopher Eccleston, a number of actors were
linked with the role in the media, all of them white.
Sure, there has been the odd black name in the
frame for these parts in the past, but it has always
been reported in the media as a semi-novelty item.
Ying-Ying the giant panda has successfully given
birth to triplets and, guess what people, rumour has
it that actor Colin Salmon could be the first black
James Bond!
Salmon, best known for his role in BBC1’s Judge
John Deed (an exciting tale, as Harry Hill puts it, of
everyday judging), has actually appeared in the past
three Bond films, playing M’s chief of staff, Charles
Robinson. Late last year, Ladbrokes actually stopped
taking bets on the identity of the next Bond after a
series of large bets were placed on Salmon. However,
these were dismissed by rival bookies William Hill as
part of a publicity stunt to raise the actor’s profile
and the rumour mill has long since fallen silent.
Hip-hop megastar and high-profile Napoleon - »