David Tennant was almost cast as James Bond.

The former 'Doctor Who' star has discovered that he was on the shortlist to take on the role of 007 before Daniel Craig landed the role in 2005 after being told of the news by a friend of Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

Quizzed on whether he had been in the running to play the iconic spy, David told Acting for Others Presents podcast: "No, 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 went, 'What time?' He went, 'The last time.'

"I suppose he meant Daniel Craig, because before that I'd have been a child. I think it was a long list and I don't think I was ever near the top of it, but apparently so."

The 51-year-old actor – who played the Tenth Doctor between 2005 and 2010 and is set to reprise the role for the sci-fi show's 60th anniversary next year – thinks that playing 007 would have drastically altered his level of fame.

David said: "I think it's a bit of a game changer. That level of celebrity.

"Bond is on a different level. But there is that bit (as the Doctor) where you lose your anonymity, certainly.

"It was a different scale to anything I'd done before in terms of just the general public being aware of you. There's always someone who has a DVD that they want signing.

"But I'm not going to complain about that, it's a very privileged place to be."