Kinnear: “I'm being used as a decoy for Doctor Who"

He was recently pronounced as Ladbrokes favourite to be the next Doctor Who, but actor Rory Kinnear insists in an interview with 'The Independent', that he’s never even watched the show. “I think I’m being used as a decoy on that front ... It’s the first I’ve heard!”

Although primarily known as a stage actor - he played a punk Hamlet at the National Theatre and this month is cast as Iago at the National opposite Adrian Lester, as Othello - Kinnear is building a movie portfolio.

In 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Skyfall' he played chief of staff to M, one Judi Dench, whom he’s known since he was a baby (her husband, Michael Williams, was his godfather, and best friend of his much-loved actor dad, Roy Kinnear).

There was British indie film 'Broken', directed by Rufus Norris, playing a bereaved father, protective of his teenage daughters to the point of violent thuggery. Kinnear pulled it off brilliantly – netting best supporting actor last year at the British Independent Film Awards.

Most notoriously he played the prime minister who has televised sex with a pig in Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror'.

“People were a lot more shocked than I expected. I was really delighted to be part of something that was distinctive and had a bite to it. But, yeah, taking my son to soft play the next morning... that, er, that was... lonely,” he laughs.

Coming up is a part in the film 'Cuban Fury', a Nick Frost comedy vehicle due this summer, while on telly, the already hotly tipped Channel 4 drama 'Southcliffe', written by Tony Grisoni ('Red Riding') and directed by Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene), will air in the autumn.