Aidan Turner is new favourite for 007

Hunky Aidan Turner has emerged as the bookmakers' new favourite to play James Bond if Daniel Craig steps down.

The Spectre and Skyfall star still has to make up his mind about a future as 007, and sources close to the superspy franchise insist he's unlikely to return to the role, leaving a Bond vacancy.

Idris Elba and Damian Lewis were among the early contenders and Tom Hiddleston recently topped British bookmakers' betting lists, but now Poldark star Aidan is in the driving seat.

Bookies at Ladbrokes insist the new Bond will be announced imminently - and they reveal the clever money is now on Turner, who is the 1-2 favourite. Hiddleston has 2-1 odds and is followed by Tom Hardy, Elba, Henry Cavill and Lewis.

If Turner lands the role, he'll be working with a new Bond director after Sam Mendes recently confirmed he would not be back for a third-straight 007 movie.

Mendes was the man behind Skyfall and Spectre, the two most successful Bond films.

The filmmaker admits the back-to-back movies were a high point in his career, but he is ready to hand the job to another director.

"It was an incredible adventure, I loved every second of it," he said at the Hay Festival in Wales last month (28May16), "but I think it's time for somebody else. I'm a storyteller and at the end of the day, I want to make stories with new characters."

But he is interested to see who producer Barbara Broccoli chooses as her next Bond when Daniel Craig's time is up.

"There's this constant debate about who's going to be the next Bond," he told British newspaper The Telegraph. "The truth is - and here's the headline: it's not a democracy. It's not the X Factor... it's not a public vote. Barbara Broccoli chooses who's going to be the next Bond: end of story."

"Without (her), there would be no Daniel Craig because public support for Daniel was zero," he continued. "It was her saying, 'That man over there is going to change the whole thing, I'm going to cast him'. That turned it on his head.

"I can guarantee whatever happens with it, it will not be what you expect. That's what she's (Broccoli) been brilliant at, and that's how it'll survive. It's not a public vote, and I think we're in an age where everything is deemed vote-able on. Some things just aren't and it's better that way."