Bookmakers are offering odds on Claes Bang becoming the next James Bond after his starring role in the BBC’s Dracula adaptation.

Bang has entered the race to replace Daniel Craig with odds of 16/1 from William Hill, tying with Damian Lewis and Henry Cavill, and ahead of actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch.

The Danish actor, 52, plays Dracula in the three-part BBC One adaptation which ends tonight, and his performance has caused a stir.

He is relatively unknown to British audiences and found fame late in life, although he appeared in the HBO/Sky Atlantic series The Affair last year and starred as a museum boss in a film, The Square, that won the Palme d’Or in 2017.

However, he is known to the Bond producer, Barbara Broccoli. He was first linked to the Bond role after his appearance in The Square, and said of the rumours in a 2018 interview: “I really love Daniel Craig in that part. I actually have been talking to Barbara Broccoli but about another project.

“I think, if she was thinking along those lines, she probably would have said it. But I don’t know.”