FORMER 007 star Pierce Brosnan has revealed who he reckons should play the next James Bond.

Brosnan, who played the fictional M16 spy in four films, thinks British actor Idris Elba should take over from Daniel Craig.

“Yeah, he would make a good Bond,” Brosnan, 61, told a British radio station of Elba’s credentials.

He added: “Colin Salmon also. May the best man get the job and may Daniel (Craig) bring home the bacon for as long as he wants.”

Salmon is an English actor best known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.

Everyone from Jamie Foxx to Kanye West has touted Elba as the obvious choice as speculation rages about Craig’s successor. Craig is currently filming Spectre, his fourth and last Bond film.

Elba, best known for TV roles in The Wire and Luther, initially dismissed the speculation before admitting to a fan on Reddit he would like the role.

“Yes, if it was offered to me, absolutely,” the 42-year-old heart-throb wrote.

In November, hacked Sony Pictures’ emails also revealed the film studios saw Elba as an ideal successor, prompting the star to tweet this picture of himself.

Isn't 007 supposed to handsome? Glad you think I've got a shot! Happy New year people. pic.twitter.com/3g9lAl2Uo3 — Idris Elba (@idriselba) December 27, 2014

Elba has repeatedly said he wouldn’t want to be offered the role just because of his skin colour.

“I’ve always detested the phrase ‘black Bond’, I just don’t understand it,” he said in an interview on British TV show Lorraine last year.

“We don’t say ‘white Bond’, we just say ‘Bond’ so it suddenly becomes a black man and he’s a ‘black Bond’ so I hate that phrase.”

In 2011, he told US broadcaster NPR: “Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond, so if I played him, I don’t want to be called the black James Bond.”

Critics have argued that casting a black actor would conflict with the character’s Anglo-Saxon ancestry, written by Bond creator Ian Fleming.

James Bond has previously been played by actors including Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton.