Gentleman Jack's Suranne Jones sees odds cut in race to become next James Bond

Fans are eagerly anticipating seeing her back on their screens with the new season of Gentleman Jack, which sees her play Halifax diarist Anne Lister, suggesting she’s no stranger to playing strong and independent female characters.

Suranne shot to fame after playing Karen McDonald in Coronation Street, before cementing herself as a leading figure in intense dramas with series like Unforgiven (2009), Doctor Foster (2015-17) and Save Me (2018).

She’s no stranger to wielding a weapon either, having starred in the police procedural Scott & Bailey - for which she was nominated for the Best TV Detective NTA back in 2014.

Previously commenting on the rumours, Jones dismissed the idea saying that women “should just have their own characters.”

And despite this outlook, speculation is still rife as to whether the next 007 could be female, with search data pulled from Google Trends revealing that queries around a female Bond have risen by a massive 135% in the last six months.

The current frontrunner for playing a female Bond is Lashana Lynch at odds of 7-1, who starred in No Time to Die as the first female 007.

Suranne Jones has her odds sliced to 20-1 in William Hill’s James Bond market. Other women featured in the market include Lydia West (33-1), Lupita Nyong’o (80-1) and Gal Gadot (100-1).

A William Hill spokesperson said: “This is the year for promoting real change and advocating for diversity in cinema, in order to improve on screen representation and help inspire women from all walks of life.

“We’ve seen another notable British character played by a women in recent years with Doctor Who, so although James Bond is associated with heavily masculine tropes, there’s no real reason why a woman - particularly a powerful and influential actress like Suranne Jones - couldn’t step into Daniel Craig’s shoes and give a fresh take on the franchise.”