Steve Coogan renews his Bond with Roger Moore

Comic narrates a film about the late 007 actor

comedy A screen star with a ladies man reputation who thought his greatest role was playing himself... you can see why Steve Coogan was cast as Roger Moore in a film coming to the BBC this Christmas.

In his memoirs, Coogan admitted to having a picture of Moore in a safari suit on his bedroom wall as a child and he has repeatedly shown his love for the late Bond actor throughout his career, from the days of Spitting Image through The Trip and successive Alan Partridge shows.

And that made him an ideal choice to voice The Saint icon in the new documentary, From Roger Moore With Love. with most of his narration coming from the four-times married actor's garrulous 1973 memoir The 007 Diaries: Filming Live and Let Die

The film also features interviews with Bond alumni Pierce Brosnan, Christopher Walken and Jane Seymour, as well as David Walliams, who became a friend of the star before his death in 2017.

Coogan has followed in Moore's footsteps before. He was once cast in a big-budget remake of The Persuaders as Brett Sinclair, the wealthy and urbane playboy that Moore played on TV, but the project never made it to screen.

Coogan was also memorably disappointed in his efforts to host the film star on the very first episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. Although 'Moore' could be heard saying 'Hello Alan' in velvet tones via a phone link, Partridge was reduced to forlornly bellowing 'Roger!' when his star guest got stuck in traffic.

Several years after the episode, Moore recalled that his own father had upbraided him for his no-show, not realising that the chat show had been a spoof.

Later, in I'm Alan Partridge, Alan was so distraught to discover that someone had taped over his copy of The Spy Who Loved Me, that he set about re-enacting scenes from the film for his guests to watch instead.

Coogan and Rob Brydon, of course, never went too long without trading impressions on The Trip. Here, they showcase their respective Bonds, with some bonus Liam Neeson: