We asked Ralph Fiennes to pout and he told us to "f*ck off"

In the realm of acts who are hard to follow, superseding Dame Judi Dench as M in the Bond franchise has to be up there with taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Not exactly a walk in the park.

Luckily for Ralph Fiennes, who officially steps into the shoes as the beleaguered boss of MI6 for Spectre, you’ll be glad to know he’s avoided doing a ‘Moyes'.

Far from it. He’s excellent in fact, even getting to sleuth and scrap his way across London in a bid to help Daniel Craig's Bond when sinister forces threaten the agency's very existence - and given how close Fiennes has been to playing the titular spy himself in the past, it’s doubly enjoyable watching the man work.

Did the action scenes make him wish he’d played 007? Does he think Craig will stay on? Would Idris Elba would make a good replacement? And after an awkward interview of Craig being asked to pout made world headlines, what would he say in that situation?

His retort to the latter might as well have been written by Fleming.