James Bond star Ben Whishaw set to play NHS doctor Adam Kay

Ben Whishaw is set to play the NHS junior doctor Adam Kay in a series based on his best-selling memoir.

The James Bond star, 39, has confirmed he will take on the role in a BBC comedy-drama based on the novel This Is Going To Hurt, which openly documents Kay’s experience working in an NHS hospital.

It comes as the latest 007 entry No Time To Di saw its release date brought forward by two weeks, after it was originally pushed back by seven months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking about the role Ben – who plays Q in the 007 series – said he was ‘proud’ to take on the role of junior doctor Kay, after his 2017 novel became a worldwide bestseller.

He told The Mirror: ‘It’s an honest, hilarious, heart-breaking look at the great institution and the army of unsung heroes who work there under the most stressful conditions.’

Meanwhile Adam himself added: ‘Ben is quite simply one of the finest actors our country has produced and a national treasure. There’s simply no one who could do a better job of playing – a much more handsome version of – me.” 

News of the series comes as the release date for the latest instalment in the James Bond franchise, No Time To Die, has been brought forward.

The long-awaited movie was originally scheduled for release in April, but the date was changed in light of the coronavirus pandemic, with a new date of November 25 being set back in March.

But now, the official Twitter account for the project has confirmed that its release date has been moved once again.

The tweet read: ‘The return of old friends in NO TIME TO DIE. In cinemas 12th November UK, 20th November US!’

The upcoming movie will mark Daniel Craig’s last-ever outing as the iconic character., which the actor insisted he was ‘fine’ about.

He said: ‘I’m really… I’m OK. I don’t think I would have been if I’d done the last film and that had been it. But this, I’m like… Let’s go. Let’s get on with it. I’m fine.’

The actor also insisted he isn’t too worried about his post-Bond career.

He said: ‘I’m pretty sure I can play just about anything. Yeah. I’m pretty sure I can, or at least I can make a f**king good fist of it.’

Daniel was more involved in the writing of the new movie than he has been in the past, including having Phoebe Waller-Bridge brought on board to tweak the script. 

Producers are also reportedly planning a spin-off based on the spy’s recently-discovered daughter, penned by the Killing Eve’ scribe Phoebe.

Sources claimed bosses have approached her to pen a franchise documenting how the offspring of 007 becomes an agent herself.

It comes following reports that Bond is set to to have daughter in the long-awaited film No Time To Die.

A source told The Sunday Mirror: ‘Bond bosses are very excited about 007 having a daughter and creating a new franchise around her.

‘It is likely to feature Bond conflicted over having to train her up as an ­assassin combined with Waller-Bridge’s ­trademark black humour, shown in Killing Eve.

‘She may just offer ideas and co-produce as roles are yet to be decided, but bosses are keen to give her a big part in the film’s production.’

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Universal Pictures and Phoebe Waller-Bridge for comment. 

Following the reports that James Bond will have a five-year-old daughter in the sequel No Time To Die, former star Britt Eklan admitted she doesn’t believe 007 should be a dad.  

The actress, 77, appeared in The Man With The Golden Gun opposite Roger Moore’s iteration of the iconic spy in 1974, and said she didn’t agree with the decision as ‘everyone wants to be’ him.

Britt explained: ‘Well, I think that Bond should probably be a little more untouchable. He’s a fantasy, Bond. Everyone wants to be Bond.’

When asked if it ruined the fantasy, she added: ‘I think so, I personally think so. Barbara [Broccoli, longtime producer of the Bond franchise] and Michael [G. Wilson, who is also a producer at EON Productions] know better than me.

‘It would be wonderful if they turned back in time to the traditional, older bachelor.’

Bond will reportedly be a doting dad to Mathilde, his daughter with love interest Dr Madeleine Swann, played by French actress Lea Seydoux.

Last week The Mail on Sunday confirmed rumours that the notorious womaniser spy is father to a five-year-old daughter in the forthcoming film No Time To Die. 

The rumours emerged last week when call sheets – the daily schedules that tell actors where they are needed for filming – for the £150 million film, the 25th in the ‘official’ Bond series, went up for sale on online auction site eBay.

The schedule describes a scene shot in southern Italy last September, which featured Dr Swann alongside Lashana Lynch’s Nomi – who this newspaper previously revealed will be the first black female 00 agent – and a child called Mathilde, played by five-year-old Lisa-Dorah Sonne.

‘Scene #235’, as the schedule calls it, details where ‘Nomi pilots Madeleine and Mathilde to safety with the island in the background’. 

Paparazzi photographs taken during filming show a young girl wearing blue dungarees with the actors and crew on the set, but it is not known if she is Mathilde.

A film insider last night said: ‘Yes, it’s true. Bond is a dad. Daniel wanted to make this Bond film the most surprising and entertaining yet. 

‘Daniel is older and his Bond is maturing and looking at life through the prism of fatherhood. But there’s a lot more to it than that.’

Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to rewrite the script after original director Danny Boyle was replaced by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

The film is now packed with ‘woke’ references and the insider said making Bond a dad had ‘opened up a whole avenue of powerful moments – and jokes’, adding: ‘It’s the one thing fans would never expect. 

‘Bond has always managed to charm his way into the hearts and beds of hundreds of beautiful women, seemingly without any consequences. 

‘Making him a father opens up a whole new world in terms of drama and story development.’

In the new film, which was due to open in April but was pushed back to November because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bond is shown enjoying retirement in Jamaica, having hung up his Walther PPK pistol in favour of a quiet life. 

No Time To Die is set five years after the last Bond film, Spectre, which saw the secret agent fall in love with Dr Swann, a French psychologist. Spectre ends with Bond driving off with her into the sunset in his old Aston Martin DB5.

The insider said: ‘Without giving too much away, the new film is filled with twists. 

‘Bond appears to be happy in his new domestic life but then, of course, he gets dragged back in to save the world.’

No Time To Die opens with new Bond villain, Safin, played by Oscar-winner Rami Malek, chasing a girl across an ice-covered lake in Norway.

The scene is a ‘flashback’ of a young Madeleine Swann fleeing for her life. ‘Daniel wants to tie up lots of loose ends in his final film. 

‘Everything is interwoven,’ the insider said. ‘Bond finding out he is a father is integral to the plot.’

Pictures have emerged of an Italian child, Allegra Shettini, who ‘stood in’ for Lisa-Dorah Sonne during a sequence. 

She told a TV interviewer: ‘I just had to sit on a rock and play with a stick.’

The new movie involves Bond saving the world from a biological pandemic. ‘It’s not quite Covid-19, but it’s similar’, said the insider. ‘It’s very timely.’