DANIEL Craig is likely to be the best Bond ever according to Sir Roger Moore, speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival today, Saturday.


He also spoke of being stunned on realising that it was actually the Queen in the sketch with Craig screened during the opening ceremony of the Olympic games.


“I wondered who was doubling for her,” said Sir Roger, before he realised it was Her Majesty.


“I thought wow, the entire world saw that,” adding that it was a great tribute to 50 years of the Bond film franchise.


However, after commending Craig on his take on 007 in Casino Royale, Sir Roger dismissed Quantum of Solace, saying it was hard to understand.


During an entertaining talk at the Centaur to promote his new book, Bond On Bond, Sir Roger  - who looked as sharp as ever in a stylish gold-buttoned double breasted navy jacket -  also revealed that his favourite Bond gadget was the magnetic Rolex watch he used to unzip Miss Caruso’s dress in 1973’s Live and Let Die – his first outing as Bond.


The scene ends with actress Madeline Smith saying ‘such a delicate touch,’ to which Moore replies with a classic Bond line - ‘sheer magnetism, darling’.


This year marks five decades since the release of the first Bond film – 1962’s Dr No -  and the novel of the same name is the festival’s big read this year.


Sir Roger admitted to only having read a couple of Fleming’s novels after being cast as Bond but said one thing stayed in his mind about the character of the secret agent.


“He didn’t like killing people but he had a job to do and he did it well,” he said.


Sir Roger said he got the role because he gambled with Bond producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman in a club in Curzon Street, London.


He had been in numerous films and achieved fame as Simon Templar in the 1960s TV series The Saint prior to Bond -  but early on in his career the young RADA graduate tried his hand at stand up comedy.


It was actually easy to see why this appealed to him as even at nearly 85 years of age Sir Roger has perfect comic timing and a razor wit.


When one audience member asked what it was like working with notorious deva Grace Jones in View To A Kill, the interviewer interjected, saying: “I deliberately didn’t ask that,” to which Sir Roger replied  “I deliberately didn’t hear it.”


He also told several amusing anecdotes which included a very funny impersonation of Sir Christopher Lee, who played villain Scaramanga in the Man With The Golden Gun.


And addressing the question of his acting abilities, he repeated his famous self-depreciating quip: “I have three expressions – one eyebrow up, the other eyebrow up and both eyebrows up at the same time.”