Screen test

It's been a long hard slog, but the race to don James Bond's well-worn dinner jacket has entered the final straight. There's been much to-ing and fro-ing from producer Barbara Broccoli over the past year but I hear that those on the shortlist have been summoned to Pinewood studios for final auditions.

"The list has been whittled down to four," says my well-placed source. "The auditions have reached their most important stage: how the actors fare in the sack. So stand-in Bond girls have been hired to act out select love scenes from past Bond films with the final four actors."

Spy's money is still on old Etonian Dominic West, whom I revealed back in February to be a contender.

When I call to check our man had made it to the final stages, a spokesman says: "I'm not allowed to say. I'll leave that one to your imagination."