New BBC thriller McMafia is like a two-month James Bond audition for star James Norton

HE jets around the world, beds beautiful women and battles evil henchmen.

And all without getting a crease in his tailored tuxedo.

No, we are not talking James Bond but the plot for new BBC drama McMafia — which looks like an eight-episode rehearsal for star James Norton to step into Daniel Craig’s 007 shoes.

James, 32, plays Alex, a London financier trying to distance himself from his Russian crime family.

But he ends up deep in a world of violent gangs who use the global dominance business model of fast food chain McDonald’s, hence the name.

McMafia is based on a book by former BBC reporter Misha Glenny, who saw the influence of Russian gangs soar after the fall of the Soviet Union.

We first see Grantchester actor James — already one of the favourites to play the next Bond — step out of a taxi in a dinner jacket and bow tie.

He says: “I did warn that if they wrote the first scene with me in a tuxedo, they were going to stir something.

“I’m personally very thankful that Daniel Craig’s going to do at least one more film, or two or five. I’m a big fan of his.”

Here, we take a look at the striking similarities James and McMafia have with Bond. McMafia starts on BBC1 on New Year’s Day at 9pm.

The look

HE could be mistaken for the lovable boy next door, but Alex is a cold killer . . . with a killer look.

His suits are as carefully tailored as those worn by Britain’s best-loved spy and beneath the threads, James sports a ripped physique to rival Daniel Craig.

McMafia director James Watkins instantly saw his potential to play the anti hero – and believes he could replicate it on the big screen.

He said: “James has the combination not only of being a great actor, but also that movie star quality. There’s something very likeable about James and I think it was very important for his character – for an audience to stay on his side, to be shocked by him one moment and then fall in love with him the next . . .  it helps. Because over the course of eight episodes, he does some pretty ruthless things.”

Sounds like he has the deadly charm of 007.

The baddies

LIKE Bond baddie Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice), Alex’s nemesis is a foreign crime boss – Vadim Kalyagin (Merab Ninidze), who ruthlessly expands his empire across the globe.

Hovering in the background is shadowy Israeli shipping magnate Semiyon Kleiman (David Strathairn), who leaves Alex wondering if he is a friend or foe.

Alex cannot even trust his own family. They are powerful players in the Russian Mafia that he has spent most of his life trying to avoid.

James says: “Alex is sucked into this dark, twisted criminal underworld and you desperately want him to turn around but as is often the case with good drama, he makes bad choices along the way.

“McMafia tells the story of the sexy side of the Mafia, which people are attracted to, but also the cost of the lavish lifestyle, how it’s paid for.”

The big budget

NO expense has been spared, with a staggering £2.5million lavished on each episode of McMafia, making a total of £20million.

That is more than the £18million budget – in today’s terms – for 1964 Bond classic Goldfinger.

James said: “Our director has shot it like a film, not just in regards to the way it looks but also the cast, the locations and the crew as well as the sheer scale and size of it.

“We’ve used drones and helicopters and there was a sense that there were no limitations.

“So that feels like a change in the way TV is, and can, be made.”

The budget was so huge because the drama is a co-production between the BBC, US TV station AMC and Cuba Pictures in association with Twickenham Studio.

After debuting on BBC1, it will be distributed to 200 countries via BBC Worldwide and Amazon Prime.

The women

ALEX is tempted by some stunning women who could rival any Bond girl or Naomie Harris’s Moneypenny.

Though he starts in a happy relationship with girlfriend Rebecca (Juliet Rylance), like a true Bond, he is soon entangled in the sultry charms of an exotic beauty.

While Roger Moore got close to Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, James is drawn in by Tanya (Yuval Scharf).

This leads to some racy moments, including one reminiscent of Tom Hiddleston’s buttock-baring sex scene in BBC’s The Night Manager.

James says: “Alex is a young hedge fund manager living in London with his beautiful girlfriend.

“He is a good man – certainly at the beginning of the show – and sees the best in people. As the story goes on, certain demons emerge.”

The locations

FROM Moscow to Mumbai, Croatia to Tel Aviv, the McMafia crew jetted around the globe.

Bond is no stranger to surviving scrapes in dusty backwaters, like Pierce Brosnan in 2002’s Die Another Day, before sprucing himself up for a glamorous evening.

Similarly, the action in McMafia moves from drug traffickers in the desert to some of the most luxurious locations in the world – which helped to bump the cost up.

In the first episode alone we see Alex attend a glittering event at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, and a ball at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Director James Watkins says: “We shot in 11 or 12 countries and got very recognisable looks so when we were bouncing around the world, you can really hook into it.”

To match the international feel, the international cast of 150 includes Russians, Americans and Israelis, along with Brits.

Alex’s mum in the drama is played by Russian Mariya Shukshina.

James says: “We were told before she arrived that she is the Meryl Streep of Russia. It was quite daunting at first.”

The action

BEING dragged into the bloody world of organised crime brings with it some thrilling action and Bond-esque fight scenes.

And James shows he can take getting strangled as well as Sean Connery in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever.

But it did mean he had to undergo some serious training in preparation, including studying Russian martial art systema with tutor David Kirillov.

James said: “The first thing he said to me was, ‘The thing about English people is when they meet fear, they run away. In Russia, when we meet fear we shake him by the f*****g hand’. We had hours and hours of this man punching me – and it’s all about taking the pain and relaxing through it.”

The training involved James being temporarily suffocated by David to push through his fear.

James said: “He was saying that at the point where your body’s spasming and you’re naturally getting terrified, that’s when you have to push through because that’s where you find the control and calm. It was terrifying.”