David Tennant has got his eye on a 'killer' role, after revealing he wants to play Taggart.

Speaking at the premiere of his new film, Mary Queen of Scots, the Doctor Who and Broadchurch star joked that he would love to take on the role of the famous Glasgow detective.

Highlighting the country's healthy film industry, he said: "We need to bring Taggart back. Taggart the movie, I'm free."

STV's Taggart was one of the UK's longest-running television dramas. The series revolved around a group of detectives solving crimes on the mean streets of Glasgow.

Although Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994, the series continued under the same name.

Tennant once claimed that he unsuccessfully auditioned for Taggart 16 times.

He added: "I want to play Taggart, obviously. 'There's been a murder', I can do that."

Tennant, who grew up in Paisley, Renfrewshire, stepped out with his Mary Queen of Scots co-stars on the red carpet at London's Leicester Square on Monday.

The 47-year-old plays John Knox, a Protestant cleric, in the historical drama based on John Guy's biography, Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.

Tennant said: "He's a fascinating character. Obviously he was an extraordinary man.

"He had some views, very much of their time - that perhaps don't translate particularly well to modern living, thankfully.

"Those are the characters that are interesting to play."

The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I, and chronicles the 1569 conflict between their two countries.

The pair stepped out in style at the screening at Cineworld.

Speaking about playing the title role, Ronan, 24, said: "It was an honour, honestly. It's something I had waited about six years to do.

"I signed up to it when I was 18. Every year I would kind of grow into it more and more I think, so finally getting to put anything I'd learned about her into action and be with such a brilliant cast and a great kind of company was amazing."

Ronan was happy to report that her Scottish accent was given the thumbs-up by Tennant.

She said: "I was like, 'okay thank you, Doctor, cheers'. I worked with a dialect coach and we've also got loads of Scots in the film, so like David's in it, Jimmy McArdle's in it, Jack Lowden's in it, so I had their sounds round me all the time."