There have been rumours floating about to this effect for a day or so now, but it appears that Ben Whishaw has been confirmed as the new Q in Skyfall, after the BBC called his agent to check. That means the star of Perfume will be kitting Bond out with the usual dart-pens, rappelling-watches and death-cars you'd expect, and probably a few new gimmicks you don't.

Whishaw steps into a role formerly occupied by the late, great Desmond Llewelyn and briefly by John Cleese. Given that the actor (one of the great stage Hamlets of the past couple of decades) is best known for playing nervy, cerebral young characters (Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited; John Keats in Bright Star), we're guessing that this Q will make a virtue of his relative youth, revelling in the fact that he's more hip to the tech than the spy he's equipping. After all, young people nowadays all seem like Q, eh, with their iThingies and Wiiyamacallits.

Skyfall has just started shooting at Bond's traditional home in Pinewood, and will be back in cinemas on October 26, 2012. Sam Mendes is of course directing, with Daniel Craig and Judi Dench returning and the likes of Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe and Javier Bardem joining them.