DALTON HAS DR WHO IN THE DOCK.

FORMER James Bond star Timothy Dalton has returned home to Wales to take a starring role in popular TV series Doctor Who.

The Colwyn Bay-born actor is to feature in a BBC Wales Christmas special which will include David Tennant's final scenes as the time-travelling hero.

Dalton, 63, who played Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, has left his home in Los Angeles to film in Cardiff, where the revived BBC series is based.

He plays a terrifying judge who puts the Doctor on trial in an intergalactic court case.

Outgoing David It will be his first major role since playing an evil neighbourhood watch member in the spoof British comedy Hot Fuzz.

The Christmas special will be one of three end-of-year programmes that will bring down the curtain on David Tennant's spell in the Tardis.

It is expected to see the return of a host of famous names from recent series including John Simm, 38, who will reprise his role as The Master, as well as the companions who have kept Tennant company - Catherine Tate, Billie Piper and Freema Agyeman.

Tennant Matt Smith, 26, is to "regenerate" into the role on the death of Tennant's Doctor.

For Rada-trained Dalton the role will fit into a CV that ranges from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Flash Gordon to James Bond.

Dalton's career began with a series of period dramas including playing Philip II of France in The Lion in Winter and a remake of Wuthering Heights in 1970, in which he portrayed tortured Heathcliff.

CAPTION(S):

Outgoing David Tennant Colwyn Bay's Timothy Dalton will play a Dr Who villain