Bare- chested Tom is leaving fans shaken and stirred...
FIRST it was Aidan Turner in Poldark, then it was James Norton in the new series of Grantchester.
Now the latest star to go shirtless on TV – sending legions of female fans swooning – is Tom Hiddleston in spy series The Night Manager.
The 35- year- old, who has been named as a James Bond hopeful, looked almost as if he was auditioning for 007 last night as he stripped off for a swimming pool scene.
Hiddleston said he is often asked if he will follow in the footsteps of Daniel Craig following his role as Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager.
He said: “I’ve been getting a lot of that. There are similarities insofar as Pine and Bond are granted a licence above and beyond the law to do bad things for the greater good.
“Bond has a 00 licence to kill. I don’t know if Pine is a 00 just yet…”
The Night Manager director Susanne Bier, who also made the movie Brothers, said she never tires of being asked about the scene.
She said: “I’m not bored of that. He looks really good without his top on!
“There’s always a part of you which is wary about fantastic-looking actors, because it almost becomes too easy.
Scything
“But he’s way more interesting than he is good looking.”
Hiddleston stripping off is certain to win him an army of adoring female fans and help boost viewing figures.
Aidan Turner, 32, going topless in a scything scene was voted the best – and most talked about – TV moment of 2015.
Meanwhile, Norton’s swimming scene in Grantchester made waves, with one fan tweeting: “Well my week is complete James Norton & Robson Green opening scene # Grantchester someone pass me the smelling salts.”
But Norton, 30, who plays crimesolving vicar Sidney Chambers, said he was not sure his topless scene measured up to that of Poldark.
He said: “That Poldark shot made me feel incredibly inadequate.
“There’s always been a body beautiful thing with television, but the focus has been more on women over the last however many decades.
“So it’s probably right that the tables should turn, but I don’t know if it’s a healthy pressure.
“There is now a sort of expectation on men.”