Robert Downey Jr for Doctor Who?

Robert Downey Jr says he would be keen to appear in Doctor Who if he was invited.

The Iron Man star took part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything online question and answer session to promote his new film The Judge, and was asked if he would ever take on the role of the Time Lord.

Robert replied: "It's funny you'd bring that up. A writer asked me to watch a particular episode about a month ago, in hopes of helping us break story on a project. An incredible series. Anything's possible."

The Avengers star - who played Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's big-screen adaptations of the famous detective - also confessed to having 'screen envy' of Benedict Cumberbatch's performance in the TV series Sherlock.

Asked what he thought about the UK show, Robert said: "Very impressed with Benedict. Such smart writing on that show. I have screen envy."

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.