GERMANY: His name is Bond, Peter Bond. His mission: to win a seat in next month's general election, writes Derek Scally, in Berlin.
The only thing standing between him and high office is his past. Mr Bond is well-known to German voters as a gameshow host and to other voters, with particular tastes and long memories, as a 1970s porn star.
"Voters aren't stupid, they know whether what a politician wears outside is just for fun or whether there's something behind it," says Mr Bond, who started his career with nothing on. "Fun is a part of the political game." But it remains to be seen whether voters in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where unemployment is 20 per cent, are looking for fun or solutions to their crippling problems.
Mr Bond has been knocking on doors in the region on behalf of the liberal FDP party for six months now. "Most people's first reaction is: 'I know you from the television'," he says. Unsurprisingly he doesn't ask if the voters recognise him from Wheel of Fortune, his last steady job, or as the lead in porn films such as Work Sex and Laura's Lust.
He admits his interest in politics is "no greater than average" but argues that his earlier career as a porn star shouldn't disqualify him from taking office.
Four years ago Bond played the lead in The Candidate, the story of a German game show host picked by a political party to run for chancellor. "Bond represents a good-looking man who doesn't have a clue," said Mr Claus Raefle, the film's director, at the time. "He doesn't have anything to say, but he says it with conviction."