Queen Victoria takes on James Bond as Britain's favourite film character

Think of Britain’s greatest film exports, and James Bond instantly springs to mind.

Yet he has an unlikely rival in Queen Victoria, who has joined him as the most featured character in British film, thanks in no small part to the talents of Dame Judi Dench.

Dame Judi’s latest release, Victoria and Abdul, is the 25th big screen appearance for the monarch, putting her on a par with 007. It also makes her the most prolific actress still living with 41 films to her name - one more than Dame Maggie Smith.

Dame Maggie Smith will no doubt be amused that her old friend has overtaken her. She joked last year that “there are always parts, but Judi gets her paws on them first”.

And while she has not announced any plans to make another film, Dame Judi said recently that she has at least two more in the pipeline.

This is Dame Judi’s second appearance as Queen Victoria, after Mrs Brown in 1997. Other actresses to take on the role include Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria and Mrs Henry Lytton in the 1913 silent film Sixty Years A Queen.

James Bond has also appeared 25 times - 24 official outings, plus the 1967 Casino Royale spoof starring David Niven.

Victoria and 007 are one step ahead of Sherlock Holmes, featured in 24 films including 14 with Basil Rathbone as the Baker Street sleuth.

Dame Judi is the most prolific actress still working, but she is not the most prolific of all time. That accolade goes to the late Marianne Stone, who appeared in 162 films including Brighton Rock, Lolita, Oh! What A Lovely War and a dozen Carry On capers.

Sir Michael Caine is the most prolific male actor working today, having recently finished his 70th British film.

To launch its online filmography database, the BFI also broke down statistics by decade. The men with the most film appearances are John Le Mesurier (1960s), Peter Cushing (1970s), Robbie Coltrane (1980s), Keith Allen (1990s), Sir Michael Gambon (2000s) and Jim Broadbent (2010s). For actresses, Marianne Stone dominated the 1960s-1970s, followed by Liz Smith (1980s), Sadie Frost (1990s), Shirley Henderson (2000s) and Kate Dickie (2010s).

Dickie is not a household name, but a character actress in relatively low-budget films. She said: “I’ve never been approached to do a fluffy, beautiful role because I don’t have a fluffy, beautiful face. And in a way that makes my job more interesting.”

The research showed that when a film calls for a nurse or receptionist in the background, where the name and gender are unspecified, those roles are handed to women at least 80 per cent of the time. Unnamed police inspectors and sergeants are always played by men, according to the statistics.

The most popular topic for British films is war, most recently Christopher Nolan’s epic, Dunkirk. It is the subject of 582 films, while only 146 focus on sex. Heather Stewart, the BFI’s creative director, said the British are not very good at films of that nature: “I sometimes wish I was French. They have got Betty Blue, Jules et Jim - we’ve got Adventures of a Plumber’s Mate, Confessions of a Window Cleaner and Keep It Up Downstairs.”

The most prolific director working today is Ken Loach, who has employed 1,099 actors across 27 films.

Gurinder Chadha is the most prolific female, with eight films including Bride and Prejudice and her recent history of Partition, Viceroy’s House.

Chadha had a hit in 2002 with Bend It Like Beckham, the film that made a star of Keira Knightley. But she said the story of a teenage girl who dreams of becoming a footballer would not be made today, as studios are only interested in blockbuster franchises.

“In today’s climate, it would be seen as a maverick, isolated film - no reason for a sequel or prequel and all the rest of it,” she said.