Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2025-10-31T07:00:16.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The greatest James Bond theme song of all time revealed – by the fans themselves
items: Younger actors who auditioned for Bond "didn't have the gravitas"
items: 10 times James Bond predicted the future with his gadgets
items: All the weirdest and wildest bits from the James Bond novels that Hollywood missed out
items: What happened to Halle Berry's James Bond spin-off that never was?
items: How much does it cost to be James Bond?
items: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams
items: Casino Royale holds the secret to the next James Bond movie
items: How James Bond's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community has changed
items: 70 years of James Bond – the past, present and future of the 007 novels
items: On Her Majesty's Secret Service could have changed the Bond franchise forever
items: Why GoldenEye 007 is still the greatest James Bond game
items: Why James Bond's next era should return to the Cold War
items: Test your James Bond knowledge – name the 007 film from 1 frame
items: How Roger Moore saved the James Bond franchise
items: Bond casting boss reveals surprising reason Judi Dench accepted M role
items: I finally watched old James Bond and it's not as bad as expected
items: Licence to Kill didn't fail – it's one of the most influential Bond films
items: James Bond casting director reacts to next 007 rumours

The greatest James Bond theme song of all time revealed – by the fans themselves
type: item
date: 2025-10-31T07:00:16.000Z
creator: Patrick Cremona
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
description: The Wings classic Live and Let Die defeated Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better from The Spy Who Loved Me in the grand final.
encoded: It's fair to say that James Bond has boasted some stellar theme tunes in the years since 007 was first seen on the big screen in 1962 – with Shirley Bassey, Duran Duran and Adele just some of the iconic artists who have put their musical stamp on the series. But which song is the greatest of them all? That was a question RadioTimes.com put to Bond fans back in 2023, when we ran a Twitter poll tournament to determine the best ever Bond theme, split into several rounds before a grand final. In the end it was Live and Let Die which was voted as the best of the bunch. The song was written by Paul and Linda McCartney and recorded by their band Wings as the theme for the 1973 film of the same name, which was the first to star Roger Moore as the iconic spy. It beat another song from Moore's tenure in the final round of voting, with Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better from the 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me coming in second place with 32.8 per cent of the vote, compared to 67.2 per cent for Live and Let Die. Several other classic Bond anthems exited the tournament at the Semi-Final stage, with Shirley Bassey's Diamonds Are Forever, Nancy Sinatra's You Only Live Twice, Adele's Skyfall, and Duran Duran's A View to a Kill all missing out on a place in the final. Perhaps surprisingly, Bassey's Goldfinger theme had fallen in the previous round – although it did have the misfortunate of coming up against eventual winner Live and Let Die at that stage. Still, Goldfinger's absence from the final did not go down well with some voters, with one Twitter user writing: "This is nonsense. Goldfinger is by far the best. Anyone not voting this way is just wrong." In total, 24 theme songs were included in the poll, with Louis Armstrong's We Have All the Time in the World from On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Tom Jones's Thunderball and Billie Eilish's No Time to Die among those not to make it to the semi-final stage. No Time to Die is available to stream on Prime Video. Check out more of o…

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Younger actors who auditioned for Bond "didn't have the gravitas"
type: item
date: 2025-10-10T08:30:23.000Z
creator: Morgan Jeffery
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
description: Debbie McWilliams – former casting director on the Bond series – explains why younger actors have historically failed to land the part of 007.
encoded: This article was originally published on 11th April, 2023. Though the search for Daniel Craig's successor as 007 is still ongoing, the latest reports suggest Bond 26 director Denis Villeneuve and his collaborators are looking for a "fresh face" for the role. The rumour mill has also seen younger stars including 29-year-olds Tom Holland and Harris Dickinson linked to the part. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com in 2023, Debbie McWilliams – who served as casting director on the 007 film series from 1981 until her retirement earlier this year – explained that while younger actors have previously tried out for Bond, including for 2006's Casino Royale, none of them quite fit the bill. "When we started, it was a slightly different feel," McWilliams said of casting Casino Royale, which was set early in Bond's career at MI6. "We did look at a lot of younger actors and I just don't think they had the gravitas, they didn't have the experience, they didn't have the mental capacity to take it on, because it's not just the part they're taking on, it's a massive responsibility. "So we kind of scrubbed that idea and went back to the drawing board and started again." That said, an older Bond doesn't necessarily mean an established movie star – McWilliams insisted that the next actor to take up the mantle of Ian Fleming's super spy should simply be "who's best for the part", pointing to the different levels of fame and success enjoyed by previous 007 actors prior to taking on the role. "Timothy Dalton was known, but he was known as a Shakespearean actor, really. Pierce was known, but that was basically from television. Roger Moore was known from television. Sean Connery wasn't [known] – nobody had ever heard of him. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams "A certain audience had heard of Daniel Craig, but much more the kind of independent cinema audience. He hadn't done any huge commercial film at all, really – [2004 film] Layer Cake I s…

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10 times James Bond predicted the future with his gadgets
type: item
date: 2025-09-26T06:00:12.000Z
creator: Olivia Garrett
subject: Movies
description: When it comes to technology, 007 is often ahead of the times. So we’ve Q-eued up the best occasions where the James Bond movies predicted the future with gadgets.
encoded: Like many a spy before and after him, James Bond would be nothing without his gadgets. When we reach the inevitable point in the James Bond movies where the female sidekick is captured, the sharks are circling, and the villain cackles over a screen, it’s the faithful (and foreshadowed) gadget that steps in. But despite how fantastical and unbelievable these devices can sometimes seem, many of them have the knack of becoming real. Ever since Goldfinger in 1964, the James Bond movies have had the incredible habit of predicting the future. Whether it’s with watches, weapons, or cars, this franchise has produced a lot of gadgetry that ended up being made years later. To prove it to you, we’ve put together this list of the times James Bond predicted the future with his gadgets. Plus, if you want to get your hands on some of these modern spy toys, we’ve included some handy links to help. Every time James Bond predicted the future with gadgets Smartwatches – The Spy Who Loved Me By 1970, the world was introduced to the digital watch, but in 1977 this was topped in true James Bond fashion by a watch that can receive messages – sound familiar? In Roger Moore’s The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond gets a message sent over from MI6 that comes out written on ticker tape. And while technology has advanced, this certainly marks the beginnings of the modern smartwatch. Apple Watches, Fitbits and other smartwatches can all send and receive messages as well as track movements, map your route and monitor your fitness. If Bond had one of those he might have got into less trouble. Shop Smartwatches at Currys Smart glasses – The World is Not Enough Glasses and eyewear have always been key to Bond's sharp wardrobe, but in the '90s they became a life-saver (literally). In Pierce Brosnan's third film The World is Not Enough, Bond wears thin tortoise shell glasses as a disguise that happen to also serve as a detonator to a small bomb – I'm sure you can guess what ends up happening there. Nowadays, th…

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All the weirdest and wildest bits from the James Bond novels that Hollywood missed out
type: item
date: 2025-09-19T06:00:22.000Z
creator: Patrick Cremona
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: Even after 25 films, some of Ian Fleming's ideas have never been used – could Denis Villeneuve change that?
encoded: It's safe to say that the vast majority of Bond fans are extremely excited about the direction Denis Villeneuve might take the franchise, as the Canadian filmmaker prepares to helm the upcoming 26th movie in the franchise. The Dune filmmaker – who was confirmed as the director for 007's next adventure back in June – has described himself as "a die-hard Bond fan", explaining how he grew up watching the films with his father and that he intends to "honour the tradition" with his take on the legendary spy. Of course, that tradition goes all the way back to Ian Fleming's novels, and there's every chance that Villeneuve and screenwriter Steven Knight could look to those books for inspiration when crafting their film. With 25 official films already in the franchise, you'd be forgiven for thinking that just about everything that featured in Fleming's novels had already made it to the big screen in one form or another – but although he wrote only 14 Bond books, many of their most outlandish elements have still not been included in any of the movies. While in some cases this is undoubtedly for the best – for example, the shocking instances of racism in a number of the novels – there are some other story details from Fleming's work that would make for interesting additions to the Bond film canon. Read on for some of our picks of the biggest – and weirdest – bits from the Bond novels that haven't made it to screen. Perhaps Knight and Villeneuve will find a way to fit them in... Bond fights a giant squid in Dr No Bond has faced all sorts of adversaries across the 25 films – and has even come face to face with a number of aquatic animals, notably including sharks and crocodiles. But up to this point he hasn't yet done battle with a giant squid, as is the case in the book of Dr No. The incident occurs toward the end of Fleming's novel – which was the sixth in the series to be published – and comes after the titular villain forces 007 to complete an obstacle course that also sees …

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What happened to Halle Berry's James Bond spin-off that never was?
type: item
date: 2025-09-12T06:00:15.000Z
creator: Sam Moore
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: Jinx Johnson could have made the perfect lead for a 007 spin-off.
encoded: It’s always been rare for an A-list female star to face off against James Bond. No Time to Die has the scene-stealing Ana de Armas, Britt Ekland was already a name by the time she appeared in The Man with the Golden Gun and Michelle Yeoh was a household actress in China, but 007’s leading ladies tend to be younger, lesser-known actresses on the up. The one big exception is of course Halle Berry, who played CIA agent Jinx in the much-maligned Die Another Day. When she was cast opposite Pierce Brosnan for his final adventure as 007, Berry had already won an Oscar (and been nominated for another), starred as Storm in X-Men and made an infamous appearance in Swordfish alongside John Travolta and Hugh Jackman. Despite the film’s many, many faults – shoddy CGI, Madonna, Toby Stephens’s villain – Jinx is a charismatic standout and endures as one of the most popular Bond girls despite being in one of the least popular movies. In fact, she would have been perfect to lead her own action movie. Want to own the entire James Bond movie box set? Now's your chance Despite the Bond films running for 60 years and counting, there has never been a big-screen spin-off – no Blofeld origin story, no adventures of Q and Moneypenny, no action franchise based around Felix Leiter. But there was very nearly a Jinx stand-alone film featuring Berry reprising her role. After Jinx proved a hit with the fans, producer Barbara Broccoli had the idea of letting the American agent branch out on her own and front her own big budget action movie. There had earlier been talk that Michelle Yeoh would lead a Tomorrow Never Dies spin-off, but the Jinx movie was very real. The general idea was for an alternative series to run in conjunction with the main Bond films so that there was less of a gap for the studio between releases, with the Jinx spin-off intended to hit the big screen sometime in 2004. A script by regular Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade was commissioned with the idea being that the fil…

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How much does it cost to be James Bond?
type: item
date: 2025-09-05T06:00:26.000Z
creator: Olivia Garrett
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: “Do you expect me to talk?” “No Mr Bond, I expect you to buy.”
encoded: He certainly likes to see the ‘double 0’ in price tags – British superspy, James Bond, lives a life of grandeur and luxury. Between the suits, the cars, and the price of a martini in Central London, it takes a lot to live like Bond. And, although we never see his pay cheque from MI6, it’s likely he gets well compensated for almost being killed every other week. So, to give you a better idea of just how pricey it is to be an international man of mystery, we’ve put together this guide of how much it costs to be James Bond. We’ve looked into all the elements that make up 007’s iconic persona, including his clothes, cars, technology, and all the little extras that come with it. Plus, we’ve added links to a number of shops so you too can say “Bond, James Bond” when you look in the mirror. But don’t worry, we’ve been a bit more flexible with prices. How much does it cost to be James Bond? Tom Ford Atticus Tuxedo suit – £4,390 For the last five Daniel Craig movies, 007 can be seen wearing suits by designer Tom Ford, including No Time to Die, in which he wore the Tom Ford Atticus Tuxedo jacket and trousers. The average Tom Ford suit costs over £3,000 and is made through expert Italian craftmanship. No wonder he looks so sharp! Shop Tom Ford suits at Selfridges Shop black suits from £50 at Suit Direct Tom Ford white shirt – £330 In the early days of Sean Connery and Roger Moore, Bond would often wear shirts with a two button ‘cocktail cuff’, which quickly became a small but important detail in his wardrobe. So, if we apply this design to a slim fit Tom Ford shirt, this would put the price at around £330. Shame he gets so many of his shirts bloody. Shop Tom Ford shirts at Selfridges Shop white shirts from £34.95 at Moss Turnbull & Asser bow tie – £125 Although James Bond has worn a variety of suits over the years, he will always be known for the classic bow tie look. In 2006’s Casino Royale, Daniel Craig was back in this iconic get-up and was sporting a tie made by Turnbull &…

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How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams
type: item
date: 2025-08-29T08:30:21.000Z
creator: Morgan Jeffery
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: Interview
description: "There isn't an absolute ideal mould – there never would be and never should be, because otherwise, it just becomes boring."
encoded: For over 40 years, Debbie McWilliams has been a key figure in one of cinema's biggest blockbuster franchises. Having served as casting director on the James Bond films since 1981, she's cast dozens of colourful villains and leading ladies. She has also been tasked with picking the next 007 three times, playing an instrumental role in the hiring of Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and most recently Daniel Craig. She is, one might suggest, the unsung hero of the Bond franchise. "You touch a nerve there," she tells RadioTimes.com. "I am a member of the Academy, so I can vote in the Oscars, but I can't be nominated, and I have battled and battled and battled for years over this." BAFTA, she points out, only introduced an award for Best Casting in 2020, becoming the first major film awards ceremony to do so. "I find it really surprising – I think the trouble is that we don't assert ourselves enough, but we need to, because nobody else is going to if we don't. "I've written to the Academy again this year to say, 'There is a glaring omission, chaps, how about it?' – whether it will ever happen or not, I do not know. "It's really quite shocking, because it means that we remain a kind of second class citizen – although most casting directors now will get a single screen upfront credit, we're the only people who get that who are not eligible for an Oscar... and it's a disgrace, frankly." Though awards recognition appears long overdue (following our conversation, it was announced that the Oscars would indeed be introducing a new award to recognise achievements in casting from 2026), McWilliams insists she's happy with just "getting the job done" – she points to the evolving role and changing face of 'the Bond girl' as one of her proudest achievements. "It was quite a relief that it did start to demand a much more capable actress rather than just a pretty face," she says. "Without naming any names, there are one or two slightly dodgy bits of casting in previous films." Casting Mo…

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Casino Royale holds the secret to the next James Bond movie
type: item
date: 2023-04-13T06:00:58.000Z
creator: Christian Tobin
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: As producers get ready to roll the dice on a new 007, we take a look at why Ian Fleming's first novel remains so key to the franchise's future.
encoded: 70 years ago today (13th April 1953), a former Lieutenant-Commander with the Royal Navy Reserves published his first novel with little expectation of success. Written to distract himself from his upcoming marriage, he had previously confided in a friend that he was "thoroughly ashamed" of the book's quality, and it was only the recommendation of his celebrated brother – a successful travel writer ­– that convinced the publishing house to take a chance on the manuscript. With a title promising exotic escapism and a lead character with a strikingly unremarkable name, Casino Royale was a hit, shifting nearly 5,000 copies in its first month and winning praise from figures as wide-ranging as the poet John Betjeman and former US President John F Kennedy. The author was, of course, Ian Fleming, and his creation the Secret Service agent James Bond – and so the spy thriller genre of both literature and film was forever changed. Fast-forward to the present day, and Fleming's 007 books are being reissued to mark the 70th anniversary, and their impact remains significant – not least on the movie franchise that now totals a decades-spanning 25 films. The key question among fans is how the big-screen series will look when James Bond returns – not just the identity of who will be slipping on that iconic tux but, even more intriguingly, what tone the new films will look to strike and what's going to set this version of the super-spy apart from those who have shaken and stirred before. Buy the James Bond novels from Waterstones While much of the conversation is pure speculation and guesswork at the moment, Fleming's novels provide us with something tangible to theorise on how the film's creative team may go about rebooting 007. Long-time Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, whose father Albert R 'Cubby' Broccoli produced every Bond picture from 1962's Dr No through to 1989's Licence to Kill, has made no secret of the books' continued importance in shaping the film portrayals. "My father …

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How James Bond's relationship with the LGBTQ+ community has changed
type: item
date: 2023-04-13T06:00:51.000Z
creator: Lewis Knight
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: James Bond and LGBTQ+ representation may still have far to go but that does not mean fans from the community haven't always been there.
encoded: As one of the longest-running franchises in history, James Bond is both a literary hero and a cinematic one, providing thrills and spills to readers and viewers around the globe for decades. Through numerous guises from Cold War ice-cold killer to cheesy '80s action hero to the more grounded super-spy, Bond has had boasted various faces, foes and femme fatales to grapple with. As such, across the globe, Bond has made all types of fans and as a character engaged through numerous communities. One area that has only come into focus in recent years is the presence of the LGBTQ+ community in his stories and among his fans. So, where was there representation within the Bond novels by his creator Sir Ian Fleming? The James Bond books Of course, the novels by Ian Fleming were not the kindest when it came to LGBTQ+ representation, representing many of the negative tropes and values that were so prevalent in the era. Mostly, the LGBTQ+ representation was visible in the Bond villains. The novel Diamonds Are Forever introduced the first notable portrayal of LGBTQ+ individuals in the form of the mob assassins Wint and Kidd. The characters are total sadists and take particular pleasure in pouring boiling mud over a jockey’s face in one particularly memorable scene. The pair are quite indelible characters, Wint with his fear of international travel and Kidd with his "pretty-boy" appearance. Their respective phobia and feminine appearance go against the heteronormative ideals of masculinity and this association with "deviancy" is only further clarified when Bond’s close ally Felix Leiter voices his conclusion that the pair are gay. Leiter even notes that "some of these homos make the worst killers" in a rather derogatory comment. The pair threaten to kill Bond’s love interest Tiffany Case at the conclusion of the novel but Bond manages to murder them both, making them appear to have died in a murder-suicide, leaving them entwined in death too. After this, in the following novel Fro…

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70 years of James Bond – the past, present and future of the 007 novels
type: item
date: 2023-04-13T06:00:27.000Z
creator: Sam Moore
subject: Books
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Interview
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications, reflects on 70 years of James Bond – and what the future holds for the 007 novels.
encoded: James Bond has been the work of Corinne Turner for over 30 years. During the course of those three decades, she has overseen the republishing of classics such as Casino Royale (which turns 70 today, 13th April 2023), Moonraker (her personal favourite) and the 12 other Ian Fleming penned novels (plus two short story collections) as well as continuing 007’s adventures with other authors. In her tenure as Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications, Turner has kept the Bond machine powering forward into the 21st century, maintaining the legacy of the character but also developing him for a contemporary audience. To put it simply for film fans, she’s the Barbara Broccoli of the books. Which makes her the perfect person to catch up with to discuss 70 years of Britain’s favourite spy, the future of the books and one very special story fit for a King’s coronation. As we speak, it’s an exciting time for Bond fans. All of the classic novels are getting a reprint with very jazzy new covers, Kim Sherwood became the first woman to write a Bond book with last year’s Double or Nothing, and a special 007 story has been created to coincide with King Charles III’s coronation, aptly titled On His Majesty’s Secret Service. Buy the James Bond novels from Waterstones Of the upcoming novella, which will be released two days before Charles is anointed King, Turner says: “It came together very late. I wish we’d thought of it last year but it wasn’t until February when there was an announcement [on the coronation] that we sat down and said, 'Yep, we’ve got to do this.'” The author of On His Majesty’s Secret Service – the plot of which sees Bond thwart a shady plot to disrupt the King’s coronation – is Charlie Higson, who has prior experience with the character through his Young Bond spin-off series. On enlisting Higson for their royal mission, Turner says: “We only had a couple of months to do it and Charlie has always made it clear he wanted to do an adult Bond after the tremendous Young…

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On Her Majesty's Secret Service could have changed the Bond franchise forever
type: item
date: 2023-04-12T06:00:34.000Z
creator: Olivia Garrett
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: Oh what could have been. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is outlier of the Bond franchise, but if it had been given more credit then we would have a very different 007 now.
encoded: With James Bond’s long history of replacing, recasting, and evolving to suit the times, it’s easy to forget the franchise’s first-ever reboot – mainly, because it was shortly after un-rebooted. The more sophisticated Bond nerds among you, however, will remember that it was On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (OHMSS), the film that famously reduced Sean Connery to “the other fella” and found a new lead in Australian model George Lazenby. Very much the ugly duckling of the Bond franchise, OHMSS has gone from pariah to tolerated to under-appreciated classic, to the extent that the most recent film (No Time to Die) paid tribute to it in a big way – but I’ll come back to that. Released in 1969, OHMSS follows a new, younger Bond as he discovers Ernst Blofeld’s plans to hypnotise women in the Swiss alps and have them distribute dangerous bacteria across the world. Read more about Bond at 70: Younger actors who auditioned for Bond "didn't have the gravitas" What happened to Halle Berry's James Bond spin-off that never was? James Bond casting director reacts to next 007 rumours Out of all the early Bond movies, this one sticks closest to Ian Fleming’s original novel and even includes the tragic storyline of Bond and Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (played by Dame Diana Rigg). Moving away from the traditional Bond-girl formula, 007 and Tracy fall in love throughout the movie and wind up getting married, but just as they head out on their honeymoon, the pair are caught in a drive-by shooting and Tracy is killed – quickly ending the superspy’s first and only real relationship with the heart-breaking line “we have all the time in the world”. This ending is definitely part of what makes this film so different, but more so is the fact that Bond falls in love in the first place. During the film, Lazenby brings forward a much softer and wide-eyed Bond, closer to his book counterpart. Where Connery was the stereotypical cocky spy who couldn’t be tied down, this version has emotion and…

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Why GoldenEye 007 is still the greatest James Bond game
type: item
date: 2023-04-12T06:00:00.000Z
creator: Rob Leane
subject: Gaming
subject: Technology
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
subject: James Bond (franchise)
subject: Video
description: 70 years of Bond. One great game.
encoded: As the James Bond books reach their 70th anniversary, the team at RadioTimes.com having been looking back at the famous spy's many iconic outings. But in the gaming world, there's one adaptation that stands above all others: of course, it's the legendary GoldenEye 007 game from the N64 era. It was made by the British studio Rare and published in 1997, but why is GoldenEye 007 still the best Bond game? We've answered that question in the handy little video above, which is chock-full of gameplay footage that will flood your mind with nice warm feelings of nostalgia. We'll also roll out our thoughts in written form below in a bit more detail, so have a read once you've watched the video. And don't forget to check out all the other Bond at 70 articles across our website. The legendary multiplayer Why is GoldenEye 007 the best Bond game? Well, for some people, there will be one main reason, so let's address the tuxedo-wearing elephant in the room before we go any further. It's worth stating right off the bat that the game's four-player multiplayer mode remains the stuff of game night legend. Duking it out with your pals has always been so much fun, and now you can do it online (with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription). Back in the day, you'd be huddled around a chunky TV at a friend's house, trying not to blow yourself up with a rocket launcher as you snuck around several memorable maps in search of a buddy to murder in cold blood. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams Nothing sends the endorphins into overdrive quite like hiding in a toilet as you detonate a remote mine and kill one of your bitter rivals. And on the flipside of that, there's nothing quite as frustrating as being killed out of nowhere, seeing the blood drip down your quadrant of the screen as the sombre 'you died' music plays. You could easily lose a whole evening to GoldenEye multiplayer, and it would probably get heated at some point. There would always be…

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Why James Bond's next era should return to the Cold War
type: item
date: 2023-04-11T06:00:03.000Z
creator: Lewis Knight
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Bond at 70
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: James Bond is an icon of the Cold War – we should see him back there...
encoded: How many more times can we have a Bond film where we have it hammered home to us just how much of a relic its protagonist is? In case you didn’t know, James Bond is a "relic from the Cold War", something we’ve had spelt out in pretty much every film since Dame Judi Dench's M labelled him such in the 1995 film GoldenEye. The character of James Bond, when he debuted on our bookshelves in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel Casino Royale, was a hero of his moment - espionage was the battleground in the Cold War and fitted in with the paranoia and international playing field of world superpowers. Joining this with British colonialism, misogyny, explicit racism, and brute force - Bond was truly a figure of the establishment. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams Since the end of the Cold War, the James Bond films have explicitly addressed the now archaic leanings of Bond’s character but still played along with some of the old-fashioned tropes - including innuendo names for female characters. Most recently, Daniel Craig’s films attempted a complete reboot of the character for the modern age, starting out with a grittier realism that leant on other contextual fears around the character and how Bond’s colder penchant for killing was one of his few unique selling points, and actually going rogue against the system he was employed by often served a greater good. The women became more emotionally rich and well-rounded and his relationships with them deeper, and if any were casual then it was mutually approached as such. However, after two films about a fresh 00-agent, Bond swiftly soon became the jaded veteran agent who was treated as an artefact from a lost time once again. The truth is that he is a spy from a bygone era now in the time of cyber espionage, drones, and recognition of systemic corruption - so the character is portrayed as an old-fashioned hero chafing on the restrictions and values of today while the films around him try to embr…

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Test your James Bond knowledge – name the 007 film from 1 frame
type: item
date: 2023-04-10T06:00:36.000Z
creator: Patrick Cremona
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: News
description: Think you're a 007 expert? Take our quiz below...
encoded: With James Bond turning 70 this year, we've seen an awful lot of the iconic British spy and his many iterations, from his on-screen debut by Sean Connery in Dr. No to Daniel Craig's swan song No Time to Die – but can you tell the difference between GoldenEye and Live and Let Die? It's time to put your Bond knowledge to the ultimate test with RadioTimes.com's exclusive quiz, asking fans to identify which film these various frames are from. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams While we start you off easy with a shot of Pierce Brosnan, the frames get progressively harder so let's hope your confidence isn't left shaken (not stirred). View Riddle on the source website The quiz is the latest in RadioTimes.com's Bond at 70 celebration, marking seven decades since the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels was published in 1953. Buy the James Bond novels from Waterstones Fleming's first novel in the series was Casino Royale, published on 13th April 1953, however it wasn't until nine years later when Sean Connery became the first on-screen 007 in 1962's Dr. No. Since then, we've seen five actors portray the iconic spy – the latest being Daniel Craig from 2006 until 2021, however we're yet to find out who'll be the next star to take on the mammoth role. Want to own the entire James Bond movie box set? Now's your chance Whoever the next Bond is will need to pass an incredibly rigorous audition and several names have been suggested over the past few years, although casting director Debbie McWilliams recently told RadioTimes.com that most of the rumours makes her "die laughing". Read more: How much does it cost to be James Bond? I finally watched old James Bond and it's not as bad as expected Licence to Kill didn't fail – it's one of the most influential Bond films James Bond films including No Time to Die, Casino Royale and many more are available to rent or buy on Prime Video. Sign up for a 30-day free trial and pay £8.99 per mont…

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How Roger Moore saved the James Bond franchise
type: item
date: 2023-04-10T06:00:32.000Z
creator: Patrick Cremona
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
description: This year marks 50 years since Moore's first appearance as Bond in Live and Let Die.
encoded: This year marks 70 years since Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel Casino Royale was published in 1953 – but that’s far from the only 007 landmark we’re celebrating in 2023. This summer will also mark half a century since Roger Moore first appeared as the iconic double-00 agent in Live and Let Die, which kicked off a seven-film run that has divided the franchise’s fanbase ever since. Indeed although Moore appeared in more films than any other 007 before or since, some Bond aficionados have often dismissed much of his tenure – writing him off as an actor who too often played up the corniest aspects of the character at a time when the franchise was putting out some of the worst of its 25 films to date. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams And sure, even the most ardent admirer of Moore’s stint would be prepared to admit there are at least a couple of duds in that seven-film stretch. Despite boasting a memorable villain in Christopher Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga and a brilliant Hall of Mirrors final showdown, much of his second outing The Man With The Golden Gun is fairly disposable, for example, while several of the more outlandish efforts from later in his run do take the series’ more silly aspects to rather embarrassing heights – Moonraker serving as perhaps the most commonly cited example. But even if not all of his films stand as bonafide classics today, Moore’s importance to the franchise should not be underestimated. Quite apart from the fact that the high point of his tenure – specifically the terrific 1977 flick The Spy Who Loved Me – is among the very best films the series has to offer, perhaps his greatest significance is that he finally offered proof that there was life in Bond outside Sean Connery. It’s easy to forget that immediately prior to the release of Live and Let Die the franchise was in rather a poor state. The previous attempt to replace Connery with George Lazenby for 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Se…

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Bond casting boss reveals surprising reason Judi Dench accepted M role
type: item
date: 2023-04-10T06:00:26.000Z
creator: Morgan Jeffery
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: James Bond (franchise)
subject: News
description: Debbie McWilliams, casting director on the Bond series, was convinced Dench would turn down the part.
encoded: Dame Judi Dench's M is an iconic figure in the James Bond franchise, with a version of the character having appeared in eight movies. However, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com for our Bond at 70 season, Debbie McWilliams – casting director on the 007 film series since 1981 – revealed that she never expected Dench to accept the part. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams "I tell you who I thought wouldn't be an easy part to cast and who actually was the easiest part was Judi Dench," McWilliams explained. Buy the James Bond novels from Waterstones "I thought, 'She's never going to say yes to this – a huge commercial film and she's the top Shakespearean actress in the world.'" It was a personal connection to actor Bernard Lee – the original on-screen M who had portrayed Bond's boss in 11 films opposite Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore – that influenced Dench's decision to sign up. Want to own the entire James Bond movie box set? Now's your chance "When she was a drama student, she had been a lodger in Bernard Lee's house," McWilliams recalled. "She had a huge fondness for him. and so when this opportunity came up, she went, 'Well, of course, I have to do it,' and so that was an easy one." Dench became only the third actor to portray M in the official Bond series – following Lee and Robert Brown – when she took up the mantle for 1995's GoldenEye starring Pierce Brosnan as 007. Read more about Bond at 70: How Roger Moore saved the James Bond franchise I finally watched old James Bond and it's not as bad as expected What it takes to be James Bond – the audition test every 007 has to pass In the wake of the character's demise in 2012's Skyfall, Ralph Fiennes's character Mallory became Daniel Craig's superior, though Dench's iteration made one last posthumous appearance in 2015's Spectre via video message. View Green Video on the source website No Time to Die is available to stream on Prime Video, with other Bond…

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I finally watched old James Bond and it's not as bad as expected
type: item
date: 2023-04-09T06:00:28.000Z
creator: Minnie Wright
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
description: As a Bond beginner, Dr. No was a pleasant surprise.
encoded: I’ve seen the Daniel Craig movies – I’m not a complete philistine – but I’ve never seen any of the other James Bond films. Raised on the diet of ‘modern’ Bond, I’m accustomed to somewhat three-dimensional female characters, Craig’s 007, his emotional evolution and chivalry and, of course, a general sense of the franchise’s maturation as it moves on from the less savoury choices of its youth. Naturally, Bond being the behemoth it is, even if you haven’t seen it all, you know the deal; warnings of rampant sexism, cautions about clangers and pained mentions of ambiguity (at best) around consent ring in your ears at the mere mention of the Sean Connery days. As a perpetually Angry Feminist, it doesn’t bode well – unless you’re an editor looking to be tickled by the reactions of shellshocked writer delving into Dr. No for the first time. Want to own the entire James Bond movie box set? Now's your chance Ahead of my assignment, a colleague pings me a YouTube link to the Goldfinger (1964) clip in which Connery dismisses his masseuse, Dink (Margaret Nolan), upon the arrival of Felix Leiter (Cec Linden) with a sharp smack on the bottom and the command: "Dink, say goodbye to Felix – man talk." "Man talk"! My jaw drops and I laugh – stunned. It’s like a parody of its own legacy, even as its reputation precedes it. Nonetheless, I settle in to watch the very first Bond film for the very first time, braced but excited. Of course, it’s impossible to approach without any prejudice because James Bond, his swagger and modus operandi are as ubiquitous in British pop culture as it’s possible to be. I can but try. What strikes me almost instantly, as someone who has never been able to summon the slightest bit of attraction towards Connery, is the feeling of something clicking into place. Ah, I get it now. In context, the strong nose and brows, the slick demeanour and liquid-centre eyes finally make sense – still not fanciable but at least it tracks. Unfortunately, it’s only a matter of …

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Licence to Kill didn't fail – it's one of the most influential Bond films
type: item
date: 2023-04-08T06:00:22.000Z
creator: Morgan Jeffery
subject: Movies
subject: TV
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Comment
subject: James Bond (franchise)
description: Though it earned a mixed reception, 1989's 007 outing starring Timothy Dalton now feels like a trailblazer.
encoded: It's not often that you'll see 1989's Licence to Kill celebrated as the best of Bond – too frequently, Timothy Dalton's second outing as 007 languishes near the bottom of lists, written off as a misjudged attempt to compete with violent '80s action cinema. The film strayed too far from the classic Bond formula, its critics would argue, and failed to connect with audiences as a result. Not helping its muddied reputation is the fact that following its release the Bond franchise went on a then-unprecedented six-year hiatus, with Dalton replaced as leading man when the series did eventually resume with 1995's GoldenEye. It's true that the film is a significant departure from what came before. Drawing more heavily on the source material of Ian Fleming's novels than any movie in the series since the early Sean Connery entries, Licence to Kill sees Bond on a mission of vengeance, our hero ousted – at least temporarily – from MI6 as he seeks bloody retribution against Franz Sanchez (played by Robert Davi), a drug lord responsible for maiming Bond's CIA ally Felix Leiter (David Hedison) as well as the murder (and, it's implied, the rape) of Felix's new bride Della (Priscilla Barnes). The Man with the Golden Gun, this ain't. It's also undeniable that the movie earned a mixed reception from contemporary critics – though there were some positive notices for Dalton's performance and attempts made to modernise 007, The Guardian argued that Licence to Kill lacked "flair", the Daily Express called it "dull" and "tiresome", while The Sunday Times lamented that "any vestiges of the gentleman spy [...] by Ian Fleming" had disappeared, with Bond they claimed now a vengeful vigilante akin to the protagonist of the same year's Batman movie. Read more: How to choose the next James Bond, with casting boss Debbie McWilliams The numbers also speak for themselves – though it grossed more than four times its budget, Licence to Kill earned the lowest box office return of any Bond film to date (…

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James Bond casting director reacts to next 007 rumours
type: item
date: 2023-04-07T06:00:41.000Z
creator: Morgan Jeffery
subject: Movies
subject: Bond at 70
subject: Exclusive
subject: James Bond (franchise)
subject: News
description: Debbie McWilliams says that Bond casting rumours make her "die laughing, most of the time".
encoded: The rumour mill might have you believe that the search for Daniel Craig's successor as James Bond is well under way – or, indeed, that the next 007 has already been found – but Debbie McWilliams, casting director on the Bond series, has insisted that "no conversation [is] being had at the moment". Speaking to RadioTimes.com as part of our Bond at 70 season, McWilliams claimed that most of the casting rumours make her "die laughing". "I don't listen to any of it," she said. "It makes me die laughing, actually, most of the time. "When I hear about who the bookies' favourites are, and who's number 15 and all this kind of thing... I mean, it's just hilarious – and the fact that people are remotely interested is even funnier, I think. It's a curious phenomenon, is all I can say!" Buy the James Bond novels from Waterstones McWilliams has worked as casting director on the Bond films since 1981's For Your Eyes Only and was instrumental in the casting of Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and most recently Daniel Craig as 007. Reflecting on previous Bond castings, she suggested that the conversation and speculation around who'll play Ian Fleming's super spy next have amplified over the years. "It's become a bigger deal through modern press and social media and all that business, and the fact that there now seems to be these kind of fanbases that I didn't even know existed, really – but that seems to generate a lot more [discussion]. Want to own the entire James Bond movie box set? Now's your chance "And also, I have a theory, which I've trotted out many times, is that when there's a gap in a newspaper, they fill it with a James Bond story, because they haven't got anything else to write about. Why people can't just wait and see, I don't know." As for who'll replace Craig after the actor bowed out of the franchise with 2021's No Time to Die, McWilliams insisted that the search is yet to begin in earnest. "There's no conversation being had at the moment. Read more: How to choose t…

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