Ian Fleming
Centenary

ABOVE: (left) Bond meets Bond! Seven-time 007 Sir Roger Moore meets Daniel Craig backstage at the London Palladium. (right) Sir Roger Moore is flanked by eight former James Bond Girls: (L-R) Maryam d'Abo (The Living Daylights), Madeline Smith (Live And Let Die), Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger), Zena Marshall (Dr. No), Eunice Gayson (Dr. No & From Russia With Love), Tania Mallet (Goldfinger), Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me) and Joanna Lumley (On Her Majesty's Secret Service).

ABOVE: (1) JAMES BOND read by TOBY STEPHENS [Gustav Graves in Die Another Day (2002) and James Bond in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of DR. NO (2008)]. (2) IAN FLEMING read by JEREMY IRONS. (3) M'S OFFICE read by SAMANTHA BOND [Miss Moneypenny in the four Pierce Brosnan James Bond films]. (4) MAJOR BOOTHROYD read by Rory Kinnear [Tanner in Quantum of Solace (2008)]. (5) WILLIAM PLOMER read by SIMON WILLIAMS. (6) LE CHIFFRE read by Christopher Cazenove. (7) CASINO ROYALE read by YOUNG BOND author Charlie Higson. (8) DR. NO read by JULIAN GLOVER [Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1981)]. (9) VESPER LYND read by JOELY RICHARDSON. (10) TIFFANY CASE read by DEVIL MAY CARE author SEBASTIAN FAULKS. (11) TRACY DI VICENZO read by GEMMA ARTERTON [Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace (2008)]. (12) HONEYCHILE RIDER read by ROSAMUND PIKE [Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002)].

ABOVE: Sir Roger Moore (centre) and a sextet of former Bond girls [L-R] Zena Marshall [Miss Taro in Dr. No (1962)], Tania Mallet [Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger (1964)], Caroline Munro [Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)], Shirley Eaton [Jill Masterson in Goldfinger (1964)], Eunice Gayson [Sylvia Trench in Dr. No (1962) and From Russia With Love (1963)], and Madeline Smith [Miss Caruso in Live And Let Die (1973)]. Ian Fleming's niece Lucy, and Producer of ‘The Story of James Bond - A Tribute to Ian Fleming’, addresses the audience at the London Palladium.

BELOW: DOUBLE DOUBLE-O-SEVEN! (left) Christopher Cazenove – who played James Bond in Omnibus: The British Hero, originally broadcast on BBC1 at 10.10pm on Sunday October 7, 1973 - with seven-time 007 Sir Roger Moore backstage at the London Palladium. (right) BOND GIRLS ARE FOREVER! Shirley Eaton [Golden Girl Jill Masterson in Goldfinger (1964)] with Maryam d'Abo [Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights (1987)] backstage at the London Palladium.

ABOVE: Part of the long-running BBC arts series Omnibus (1967-2003), The British Hero was an hour-long documentary which chronicled classic and contemporary heroes of literature, including Sir Galahad, Beau Geste, Bulldog Drummond, Richard Hannay and James Bond. (left) The documentary featured on the cover the Radio Times for 6-12 October 1973, which showed Christopher Cazenove as Beau Geste, (with T. P. McKenna) from the 1924 novel of the same name by P. C. Wren (1875-1941). (right) Christopher Cazenove as Bulldog Drummond, a former British army captain who craved adventure and excitement. Bulldog Drummond appeared in 10 novels by H. C. McNeile (1888-1937) from 1920 to 1937, all published under his pen name “Sapper”. Following McNeile's death the series was continued by English writer and scriptwriter Gerard Fairlie (1899-1983), who wrote a further seven novels from 1938 to 1954, and who “Sapper” had supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond.

Omnibus: The British Hero went unseen for 30 years until it was screened as part of the ‘Bond at 50’ event held at the National Film Theatre on London's South Bank on Saturday July 12, 2003. Special guests at the NFT event included five-time James Bond director John Glen, GoldenEye cinematographer Phil Méheux, Dr. No actress Zena Marshall, and James Bond author John Gardner. Omnibus: The British Hero is perhaps best known for Christopher Cazenove's portrayal of James Bond in two segments which dramatized the climax of Ian Fleming’s novel DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1956) with Wint and Kidd on board the Queen Elizabeth (featuring Gabrielle Drake as Tiffany Case); and Bond's near emasculation in the novel GOLDFINGER (1959), which reverted back to the circular saw of the book, rather than the laser beam seen in the 1964 film.

BELOW: (left) A scene from the GOLDFINGER segment of Omnibus: The British Hero featuring [L-R] Simon Walsh as Oddjob, Graham Crowden as Auric Goldfinger, and Christopher Cazenove as James Bond, observed by T. P. McKenna (also the programme’s narrator) and vamp Katya Wyeth. Graham Crowden would later play the First Sea Lord in For Your Eyes Only (1981). (right) Christopher Cazenove as Richard Hannay – a character created by John Buchan (1875-1940), who first appeared in The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915).