Author Profile: David Leigh

Issue #59 of the full-colour James Bond magazine MI6 Confidential is now shipping worldwide. As we enter the third year in which the 25th James Bond film was scheduled to be released, it’s a salient time to look back at how the franchise planned to stay alive during the last big hiatus in the early […]

The actor played Sharkey in Licence to Kill. Yesterday we received the news that Frank McRae died of a heart attack on 29th April at his home in Santa Monica. In Licence to Kill (1989) he appeared opposite Timothy Dalton as 007’s ally, Sharkey. McRae briefly played American football for the Chicago Bears and appeared in […]

Display of works by James Bond artist opens next month and will remain open over the summer. This summer Salisbury Museum plans to exhibit the work of Richard Chopping, whose trompe-l’œil artwork was used on the dustjackets of nine James Bond first edition books. Salisbury Museum The exhibition runs from 17th May until 3rd October […]

The actress had been suffering from cancer. Last week we received the news of another actor who has died at a tragically young age. Her husband, fellow actor Damian Lewis, revealed that the 52 year old had been suffering from cancer. In Skyfall (2012) she played Clair Dowar MP, who chairs the Parliamentary inquiry hearing […]

The panel discusses the key elements of James Bond from the novels to the films, identifying some of the things we believe makes 007 charming and successful.

The Quantum of Solace actor died from a brain tumour according to his agent. Earlier this week we received the sad news of Paul Ritter’s death at the age of 54. In Quantum of Solace (2008) Ritter played Guy Haines, a British government advisor working for Quantum. His agent issued the following statement: It is […]

We complete our SPECTRE odyssey as the second half picks up in Tangier.

At the start of Thunderball we find a badly hungover James Bond. The previous night while playing bridge he had downed a total of eleven whisky and sodas and, blaming it firmly on that last drink, lost heavily. After downing two Phensics he reaches for the Eno when the phone in his bedroom rings. It’s […]

Sunday saw Licence to Cook author Edward Biddulph on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme to talk about the food of James Bond. Programme description We don’t often see James Bond eating in the films, but in the novel food is almost as important as espionage, cocktails, sex, villains and travel. As many await the […]

The panel review the original first edition art work by Kenneth Lewis and the UK quad poster by Dan Goosee.

Join us as we watch the first half of 2015’s Spectre together as a group experience.

Sunglasses are an easy addition to the collection of anyone inspired by James Bond’s sense of style. Here we look at the brands worn by 007 in the films. Sunglasses barely feature in Ian Fleming’s books at all. And even in the film series it was only recently when Bond began to wear sunglasses regularly. […]

The actor’s wife broke news of his death on Facebook.  Best known to Bond fans as Mr Big in Live and Let Die, Yaphet Kotto appeared in films such as Alien (1979), Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Running Man (1987) and Midnight Run (1988) with Robert De Niro. His film debut was in 1963, aged 23, in […]

Her theme song for No Time to Die sees Billie Eilish win the fourth ever Grammy for Bond. Sunday saw Billie Eilish win a Grammy for her theme to No Time to Die  in an audience free award ceremony held in Los Angeles. The three and a half hour ceremony was livestreamed from the Los […]

The launch trailer for the forthcoming season 30 of Top Gear, the BBC’s long running motor show, features a short clip featuring cars inspired by the James Bond films. The clip, starting at around the 23 second mark, features a pair of sawn-in-half Renault 11s, similar to the taxi that appeared in A View to […]

For this episode, we resurrect an oft-forgotten relic of the canon – James Bond Jr – as it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The actress and voice artist is best known for dubbing a number of lead female characters in the early James Bond films. Nikki van der Zyl was born in Berlin in 1935, the daughter of a Rabbi. Her family fled Nazi Germany in 1939 for London, where her father was interned for much of the […]

William P Cartlidge, who worked on three James Bond films in the 1960s and 70s, died last week at the age of 78. He regularly worked with Lewis Gilbert, who brought him on board as first assistant director for You Only Live Twice (1967). He returned as associate producer on The Spy Who Loved Me […]

Universal unveils new date on UK website. The UK arm of Universal Pictures has confirmed that the planned release date for No Time to Die is now 30th September 2021. It had been previously announced as 8th October following the delay from April 2021 due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. AS MGM lacks the ability […]

The panel reviews the original UK quad poster and bring to the table some other posters used to promote the 1963 film, many of which riff on the original artwork by Renato Fratini.