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It has recently been revealed that permission has been granted for Bond 23 to shoot on location in Istanbul, already well used in From Russia With Love and featuring at the end of The World Is Not Enough. In this article we take a look at the Maiden’s Tower, which served as M’s prison in […]

Now firmly established as the James Bond franchise composer after his excellent scores for Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, David Arnold returned for this third Bond outing on what would become Pierce Brosnan’s final appearance as 007. Initially, Arnold turned once again to lyricist Don Black with whom he had collaborated […]

Above: Actor George Lazenby at the November 2008 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan. When Sean Connery announced his retirement form the James Bond films after You Only Live Twice (1967) and Timothy Dalton who was the favoured replacement counted himself out for being too young, Cubby Broccoli began to seriously consider a young Australian as […]

One of the trademarks of the James Bond books, especially those written by Ian Fleming, is the attention to detail given to what 007 drives, wears, eats and drinks. Since the release of the 2006 film, Casino Royale, the Vesper has rocketed to popularity in bars across the world. So it comes as little surprise […]

After the disappointment of Devil May Care, written by Sebastian Faulks and published in 2008 to coincide with the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, I didn’t even pre-order Carte Blanche. However, when a number of glowing reviews were published I relented and decided to read it after all. Working in author Jeffery Deaver’s favour were […]

For the finale of For Your Eyes Only (1981) – the twelfth James Bond film and the fourth to star Roger Moore – Melina Havelock and Colombo assist 007 to gain access to an abandoned Greek monastery where Kristatos plans to hand over the top secret ATAC over to KGB chief General Gogol. The monastery […]

This article is by guest writer Edward Biddulph. It is clear from the words given to M, and the description of James Bond reading the book, that, rather than simply referencing the title, Ian Fleming read in detail Alan Moyle’s guide on naturopathy, Nature Cure Explained (1950), before he wrote Thunderball (1961), the adventure in […]

In the film version of Casino Royale James Bond and Vesper stay in Hotel Splendide in an unidentified town in Montenegro. While there does turn out to be a Hotel Splendide in Montenegro, it is a concrete highrise rather than the neo-baroque design of the film. The real Hotel Splendide is located in Becici, on […]

In 1981 John Gardner was asked by Glidrose Productions (now Ian Fleming Publications) to write a series of new James Bond novels.  The former Royal Marine had been a successful author since the 1960s, firstly with a series of light hearted thrillers and later with more series spy novels. Gardner’s first James Bond book was […]

After the warm reception for his soundtrack to Tomorrow Never Dies, the producers had a relatively simple choice when deciding who to select to score the next instalment in the 007 series.  So, in September 1998, David Arnold became the first person to be invited to score a second Bond film since John Barry when […]