James Bond & Friends

How was EON's new film received and what lies in store for 007 after 2020? In this episode, Bill draws the straw to go to one of the first US screenings of EON Productions' new film The Rhythm Section and files his report. Back in the world of James Bond, we follow up on the Billie Eilish news and ponder what the Oscar ceremony may have in store (or not), and from one long production to another, debate the merits of a 3-hour runtime. Along the way, we worry about Ben Whishaw's comments, reach down the back of the couch to help Aston Martin's rescue deal, wonder what might be in store with a second trailer, and kick around preferences for an MGM takeover between Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. We round out by making a couple of bold predictions for the next ten years. The recording took place on January 31st 2020 in the USA and Spain. James Page is co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com

How will the music choices – and late changes – affect No Time To Die? This week we recap all of the music news hurriedly released after the press got wind of both composer Hans Zimmer and title-song artist Billie Eilish at work on No Time To Die. We talk about the integration of the title song with the score, plus the lacklustre attempts to do so on SPECTRE and Skyfall; the young age of Shirley Bassey, Sam Smith, Adele, Sheena Easton, and Nancy Sinatra at the time of their Bond themes; the perspective a young title-artist will bring to the Bond sound; directors’ choices of composer and artistic impact of key personnel; why Dan Romer was dropped; who proposed a Young Bond prequel television series and why it got nixed; and the possible three-hour running time. Along the way we stumble on listening to Wings without earmuffs, when good artists experiment and fail, flogging DB5 replicas to keep Aston Martin afloat, the missing melodies, Michael Wilson's naps, cross-dressing Felix, recycled scripts and set-pieces

How will 2020 be remembered by Bond fans? This first episode of a new decade looks forward to what we can expect from a busy year of Bond - plus a number of question-marks that hang over the year and the future of the franchise. We discuss the marketing campaign for No Time To Die, the anticipation of the release, the key announcements to come (composer, albeit with Zimmer’s shop now looking more likely, and title song), avoiding spoilers in the week between UK and US release, and what the press will be talking about during and after the film’s premiere. We also delve into the dearth of Bond books and games and wonder whether the franchise will remain on autopilot or garner some fresh blood through new ownership? The recording took place on January 3rd in the USA and New Zealand. Paul Atkinson and James Page are co-founders of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copy

Reflecting on the people the James Bond franchise lost in 2019. In this end-of-year episode, we look back over 2019 and the people we lost from the James Bond franchise. From lesser-known names to world-famous stars, we reflect on their roles in the series and their careers in general. The recording took place on December 20th in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

Is James Bond a good cook? This week Edward Biddulph returns to the podcast for a special Mission Debrief episode all about the food of Bond. We discuss Bond’s heroic consumption of eggs, the novelty of an avocado in the 1950s, strange savoury desserts, Fleming (and consequently Bond’s) passion for rich French-style cuisine, touring Europe like 007, Bond novels as a travelogue, his kitchen and single-use gadgets, and the general dearth of food in the films when compared to the novels. The recording took place on December 8th in the UK and New Zealand. Paul Atkinson is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Edward Biddulph is author of Licence To Cook (buy now from Amazon) and the jamesbondfood.com blog This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

Could Fleming's second novel be adapted faithfully in the 21st century? This episode we consider how Daniel Craig's reboot of the series could have continued with a faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's second novel Live And Let Die to follow up the modern update of Casino Royale. Often easily waved away as an outdated story with race issues and bygone attitudes, we take a close look at how the essence of the book could have been kept for a 2008 adventure. What other problems would arise from making another film based on the book? What shadow would Roger Moore's 1973 outing cast? The recording took place on November 22nd in the USA. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

What can we learn from the No Time To Die trailer? What might be the reaction of a wider audience?  This week we assemble a large panel to dissect the No Time To Die teaser trailer that debuted on 4th December 2019. Each panelist offers their hot take to the first good look at the 25th James Bond film and we all concede this is no mere teaser trailer. Then we jump into the minutiae - dissecting the characters, sets, photography, and what we learned about the plot – before chatting through the launch strategy of Good Morning America. Along the way we discuss the villain’s lightsabers, the time that passed between SPECTRE and No Time To Die and pitching the trailer at a more general audience, where you might find the gun barrel, a grotesque villain in a politically correct era, a possible flashback in the snow, more homages to Dr. No, Blofeld’s preposterous age, Bond’s new reading habits, the nature of Safin’s scheme, films that don’t feel like Bond films, a missing wedding guest, para-military chic, and that K

Has the creative team written themselves into a cul de sac? This episode we continue our round-up of all the latest news and interviews for No Time To Die since principal photography wrapped, digging in to some of the more contentious issues that have popped up in recent weeks. Along the way, we discuss an MIA composer, underscored scenes, Kitty Galore, bad dubbing options, a BMW switcheroo, retirement planning, Bill's Sisyphean task, and whether the attempts to appease sections of the audience may end up leaving everyone unsatisfied. The recording took place on November 15th in the UK, USA, and Spain.  James Page is co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential John Clark (AKA HaphazardStuff) runs the aptly named haphazardstuff.com Calvin Dyson Reviews Bond channel can be enjoyed at youtube.com/calvindyson Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Preti

What's been happening since No Time To Die wrapped photography?  This episode we round up all the latest news and interviews for No Time To Die since principal photography wrapped, and welcome newcomer John Clark (AKA HaphazardStuff) to the panel. Along the way we discuss Daniel Craig's insistence that he's happy to be James Bond, a throwaway joke that enraged some fans, an emerging publicity campaign, keeping SPECTRE in the desk drawer, missing Greene, a not-so-big budget, and sketchy Italian truck drivers.  The recording took place on November 15th in the UK, USA, and Spain.  James Page is co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential John Clark (AKA HaphazardStuff) runs the aptly named haphazardstuff.com Calvin Dyson Reviews Bond channel can be enjoyed at youtube.com/calvindyson Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music cred

How much Bond continuity is successful? How much is necessary? This episode we consider the problem of continuity in a 57 year-old film franchise. We speculate why the Daniel Craig era leaned so heavily on connections to the past and wonder what could have happened to poor Sylvia Trench. Along the way we stumble on abandoned continuity opportunities, James Bond in a retirement village, alternate universes in the franchise, possible timeline strategies after Craig, David’s plan to drop Waltz’s Blofeld down a chimney stack, our hopes and wishes for No Time To Die, Cary’s Instagram account, Mathis’ AirB&B, what a Danny Boyle Bond could have looked like, and a composer compromise all culminating in a rare track from Sir Roger to play us out. The recording took place on November 1st in the USA, Spain, and New Zealand. Paul Atkinson and James Page are co-founders of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Phil Nobile Jr is Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria magazine, former Bond correspondent for Birth.Movies.Dea

How did the character of Moneypenny evolve from page to screen? In light of the news that Naomie Harris has suggested an independent Moneypenny adventure, we delve into the character of M’s long-serving secretary and the other women of the MI6 offices – both in Fleming’s work and the film adaptations. We discuss the way the characters of Loelia Ponsonby, Mary Goodnight, and Miss Moneypenny merged to form the screen incarnation of the latter and Fleming’s grappling with the reception and characterisation of women in the workplace. Along the way we wonder where the other 00s have gone, stumble into Moneypenny’s wardrobe, and upon Desmond Llewelyn’s fridge, muse on Moneypenny’s missed opportunities, Rami Malek’s least-likely character name in No Time To Die, our Netflix spin-off that will never get made, catch up with Honey Ryder and her journey through the encyclopaedia, and return to the topics of unsurprising surprise castings, the attitudes of filmmakers and treating audiences with respect. The recording too

It is one of the world's largest collection of James Bond posters, and it's about to go under the hammer at auction on November 5th. Who better to chat about it than the man himself, Adam Carter-Jones, and the poster consultant for the auction Mike Bloomfield. We discuss how the collection started, some of the rarest and oddball items in the 460+ lots, personal favourites, and how the poster collecting scene has changed in recent years. You can check out the collection online at PropStore.com The recording took place on October 31st in the USA and UK. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Adam Carter-Jones is the founder of bondposters.com Mike Bloomfield is the James Bond poster consultant for propstore.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

We asked 100 James Bond fans... Taking a break from our usual discussion format, we play Family Feud (or Family Fortunes, depending on where you're from) with Universal Experts and Team Oddjob to see who can best guess the results of the top 100 answers from an MI6 survey of James Bond fans. Play along at home and see how many of the top answers you can guess. Who will walk off with the star prize? The recording took place on October 18th in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com  Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Lisa Funnell (@CinemaOnFire) is Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma Ben Williams writes for MI6-HQ.com and MI6 Confidential This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

How do the films most faithful to Fleming stack up against the best original adventures?  The panel selects their favourite film from the franchise that is closest to the Ian Fleming source material and - conversely - picks out their best wholly original adventure and we see how the two shortlists compare against each other in a theoretical boxset battle. Along the way, we credit Connery for his commitment, deep dive into a wasted title, discover a bargain book shop, and relive a white knuckle drive that only a true Bond fan would endure.  The recording took place on October 11th in the USA, UK, and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential  David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com  Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

Does the scale of the villain's plot affect the quality of the adventure?  We explore a hypothesis that the effectiveness of a James Bond film is related to the scale and stakes of the villain's plot. Along the way we discover a SPECTRE call centre, a firmware update to ATAC, MI6's station in Singapore doing overtime, Judi Dench's air miles, Bolivian oil changes, and why not just leave Scaramanga alone.  The recording took place on September 27th in the USA, UK, and Spain.  James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential  David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com  Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

Which two pictures make the best double feature? We explore the history of Bond double bills before pitching our ultimate double features to screen in our imaginary picture house. Our selections are designed to showcase some interesting tone, thematic or other connection amongst the 24 official films to date. Along the way we discover Frankenstein Moore, the odd pairing of non-Bond and Bond films, Pussy Galore's missing bikini, UA's selective amnesia, the dearth of faithful Fleming adaptations in the Moore era, retro Daniel Craig, hidden Fleming material in Licence to Kill, Della's consolation prize, reboots, murky chronology, and a series within series. The recording took place on September 22nd in the USA, UK, and New Zealand. Paul Atkinson is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Edward Biddulph is the author of 'Licence to Cook: Recipes Inspired by Ian Fleming's James Bond', and writes James Bond Memes Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Joseph Darlington is

How is America treated in the James Bond series? We kick off this week talking about the use of American locations in the James Bond novels and films, and quickly get detoured in to a deeper discussion about how the lense of Bond bends the relationship between the UK and the US through distortions and battles of power, culture, and sex. Along the way, we stumble upon rogue palm trees, 2 am commutes to Fort Knox, Welsh paddy fields, and banishing 007 from LA. The recording took place on August 29th, 2019 in the USA. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Lisa Funnell (@CinemaOnFire) is Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com Ben Williams writes for MI6-HQ.com and MI6 Confidential This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

Who should cover a Bond song? We draft in new artists to perform cues for an imaginary 'Shaken And Stirred' album for the 2010s. With only our regular panelists' suspect musical taste and Q The Music's Warren Ringham to guide us, we make the case for some of our favourite performers to have a crack at a Bond song. Along the way Ben and David snipe each others' picks, and we stumble on Burt Bacharach's suspect vocal stylings, Sam Smith's falsetto, title songs as marketing, Dennis Waterman and his theme tune complex, creepy Goldfinger, Ringo's lost Bond theme, getting music recommendations from a computer, a musical theatre dark past, Queen's stealth hits, live podcast research, Wolverine on vocals, and the YouTube cover artist market. The recording took place on August 16th, 2019 in the UK, USA and Spain. Paul Atkinson is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Warren Ringham is the founder and manager of Q The Music David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command

Why do the origins of characters have to be explained? In part two of our recording with Joseph Darlington, Head of Section at Being James Bond, we cover some recent 007 news not related to Bond 25 and answer questions from listeners using the hashtag #askbond. Along the way, we stumble across the return of a non-biodegradable nemesis, strange audiences, speedy run-times, rogue audio effects, fake-out flops, clipboard wielding girls, life's loose threads, and bouncing pearls. Thanks to @SeekOutWisdom, @MediumAtomic, and @Stingray_travel for the questions. The recording took place on August 23rd, 2019 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man

What's in a name?  We welcome Joseph Darlington, Head of Section at Being James Bond, to the panel as we discuss the Bond 25 title drop 'No Time To Die.' Announced without much fanfare on an otherwise quiet Tuesday, we discuss how the new title fits in with the series. We also reveal the first news about the teaser trailer and what we can expect to see soon! Along the way we stumble across old fonts, Spectre's tiramisu, uncanny valley DB5s, dodgy timelines, and Mr White's diet. The recording took place on August 23rd, 2019 in the USA and Spain. James Page is a co-founder of MI6-HQ.com and the magazine MI6 Confidential Joseph Darlington is Head of Section at beingjamesbond.com David Leigh runs thejamesbonddossier.com Bill Koenig runs the Spy Command at hmssweblog.wordpress.com This podcast is copyright Pretitles LLC © 2019 Music credit 'Spy & Die' by Jay Man