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132-613: The Furka Pass was used as a location in the James Bond film Goldfinger , a curve of which is marked as "James Bond Strasse", complete with lookout point and small parking area. Near the western summit of the pass is the Hotel Belvédère ; a short walk from it leads to the Rhône Glacier Ice Grotto. The glacier moves 30–40 metres a year, and the 100 metre long tunnel and ice chamber are open from June when

264-529: A code name , and has been adhered to by all subsequent directors of SIS when signing documents to retain anonymity. The service's performance during the First World War was mixed, because it was unable to establish a network in Germany itself. Most of its results came from military and commercial intelligence collected through networks in neutral countries, occupied territories, and Russia. During

396-642: A comic book adaptation of the screenplay, written by Norman J. Nodel, was published in Britain as part of the Classics Illustrated anthology series. It was later reprinted in the United States by DC Comics as part of its Showcase anthology series, in January 1963. This was the first American comic book appearance of James Bond and is noteworthy for being a relatively rare example of

528-506: A reality competition show based on the franchise, 007: Road to a Million , was released on Amazon Prime Video . In 1958, the novel Moonraker was adapted for broadcast on South African radio, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond. According to The Independent , "listeners across the Union thrilled to Bob's cultured tones as he defeated evil master criminals in search of world domination". The BBC have adapted five of

660-527: A British comic being reprinted in a fairly high-profile American comic. It was also one of the earliest comics to be censored on racial grounds (some skin tones and dialogue were changed for the American market). With the release of the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only , Marvel Comics published a two-issue comic book adaptation of the film. When Octopussy was released in the cinemas in 1983, Marvel published an accompanying comic; Eclipse also produced

792-577: A British special operations flight to airlift a captured V-2 Rocket with the assistance of the Polish resistance. Notably, Polish secret agent Jan Karski played a crucial role in delivering the first Allied intelligence on the Holocaust , providing the British with harrowing information about Nazi atrocities. Moreover, through a female Polish agent, the British established a channel of communication with

924-624: A Mark II Continental Bentley, which he used in the remaining books of the series. During Goldfinger , Bond was issued an Aston Martin DB Mark III with a homing device, which he used to track Goldfinger across France. Bond returned to his Bentley for the subsequent novels. The Bond of the films has driven a number of cars, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage , during the 1980s, the V12 Vanquish and DBS during

1056-568: A Mind to Kill , was published on 26 May 2022. Charlie Higson's first adult Bond novel, On His Majesty's Secret Service , was published on 4 May 2023 to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and support the National Literacy Trust . The Young Bond series of novels was started by Charlie Higson and, between 2005 and 2009, five novels and one short story were published. The first Young Bond novel, SilverFin

1188-567: A beginning of a shift in British foreign policy, Prime Minister Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that "any threat to the vital interest of France" would lead to a British declaration of war. One of MI6’s most successful operations before the war started in April 1939 when an Australian businessman living in London, Sidney Cotton , who was already engaged in aerial photographic espionage for

1320-651: A café in Venlo almost on the German border to meet a representative of the Wehrmacht generals, but the meeting proved to be an ambush as instead a party of the Sicherheitsdienst officers crossed over the border. The SS shot and killed a Dutch intelligence officer, Dirk Klop, who assisted with settling up the meeting and kidnapped Best and Stevens at gunpoint. The Venlo incident made the British government wary for

1452-572: A convenient label during the Second World War , when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today. The existence of SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994. That year the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) was introduced to Parliament, to place the organisation on a statutory footing for the first time. It provides the legal basis for its operations. Today, SIS is subject to public oversight by

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1584-507: A friend, "I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories." On 17 February 1952, he began writing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale , at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, where he wrote all his Bond novels during the months of January and February each year. He started the story shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, Ann Charteris, in order to distract himself from his forthcoming nuptials. After completing

1716-494: A game based on then-upcoming film Casino Royale : the game was cancelled because it would not be ready by the film's release in November of that year. With MGM losing revenue from lost licensing fees, the franchise was moved from EA to Activision . Activision subsequently released the 007: Quantum of Solace game on 31 October 2008, based on the film of the same name. A new version of GoldenEye 007 featuring Daniel Craig

1848-442: A licensed tabletop role-playing game , James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty's Secret Service , was published by Victory Games (a branch of Avalon Hill ) and designed by Gerard Christopher Klug . It was the most popular espionage role-playing game for its time. In addition to providing materials for players to create original scenarios, the game also offered players the opportunity to have adventures modelled after many of

1980-408: A long-standing tradition of insurgency organizations, which had been passed down through generations. These organizations maintained networks in emigrant Polish communities in Germany and France. A substantial part of the Polish resistance activity was clandestine and involved the establishment of cellular intelligence networks. The occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany also placed the Polish people in

2112-549: A major role in the "Dutch War Scare" when it reported to London that Germany was about to invade the Netherlands with the aim of using the Dutch airfields to launch a strategic bombing campaign that would achieve a "knock out blow" by destroying London along with the rest of Britain's cities. The intelligence behind the "Dutch War Scare" was false, intended to achieve a change in British foreign policy and had its desired effect on

2244-518: A meeting took place without police presence. There, the two SIS agents were duly abducted by the SS. In 1940, journalist and Soviet agent Kim Philby applied for a vacancy in Section D of SIS, and was vetted by his friend and fellow Soviet agent Guy Burgess . When Section D was absorbed by Special Operations Executive (SOE) in summer of 1940, Philby was appointed as an instructor in black propaganda at

2376-459: A more masculine look. The first strip, Casino Royale was published from 7 July 1958 to 13 December 1958 and was written by Anthony Hern and illustrated by John McLusky. Most of the Bond novels and short stories have since been adapted for illustration, as well as Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun ; the works were written by Henry Gammidge or Jim Lawrence (except for the adaptation of Dr. No which

2508-518: A neutral figure—an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both American singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself and in Casino Royale , Vesper Lynd remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Likewise, in Moonraker , Special Branch officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond

2640-575: A number of different Aston Martins for filming and publicity, one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in the US for $ 2.1 million to an unnamed European collector. In 2010, another DB5 used in Goldfinger was sold at auction for $ 4.6m million (£2.6 million). James Bond possesses a diverse set of skills that contribute to his effectiveness as a secret agent: Fleming's novels and early screen adaptations presented minimal equipment such as

2772-442: A number of such title characters (e.g. Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond ). The documentary included James Bond in dramatised scenes from Goldfinger —notably featuring 007 being threatened with the novel's circular saw, rather than the film's laser beam—and Diamonds Are Forever . In 1991, a spin-off animated series, James Bond Jr. , was produced with Corey Burton in the role of Bond's nephew, James Bond Jr. In 2022,

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2904-591: A one-hour show in 1954 as part of the CBS series Climax! . The Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including their soundtracks , with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and three wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch . The films are also noted for Bond's relationships with various women, who are popularly referred to as " Bond girls ". Ian Fleming created

3036-418: A one-hour television adventure, "Casino Royale" , as part of its Climax! series. The episode aired live on 21 October 1954 and starred Barry Nelson as "Card Sense" James Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. The novel was adapted for American audiences to show Bond as an American agent working for "Combined Intelligence", while the character Felix Leiter —American in the novel—became British onscreen and

3168-453: A one-off comic for Licence to Kill , although Timothy Dalton refused to allow his likeness to be used. New Bond stories were also drawn up and published from 1989 onwards through Marvel, Eclipse Comics , Dark Horse Comics and Dynamite Entertainment . Eon Productions, the company of Canadian Harry Saltzman and American Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli , released the first cinema adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel, Dr. No (1962), based on

3300-844: A position there. He was able to alert the NKVD about all British intelligence on the Soviets—including what the American OSS had shared with the British about the Soviets. Despite these difficulties the service nevertheless conducted substantial and successful operations in both occupied Europe and in the Middle East and Far East where it operated under the cover name Inter-Services Liaison Department (ISLD). In August 1945 Soviet intelligence officer Konstantin Volkov tried to defect to

3432-603: A result, MI6's number one priority with regard to Germany was collect intelligence on the Luftwaffe, the branch of the Wehrmacht that British decision-makers feared the most. To assist with studying German industrial production, the Industrial Intelligence Center under Desmond Morton was founded in 1934 with a special mandate to study German aircraft production. However, Admiral Sinclair complained in 1935 that MI6's annual budget for operations around

3564-470: A share of takings from syndication. After initial reluctance, Fleming, who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed. To aid the Daily Express in illustrating Bond, Fleming commissioned an artist to create a sketch of how he believed James Bond looked. The illustrator, John McLusky , however, felt that Fleming's 007 looked too "outdated" and "pre-war" and changed Bond to give him

3696-622: A spy, how to make contact with, and worm vital information out of unsuspecting experts". It was not until the Second World War that the "methodical training" of agents that has been the hallmark of British intelligence started. A number of MI6 agents like MI5 agents were former colonial police officers while MI6 displayed a strong bias against recruiting men with university degrees as universities were considered within MI6 to be bastions of "effete intellectualism". Claude Dansey , who served as

3828-430: A unique position to gather intelligence on the enemy, as they were often used as forced laborers across the continent. This proximity to key locations and military installations allowed them to provide valuable insights to the British intelligence services. The liaison between the British and Polish intelligence was facilitated by SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) officer Wilfred Dunderdale . The reports exchanged between

3960-581: A very nice lady at that!" Boothroyd suggested that Bond should swap his Beretta for a 7.65mm Walther PPK and this exchange of arms made it to Dr. No . Boothroyd also gave Fleming advice on the Berns-Martin triple draw shoulder holster and a number of the weapons used by SMERSH and other villains. In thanks, Fleming gave the MI6 Armourer in his novels the name Major Boothroyd and, in Dr. No , M ,

4092-487: A vital basis for the later British continuation of the war effort. During the war, British cryptologists decrypted a vast number of messages enciphered on Enigma. The intelligence gleaned from this source, codenamed " Ultra " by the British, was a substantial aid to the Allied war effort. Sinclair died on 4 November 1939, after an illness, and was replaced as C by Lt Col. Stewart Menzies (Horse Guards), who had been with

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4224-590: A way to keep Russia in the war, but Reilly soon became involved in a plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks. After the war, resources were significantly reduced but during the 1920s, SIS established a close operational relationship with the diplomatic service. In August 1919, Cumming created the new passport control department, providing diplomatic cover for agents abroad. The post of Passport Control Officer provided operatives with diplomatic immunity . Circulating Sections established intelligence requirements and passed

4356-490: Is With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond , and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character , Moneypenny . The character—also known by the code number 007 (pronounced "double-oh-seven")—has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strips, video games and film. The films constitute one of

4488-446: Is "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold." Fleming endowed Bond with many of his own traits, including sharing the same golf handicap, the taste for scrambled eggs, and using the same brand of toiletries. Bond's tastes are also often taken from Fleming's own as

4620-873: Is the current chief of SIS. Command and control over SIS is done through by four main government entities: the Central Intelligence Machinery, the Ministerial Committee on the Intelligence Services, the Permanent Secretaries' Committee on the Intelligence Services, and the Joint Intelligence Committee. The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) assesses the intelligence gathered by the GCHQ , MI5 , and SIS and presents it to

4752-490: Is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent Bond film productions: Casino Royale (a 1967 spoof starring David Niven ) and Never Say Never Again (a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, 1965's Thunderball , both starring Connery). The James Bond franchise is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time . Casino Royale has also been adapted for television, as

4884-598: Is to collect Britain's foreign intelligence . It provides the British government with vital intelligence regarding foreign events and informs concerning global covert capabilities to uphold national interests, security and protect the country's economic well-being. SIS works with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and therefore falls under the supervision of the Foreign Secretary . SIS officers and agents engage in operations and missions all around

5016-608: The Deuxième Bureau was recruited to fly missions over Germany. Under the cover story that he was a sales agent for a dummy corporation, the Aeronautical Research and Sales Corporation, Cotton flew over Germany, Italy and the Italian colony of Libya in his Lockheed 12A aircraft, taking numerous high-quality aerial photographs of German and Italian military bases that proved immensely useful for Britain during

5148-687: The Admiralty and the War Office to control secret intelligence operations in the UK and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government. The bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign espionage and internal counter-espionage activities, respectively. This specialisation was because the Admiralty wanted to know

5280-826: The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service , introduces him to Bond as "the greatest small-arms expert in the world". Bond also used a variety of rifles , including the Savage Model 99 in "For Your Eyes Only" and a Winchester .308 target rifle in "The Living Daylights". Other handguns used by Bond in the Fleming books included the Colt Detective Special and a long-barrelled Colt .45 Army Special . The first Bond film, Dr. No , saw M ordering Bond to leave his Beretta behind and take up

5412-517: The Eon Productions Bond films appeared in print, James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me and James Bond and Moonraker , both written by screenwriter Christopher Wood , the series of novels did not continue until the 1980s. In 1981, the thriller writer John Gardner picked up the series with Licence Renewed . Gardner went on to write sixteen Bond books in total; two of the books he wrote were novelisations of Eon Productions films of

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5544-660: The Gestapo , the Nazi secret police, with "the exchange of information about communism" as late as October 1937, well into the Nazi era; the head of the British agency's Berlin station, Frank Foley , was still able to describe his relationship with the Gestapo's so-called communism expert as "cordial". In 1936, in a sign that he lacked confidence in his own agents, Sinclair founded the semi-autonomous Z section under Claude Dansey for economic intelligence about Germany. Working alongside

5676-510: The Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Several of the songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song , including Paul McCartney 's " Live and Let Die ", Carly Simon 's " Nobody Does It Better ", Sheena Easton 's " For Your Eyes Only ", Adele 's " Skyfall ", Sam Smith 's " Writing's on the Wall ", and Billie Eilish 's " No Time to Die ". Adele won

5808-636: The Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament . The stated priority roles of SIS are counter-terrorism , counter-proliferation , providing intelligence in support of cyber security , and supporting stability overseas to disrupt terrorism and other criminal activities. Unlike its main sister agencies, Security Service (MI5) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), SIS works exclusively in foreign intelligence gathering;

5940-614: The Nintendo 64 followed by 007 Racing for the PlayStation on 21 November 2000. In 2003, the company released James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing , which included the likenesses and voices of Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe , Heidi Klum , Judi Dench and John Cleese , amongst others. In November 2005, Electronic Arts released a video game adaptation of 007: From Russia with Love , which involved Sean Connery's image and voice-over for Bond. In 2006, Electronic Arts announced

6072-560: The Ultra material collected by the Government Code & Cypher School , MI6 became, for the first time, an important branch of the government. Extensive breaches of Nazi Enigma signals gave Menzies and his team enormous insight into Adolf Hitler 's strategy, and this was kept a closely held secret. In 1940, the British intelligence services entered into a special agreement with their Polish counterparts. This collaboration between

6204-407: The eponymous 1958 novel and featuring Sean Connery as 007 . Connery starred in a further four films before leaving the role after You Only Live Twice (1967), which was taken up by George Lazenby for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Lazenby left the role after just one appearance and Connery was brought back for his last Eon-produced film Diamonds Are Forever . Roger Moore

6336-482: The pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book's "editor". The first instalment of the trilogy, subtitled Guardian Angel , was released on 10 October 2005 in the UK. A second volume, subtitled Secret Servant was released on 2 November 2006 in the UK, published by John Murray . A third volume, subtitled Final Fling was released on 1 May 2008. In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $ 1,000 ($ 11,346 in 2023 dollars ) to adapt his novel Casino Royale into

6468-592: The "ultimate potential enemy". The memo noted that Germany had the world's second largest economy (being exceeded only by the economy of the United States), was a world leader in science and technology, and was capable of moblising millions of men for war. However, it was generally believed in the United Kingdom at the time that the arms race before 1914 had caused the Great War, and consequently there

6600-595: The 14th Army take over all intelligence operations in Burma with both SIS and SOE agents to be subordinate to the 14th Army under the grounds the Army was more capable of running intelligence operations in southeast Asia than MI6. Menzies who fiercely defended the prerogatives of MI6 was able to block this proposal despite the way it was universally accepted by officers serving in the China-Burma-India theater that SIS

6732-442: The 1950s two weeks after the events of Goldfinger , it contains material written, but previously unreleased, by Fleming. Trigger Mortis was released on 8 September 2015. Horowitz's second Bond novel, Forever and a Day , tells the origin story of Bond as a 00 agent prior to the events of Casino Royale . The novel, also based on unpublished material from Fleming, was released on 31 May 2018. Horowitz's third Bond novel, With

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6864-786: The 2000s, as well as the Lotus Esprit ; the BMW Z3 , BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8 . He has, however, also needed to drive a number of other vehicles, ranging from a Citroën 2CV to a Routemaster Bus, amongst others. Bond's most famous car is the silver grey Aston Martin DB5 , first seen in Goldfinger ; it later featured in Thunderball , GoldenEye , Tomorrow Never Dies , Casino Royale , Skyfall and Spectre . The films have used

6996-449: The American ornithologist James Bond , a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies . Fleming, a keen birdwatcher himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he later explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born". He further explained that: When I wrote

7128-491: The Americas, and mobilise pro-British opinion in the Americas. BSC also founded Camp X in Canada to train clandestine operators and to establish (in 1942) a telecommunications relay station, code name Hydra, operated by engineer Benjamin deForest Bayly . SIS operations in Asia were hindered by the fact that Europeans tended to stick out in Asia along with an inability to recruit Asian agents. The SOE had more success in both recruiting agents in Asia and in sending agents into

7260-460: The BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for UK Developer of the Year in 1998, and sold over eight million copies worldwide, grossing $ 250 million, making it the third- best-selling Nintendo 64 game . It is frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time . In 1999, Electronic Arts acquired the licence and released Tomorrow Never Dies on 16 December 1999. In October 2000, they released The World Is Not Enough for

7392-409: The British Embassy in Riga on 9 October 1924 who forwarded it to London. The Zinoviev letter played a key role in the defeat of the minority Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald and the victory of the Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin in the general election of 29 October 1924. It has been established the MI6 leaked the Zinoviev letter to the Daily Mail , but it remains unclear if MI6 was aware that

7524-409: The British ambassador to Germany from 1937 to 1939, was actively hostile towards MI6 running agents out of the British embassy in Berlin as he made it clear his belief that espionage against Germany would hamper the "general settlement" he was seeking with the Reich . The focus on collecting intelligence on German aircraft production led MI6 to be confused about the wider strategic question of what were

7656-409: The Chamberlain government. The Deuxième Bureau had manufactured the story as a way to force Britain to make a stronger commitment to defend France. The "limited liability" rearmament policy pursued by the Chamberlain government had intentionally starved the British Army of funds to rule out the "continental commitment" (i.e. Britain sending a large expeditionary force) from ever being made again, with

7788-435: The Committee is responsible specifically with ensuring the Committee's monitoring and oversight over intelligence data are conducted effectively and responsibly. Permanent and temporary sub-committees and working groups are constituted by the Committee, to carry out its duties responsibly. HM Treasury has directed the security and intelligence agencies to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with

7920-426: The Eon Productions film adaptations, albeit with modifications to provide challenges by preventing players from slavishly imitating Bond's actions in the stories. For the first five novels, Fleming armed Bond with a Beretta 418 until he received a letter from a thirty-one-year-old Bond enthusiast and gun expert, Geoffrey Boothroyd , criticising Fleming's choice of firearm for Bond, calling it "a lady's gun—and not

8052-450: The Fleming novels for broadcast: in 1990 You Only Live Twice was adapted into a 90-minute radio play for BBC Radio 4 with Michael Jayston playing James Bond. The production was repeated a number of times between 2008 and 2011. On 24 May 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast an adaptation of Dr. No . The actor Toby Stephens , who played Bond villain Gustav Graves in the Eon Productions version of Die Another Day , played Bond, while Dr. No

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8184-405: The German intelligence service, the Abwehr , had been bribed into working for Czechoslovakia. Thus most of what MI6 knew about German plans during both the Sudetenland crisis and the Danzig crisis came from the Czechoslovak military intelligence, which continued to run Thümmel even after the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 and a government-in-exile was set up. Sir Nevile Henderson ,

8316-444: The Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. Due to security concerns, the Government does not publish these financial statements which are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and then shown to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee in accordance with the Intelligence Services Act 1994 . The annual Parliamentary financial statements for 2021–2022 indicated that the combined British intelligence services spending

8448-429: The ISA allows it to carry out operations only against persons outside the British Islands . Some of SIS's actions since the 2000s have attracted significant controversy, such as its alleged complicity in acts of enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition . Since 1994, SIS headquarters have been in the SIS Building in London , on the South Bank of the River Thames . The main mission of SIS

8580-404: The Japanese-occupied areas in China and southeast Asia, which caused tensions with MI6 who were jealous of the ability of the upstart SOE to do what they could not. SOE was more open to recruiting from within the Commonwealth, recruiting Chinese-Canadians and Australian-Chinese, to operate behind the Japanese lines under the grounds Asian agents would less likely to be arrested by the Kempeitai ,

8712-411: The MI6 Deputy Chief in World War II wrote: "I would never willing employ an university man. I have less fear of Bolshies and Fascists than I have of some pedantic, but vocal university professor". The debate over the future structure of British Intelligence continued at length after the end of hostilities but Cumming managed to engineer the return of the Service to Foreign Office control. At this time,

8844-432: The Provisional government in Petrograd and signed an armistice with Germany. The main objective for the British was to keep Russia in the war, and MI6's two chosen instruments for doing so were Sidney Reilly , who despite his Irish name was a Russian-Jewish adventurer, and George Alexander Hill , a British pilot and businessman. Officially, Reilly's mandate was to collect intelligence about the new regime in Russia and find

8976-545: The SIS report directly. The Foreign Secretary appoints the head of SIS , to oversee SIS daily management and work. The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service has a twofold responsibility within SIS. Internally, they oversee the continuous gathering of intelligence from agents, which involves making complex decisions about risk, resource allocation, and technological adaptation. In today's interconnected, data-driven world, maintaining secrecy and conducting undercover operations have become increasingly challenging. Externally,

9108-400: The SOE's training establishment in Beaulieu, Hampshire . In May 1940, MI6 set up British Security Co-ordination (BSC), on the authorisation of Prime Minister Winston Churchill over the objections of Stewart Menzies. This was a covert organisation based in New York City, headed by William Stephenson intended to investigate enemy activities, prevent sabotage against British interests in

9240-505: The Second World War, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war". Among those types were his brother, Peter , who had been involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway and Greece during the war. Aside from Fleming's brother, a number of others also provided some aspects of Bond's make up, including Conrad O'Brien-ffrench , Patrick Dalzel-Job , Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale and Duško Popov . The name James Bond came from that of

9372-653: The Second World War, the name MI6 was used as a flag of convenience, the name by which it is frequently known in popular culture since. In the immediate post-war years under Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming and throughout most of the 1920s, SIS was focused on Communism, in particular, Russian Bolshevism. Examples include a thwarted operation to overthrow the Bolshevik government in 1918 by SIS agents Sidney George Reilly and Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart , as well as more orthodox espionage efforts within early Soviet Russia headed by Captain George Hill. Smith-Cumming died suddenly at his home on 14 June 1923, shortly before he

9504-543: The UK, offering the names of all Soviet agents working inside British intelligence. Philby received the memo on Volkov's offer and alerted the Soviets, so they could arrest him. In 1946, SIS absorbed the "rump" remnant of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), dispersing the latter's personnel and equipment between its operational divisions or "controllerates" and new Directorates for Training and Development and for War Planning. The 1921 arrangement

9636-420: The US. American writer Jeffery Deaver was then commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to produce Carte Blanche , which was published on 26 May 2011. The book turned Bond into a post-9/11 agent, independent of MI5 or MI6. On 26 September 2013, Solo by William Boyd , set in 1969, was published. In October 2014, it was announced that Anthony Horowitz was to write a Bond continuation novel. Set in

9768-575: The Walther PPK, which Bond used in eighteen films. In Tomorrow Never Dies and the two subsequent films, Bond's main weapon was the Walther P99 semi-automatic pistol . In the early Bond stories Fleming gave Bond a battleship-grey Bentley 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 Litre with an Amherst Villiers supercharger . After Bond's car was written off by Hugo Drax in Moonraker , Fleming gave Bond

9900-501: The Z section was the British Industrial Secret Service headed by a Canadian businessman living in London, William Stephenson that recruited British businessmen active in Germany for intelligence about German industrial production. For intelligence on German military plans, MI6 largely depended upon Czechoslovak military intelligence from 1937 onward as Paul Thümmel , aka "Agent A-54", a senior officer in

10032-520: The actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. In 2001, Norman won £30,000 in libel damages from The Sunday Times newspaper, which suggested that Barry was entirely responsible for the composition. The theme, as written by Norman and arranged by Barry, was described by another Bond film composer, David Arnold , as "bebop-swing vibe coupled with that vicious, dark, distorted electric guitar, definitely an instrument of rock 'n' roll ... it represented everything about

10164-669: The aims of German foreign policy. On 18 September 1938, a memo entitled "What Shall We Do?" written by Malcolm Woollcombe, the chief of the Political Intelligence, declared that the best way of resolving the Sudetenland crisis was for the Sudetenland to be peacefully annexed to Germany. The report concluded that allowing the Sudetenland to be annexed would allow Britain to finally discover "what really legitimate grievances Germany has and what surgical operations are necessary to recify them". In January 1939, MI6 played

10296-509: The anti-Nazi chief of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris . This alliance allowed for the exchange of critical intelligence information and further strengthened the cooperation between the British and Polish intelligence services during this pivotal period in history. 1939 saw the most significant failure of the service during the war, known as the Venlo incident for the Dutch town where much of

10428-404: The award at the 85th Academy Awards , Smith won at the 88th Academy Awards , and Eilish won at the 94th Academy Awards . For the non-Eon produced Casino Royale , Burt Bacharach 's score included " The Look of Love " (sung by Dusty Springfield ), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1983, the first Bond video game, developed and published by Parker Brothers ,

10560-551: The booby-trapped attaché case in From Russia, with Love , although this situation changed dramatically with the films. However, the effects of the two Eon-produced Bond films Dr. No and From Russia with Love had an effect on the novel The Man with the Golden Gun , through the increased number of devices used in Fleming's final story. For the film adaptations of Bond, the pre-mission briefing by Q Branch became one of

10692-548: The cabinet ministers, who in turn, enable the government's policies to help achieve national security and defence. The JIC also reports the intelligence analysis, based on SIS gatherings, to the Cabinet Office itself. Committee members are required to bring the reports and findings to their perspective ministers and departments, so as to make appropriate assessments that help in planning, preparing operational activities, planning or making policy decisions. The Chairman of

10824-481: The canton of Vaud , Switzerland. Fleming did not provide Bond's date of birth, but John Pearson 's fictional biography of Bond, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 , gives Bond a birth date on 11 November 1920, while a study by John Griswold puts the date at 11 November 1921. Whilst serving in the Naval Intelligence Division, Fleming had planned to become an author and had told

10956-558: The character you would want: It was cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, suggestive, sexy, unstoppable. And he did it in two minutes." Barry composed the scores for eleven Bond films and had an uncredited contribution to Dr. No with his arrangement of the Bond Theme. A Bond film staple are the theme songs heard during their title sequences sung by well-known popular singers. Shirley Bassey performed three Bond theme songs, with her 1964 song " Goldfinger " inducted into

11088-427: The chief also operates as a secret diplomat, tasked with maintaining vital alliances that support intelligence cooperation. Additionally, they may need to establish discreet communication channels with countries where traditional diplomatic relations are delicate. Successfully navigating these dual roles requires a nuanced understanding of both internal operations and international relations. Since 2020, Sir Richard Moore

11220-492: The company had purchased the rights to Never Say Never Again from Taliafilm. As of 2015 , Eon holds the full adaptation rights to all of Fleming's Bond novels . " cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, suggestive, sexy, unstoppable." — David Arnold The " James Bond Theme " was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated by the John Barry Orchestra for 1962's Dr. No , although

11352-620: The covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary . Formed in 1909 as the foreign section of the Secret Service Bureau , the section grew greatly during the First World War officially adopting its current name around 1920. The name "MI6" originated as

11484-572: The fictional character of James Bond as the central figure for his works. Bond is an intelligence officer in the Secret Intelligence Service , commonly known as MI6. Bond is known by his code number, 007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander . Fleming based his fictional creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division and 30 Assault Unit during

11616-531: The first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument ... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard. On another occasion, Fleming said: "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers'. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be

11748-640: The general election of that year by leaking the so-called Zinoviev letter to the Daily Mail , which published it on its front page on 25 October 1924. The letter, which was a forgery, was supposedly from Grigory Zinoviev , the chief of the Comintern, ordering British Communists to take over the Labour Party. The Zinoviv letter, which was written in English, came into possession of the MI6 resident at

11880-530: The government regarding Germany was for MI6 to collect intelligence about German rearmament in order to establish the level of British rearmament that was be pursued in response. British decision-makers were especially concerned about the prospect of German strategic bombing of British cities as contemporary experts vastly exaggerated the power of strategic bombing to kill millions within a few days. Harold Macmillan later recalled: "We thought of air warfare in 1938 rather as people think of nuclear warfare today". As

12012-486: The increased use of technology led to an accusation that Bond was over-reliant on equipment, particularly in the later films. "If it hadn't been for Q Branch, you'd have been dead long ago!" Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS ), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6 ), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom , tasked mainly with

12144-535: The intelligence back to its consumer departments, mainly the War Office and Admiralty . Recruitment and the training of spies in the interwar period was quite casual. Cumming referred to espionage as a "capital sport", and expected his agents to learn the "tradecraft" of espionage while on their missions instead of before being dispatched on their missions. One MI6 agent Leslie Nicholson recalled about his first assignment in Prague: "nobody gave me any tips on how to be

12276-469: The last two books— The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights —published posthumously. All the books were published in the UK through Jonathan Cape. After Fleming's death, a continuation novel, Colonel Sun , was written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham ) and published in 1968. Amis had already written a literary study of Fleming's Bond novels in his 1965 work The James Bond Dossier . Although novelisations of two of

12408-701: The letter was a forgery at the time. With the emergence of Germany as a threat following the ascendence of the Nazis , in the early 1930s attention was shifted in that direction. In 1934, a defense requirements commitment that consisted of Sir Robert Vansittart of the Foreign Office, Sir Warren Fisher of the Treasury, General Sir Maurice Hankey of the Committee for Imperial Defense, and the three service chiefs produced an influential memo that labelled Germany

12540-512: The longest continually running film series and have grossed over US$ 7.04 billion in total at the box office, making James Bond the fifth-highest-grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No , starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2021 , there have been twenty-five films in the Eon Productions series . The most recent Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), stars Daniel Craig in his fifth portrayal of Bond; he

12672-609: The majority of military spending being devoted the RAF and the Royal Navy. As such, Britain simply did not possess the military force to save the Netherlands, leading to urgent requests being made to Paris to ask if France would be willing to assist with the defence of the Netherlands. In response, the French replied that Britain would need to do more for France if the British wanted the French to do something for them. On 6 February 1939 in

12804-450: The manuscript for Casino Royale , Fleming showed it to his friend (and later editor) William Plomer to read. Plomer liked it and submitted it to the publishers, Jonathan Cape , who did not like it as much. Cape finally published it in 1953 on the recommendation of Fleming's older brother Peter , an established travel writer. Between 1953 and 1966, two years after his death, twelve novels and two short-story collections were published, with

12936-781: The maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy . This specialisation was formalised before 1914. During the First World War in 1916, the two sections underwent administrative changes so that the foreign section became the section MI1(c) of the Directorate of Military Intelligence . Its first director was Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming , who often dropped the Smith in routine communication. He typically signed correspondence with his initial C in green ink. This usage evolved as

13068-471: The motifs that ran through the series. Dr. No provided no spy-related gadgets, but a Geiger counter was used; industrial designer Andy Davey observed that the first ever onscreen spy-gadget was the attaché case shown in From Russia with Love , which he described as "a classic 007 product". The gadgets assumed a higher profile in the 1964 film Goldfinger . The film's success encouraged further espionage equipment from Q Branch to be supplied to Bond, although

13200-627: The much feared Japanese military police. In 1944, about 90% of the human intelligence in Burma came from the SOE while 70% of the human intelligence in Malaya, Thailand and French Indochina came from the SOE. General William Slim , the GOC of the 14th Army, complained about the low quality of SIS intelligence in late 1943 as he stated that the intelligence he received from MI6 was "far from being complete or accurate". In late 1944-early 1945, Slim attempted to have

13332-472: The necessary laws, regulations and funding needed to keep the SIS operating and to conduct its activities. Under these rules, SIS is accountable to the government of the time and the SIS carry out their work in accordance to the government's foreign policy . The Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for intelligence and security, with day-to-day ministerial responsibility with the Foreign Secretary , to whom

13464-454: The operation took place. Agents of the German army secret service, the Abwehr , and the counter-espionage section of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), posed as high-ranking officers involved in a plot to depose Hitler . In a series of meetings between SIS agents and the 'conspirators', SS plans to abduct the SIS team were shelved due to the presence of Dutch police. On the night of 8–9 November,

13596-800: The organisation was known in Whitehall by a variety of titles including the Foreign Intelligence Service , the Secret Service , MI1(c) , the Special Intelligence Service and even C's organisation . Around 1920, it began increasingly to be referred to as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a title that it has continued to use to the present day and which was enshrined in statute in the Intelligence Services Act 1994. During

13728-445: The rest of the war with any more contact with the Wehrmacht generals. During the Second World War the human intelligence work of the service was complemented by several other initiatives: GC&CS was the source of Ultra intelligence, which was very useful. The chief of SIS, Stewart Menzies , insisted on wartime control of codebreaking, and this gave him immense power and influence, which he used judiciously. By distributing

13860-722: The road opens. This Valais location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Canton of Uri location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . James Bond The James Bond franchise focuses on the titular character , a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming , who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis , Christopher Wood , John Gardner , Raymond Benson , Sebastian Faulks , Jeffery Deaver , William Boyd , and Anthony Horowitz . The latest novel

13992-712: The role of Bond. The result of a court case in the High Court in London in 1963 allowed Kevin McClory to produce a remake of Thunderball titled Never Say Never Again in 1983. The film, produced by Jack Schwartzman 's Taliafilm production company and starring Sean Connery as Bond, was not part of the Eon series of Bond films. In 1997, the Sony Corporation acquired all or some of McClory's rights in an undisclosed deal, which were then subsequently acquired by MGM , whilst on 4 December 1997, MGM announced that

14124-458: The same name: Licence to Kill and GoldenEye . Gardner moved the Bond series into the 1980s, although he retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them. In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health. In 1996, the American author Raymond Benson became the author of the Bond novels. Benson had previously been the author of The James Bond Bedside Companion , first published in 1984. By

14256-471: The service since the end of World War I. On 9 November 1939, MI6 was embarrassed by the Venlo incident . The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was unenthusiastic about the prospect of war, and clung to the hope all through the Phoney War that the Wehrmacht generals would overthrow Hitler, after which the war would end. Two MI6 officers, Sigismund Payne Best and Henry Stevens had been dispatched to

14388-492: The time he moved on to other, non-Bond related projects in 2002, Benson had written six Bond novels, three novelisations and three short stories. After a gap of six years, Sebastian Faulks was commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to write a new Bond novel, which was released on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth. The book—titled Devil May Care —was published in the UK by Penguin Books and by Doubleday in

14520-583: The two nations played a significant role in shaping the course of World War II. In July 2005, the governments of the United Kingdom and Poland jointly produced a comprehensive two-volume study that shed light on their bilateral intelligence cooperation during the war. This study, which unveiled information that had been classified as secret until that point, was known as the Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee. The report

14652-578: The two parties included critical information such as advance warnings of the ' Afrikakorps' departure for Libya, insights into the readiness of Vichy French units to either fight against the Allies or switch sides during Operation Torch , and early warnings regarding both Operation Barbarossa and Operation Edelweiss , the German Caucasus campaign . Polish-sourced reporting on German secret weapons began in 1941, and Operation Wildhorn enabled

14784-649: The war, MI6 had its main European office in Rotterdam from where it coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. A crucial element in the war effort from the British perspective was the involvement of Russia, which kept millions of German soldiers that would otherwise be deployed on the Western Front, engaged on the Eastern Front. On 7 November 1917 the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin overthrew

14916-521: The war. On 26 and 27 July 1939, in Pyry near Warsaw , British military intelligence representatives including Dilly Knox , Alastair Denniston and Humphrey Sandwith were introduced by their allied Polish counterparts to their Enigma-decryption techniques and equipment, including Zygalski sheets and the cryptologic " Bomba ", and were promised future delivery of a reverse-engineered, Polish-built duplicate Enigma machine. The demonstration represented

15048-643: The world was equal to the cost of maintaining one destroyer in home waters, and that the demands placed upon his service exceeded its budget. The focus on the Luftwaffe along with MI6's relatively small budget led to constant complaints from both the War Office and the Admiralty that MI6 was neglecting both the German Army and the Kriegsmarine . The Asian branch of the SIS was known as the "Cinderella branch" owing to its neglect by London. MI6 assisted

15180-430: The world.  The SIS regularly cooperates and works with MI5 and GCHQ regarding domestic and cyber intelligence. SIS has three primary tasks: The impact and success in these situations helps to prevent hostile influence, keep the UK's defences on alert to reduce serious and organised crime, and to detect violations of international law. SIS is governed under the laws of the United Kingdom . The government sets

15312-525: Was a belief that British rearmament would increase international tensions and would make a war more likely than less likely. On the converse, there was the possibility if Germany rearmed while Britain did not, it would leave the Reich in a strong position to launch a war. It was decided that British rearmament would be linked to the extent of German rearmament with British rearmament to be reactive rather than preemptive. The primary request from decision-makers in

15444-472: Was also adapted and released as a graphic novel on 2 October 2008 by Puffin Books. In October 2013 Ian Fleming Publications announced that Stephen Cole would continue the series, with the first edition scheduled to be released in Autumn 2014. The Moneypenny Diaries are a trilogy of novels chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny , M 's personal secretary. The novels are written by Samantha Weinberg under

15576-492: Was appointed to the role of 007 for Live and Let Die (1973). He played Bond a further six times over twelve years, before being replaced by Timothy Dalton for two films. After a six-year hiatus, during which a legal wrangle threatened Eon's productions of the Bond films, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was cast as Bond in GoldenEye (1995); he remained in the role for a total of four films through 2002. In 2006, Daniel Craig

15708-431: Was authored by leading historians and experts who were granted unprecedented access to the archives of British intelligence. One of the most remarkable findings was that 48 percent of all reports received by British secret services from continental Europe during the years 1939–45 had originated from Polish sources. This significant contribution from the Polish intelligence was made possible by the fact that occupied Poland had

15840-529: Was dramatised for Radio 4; it featured a full cast again starring Stephens as Bond. In May 2014 Stephens again played Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service , with Alfred Molina as Blofeld, and Joanna Lumley (who appeared in the 1969 film adaptation) as Irma Bunt. In 1957, the Daily Express approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips, offering him £1,500 per novel and

15972-505: Was due to retire, and was replaced as C by Admiral Sir Hugh "Quex" Sinclair . Sinclair created the following sections: * Section D to conduct political covert actions and paramilitary operations in time of war. Section D would organise the Home Defence Scheme resistance organisation in the UK and come to be the foundation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. In 1924, MI6 intervened in

16104-414: Was given the role for Casino Royale (2006), which rebooted the series. Craig appeared for a total of five films. The series has grossed well over $ 7 billion to date, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film series . In 1967, Casino Royale was adapted into a parody Bond film starring David Niven as Sir James Bond and Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd. Niven had been Fleming's preference for

16236-430: Was his behaviour, with Bond's love of golf and gambling mirroring Fleming's own. Fleming used his experiences of his career in espionage and all other aspects of his life as inspiration when writing, including using names of school friends, acquaintances, relatives and lovers throughout his books. It was not until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice , that Fleming gave Bond a sense of family background. The book

16368-481: Was played by David Suchet . Following its success, a second story was adapted and on 3 April 2010 BBC Radio 4 broadcast Goldfinger with Stephens again playing Bond. Sir Ian McKellen was Goldfinger and Stephens' Die Another Day co-star Rosamund Pike played Pussy Galore. The play was adapted from Fleming's novel by Archie Scottney and was directed by Martin Jarvis . In 2012, the novel From Russia, with Love

16500-453: Was released for the Atari 2600 , Atari 5200 , Atari 8-bit computers , Commodore 64 , and ColecoVision . Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on the films or using original storylines. In 1997, the first-person shooter video game GoldenEye 007 was developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 , based on GoldenEye . The game received highly positive reviews, won

16632-697: Was released for the Wii and a handheld version for the Nintendo DS in November 2010. A year later a new version was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 under the title GoldenEye 007: Reloaded . In October 2012 007 Legends was released, which featured one mission from each of the Bond actors of the Eon Productions' series. In November 2020, IO Interactive announced Project 007 , an original James Bond video game, working closely with licensors MGM and Eon Productions . From 1983 to 1987,

16764-524: Was renamed "Clarence Leiter". In 1964 Roger Moore appeared as "James Bond" in an extended comedy sketch opposite Millicent Martin in her ATV TV series Mainly Millicent , which also makes reference to "007". It was written by Dick Hills and Sid Green . Undiscovered for several years, it reappeared as an extra in the DVD and Blu-ray release of Live and Let Die . In 1973, a BBC documentary Omnibus : The British Hero featured Christopher Cazenove playing

16896-570: Was streamlined with the geographical, operational units redesignated "Production Sections", sorted regionally under Controllers, all under a Director of Production. The Circulating Sections were renamed "Requirements Sections" and placed under a Directorate of Requirements. Following the Second World War, tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors attempted to reach Palestine as part of the Aliyah Bet refugee movement. As part of British government efforts to stem this migration, Operation Embarrass saw

17028-518: Was the first to be written after the release of Dr. No in cinemas, and Sean Connery 's depiction of Bond affected Fleming's interpretation of the character, henceforth giving Bond both a dry sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories. In a fictional obituary, purportedly published in The Times , Bond's parents were given as Andrew Bond, from the village of Glencoe , Scotland , and Monique Delacroix, from

17160-532: Was unsuitable to operating in that part of the world. MI6 was able to keep operating in Asia by making the argument that the SOE was only a temporary organisation that was to be disbanded after the war ended while MI6 was the permanent intelligence service that would continue after the war, and that to exclude MI6 from Asia would weaken British intelligence in the post-war world. In early 1944, MI6 re-established Section IX, its prewar anti-Soviet section, and Philby took

17292-551: Was written by future Modesty Blaise creator Peter O'Donnell ) with Yaroslav Horak replacing McClusky as artist in 1966. After the Fleming and Amis material had been adapted, original stories were produced, continuing in the Daily Express and Sunday Express until May 1977. Several comic book adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years: at the time of Dr. No 's release in October 1962,

17424-541: Was £3.44 billion, with some $ 1.09 billion being further allocated to staff pay and agents and a further £636 million allocated to capital spending. The following legislation regulates the SIS: Oversight is undertaken by Parliament through the following organisations: The service derived from the Secret Service Bureau, which was founded on 1 October 1909. The Bureau was a joint initiative of

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