as Boothroyd in the closing titles. Of course, forever after we knew him as Q, which to my mind is far less confusing.
The first real gadget was the attaché case in
From Russia With Love
. It included twenty gold sovereigns, a throwing knife (this original design is by Pinewood effects engineer Bert Luxford), a tear gas canister and hidden ammunition.
Desmond Llewelyn played Q from 1963 to 1999 in a total of seventeen films. On screen, he was the gadget master who invented wonderful, never-before-seen devices, whereas off screen Desmond was a complete technophobe who struggled even to operate his own video recorder.
Desmond was not in
Dr. No
; that was Peter Burton. However, when Burton proved unavailable for
From Russia With Love,
Terence Young cast Desmond after remembering him from a few years earlier in a film called
They Were Not Divided
.
When Desmond arrived on set Terence asked him how he was going to play the character. ‘As an English civil servant,’ Desmond replied.
‘No, you’re a Welshman. Play it as a Welshman,’ said Terence.
Desmond argued that a Welsh accent wouldn’t carry the air of authority he felt the character should have. Nevertheless, he did as his director asked and put on a very broad Welsh accent.
‘Well, look-see, I have this smashing case for you … press this ’ere button and out pops a lovely knife …’
‘No, you’re quite right,’ said Terence. ‘Play it as you thought.’
On the next film,
Goldfinger
, the character was really rounded out. Guy Hamilton told me that when Sean entered Q-Branch, Desmond stood up to greet him.
‘No! No! No!’ said Guy. ‘You hate this man. He destroys everything you ever give him. You have nothing but contempt for him! Don’t stand up to greet him.’
From then on, Q treated Bond with a circumspect irritation and established that wonderful love–hate relationship that lasted throughout the series.
Q’s appearance in a Bond film was always highly anticipated, so you can imagine my disappointment when he wasn’t in
Live And Let Die
. Apparently, it was decided that Bond was relying a little too much on gadgets, and Q would therefore be dropped.
However, there was such an outcry after the film’s release that Q was immediately written back into the next film.
The miniature spy camera from
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
, that Jim used to photograph Blofeld’s Angels of Death.
In Japan, Tiger Tanaka demonstrated the rocket-firing cigarette to Bond. They say smoking kills …
In
Goldfinger
, early GPS-style technology was employed in these two tracking devices. One was affixed to Auric Goldfinger’s car while the other, smaller, device was hidden in Jim’s shoe.
EVIL PERSONIFIED (ME, THAT IS)
Desmond always struggled to learn his dialogue, as after all, it was usually quite technical. I, being a caring and kind performer, noticed this early on in our working relationship and decided to take full, evil advantage of it.
Beware of pickpockets … or should that be, beware pickpocketers. A finger trap slipped in the inside jacket pocket gives any hoodlum in search of your gun a nasty snap.
Lewis Gilbert, who had directed
You Only Live Twice
, told me how Desmond complained about having to wear shorts in the movie. He didn’t particularly like exposing his legs to the elements, and so whenever Desmond was in earshot I’d say quietly to Lewis, ‘Oh, do you think it would work better if Q were to wear shorts in this sequence?’
The bug detector, used by Bond in his Istanbul hotel room. Walls have ears, you know.
The Nikon underwater camera – a prototype for future technology, as were many of the early Q-Branch gadgets – was first seen in
Thunderball
.
‘Eh? What?’ said a worried Desmond.
‘Yes, good idea, Rog!’ Lewis replied. ‘And perhaps in the next sequence too?’
In
Thunderball
, Jim was issued with another tracking device, but this one used (harmless) radioactivity principles and took the
The first real gadget was the attaché case in
From Russia With Love
. It included twenty gold sovereigns, a throwing knife (this original design is by Pinewood effects engineer Bert Luxford), a tear gas canister and hidden ammunition.
Desmond Llewelyn played Q from 1963 to 1999 in a total of seventeen films. On screen, he was the gadget master who invented wonderful, never-before-seen devices, whereas off screen Desmond was a complete technophobe who struggled even to operate his own video recorder.
Desmond was not in
Dr. No
; that was Peter Burton. However, when Burton proved unavailable for
From Russia With Love,
Terence Young cast Desmond after remembering him from a few years earlier in a film called
They Were Not Divided
.
When Desmond arrived on set Terence asked him how he was going to play the character. ‘As an English civil servant,’ Desmond replied.
‘No, you’re a Welshman. Play it as a Welshman,’ said Terence.
Desmond argued that a Welsh accent wouldn’t carry the air of authority he felt the character should have. Nevertheless, he did as his director asked and put on a very broad Welsh accent.
‘Well, look-see, I have this smashing case for you … press this ’ere button and out pops a lovely knife …’
‘No, you’re quite right,’ said Terence. ‘Play it as you thought.’
On the next film,
Goldfinger
, the character was really rounded out. Guy Hamilton told me that when Sean entered Q-Branch, Desmond stood up to greet him.
‘No! No! No!’ said Guy. ‘You hate this man. He destroys everything you ever give him. You have nothing but contempt for him! Don’t stand up to greet him.’
From then on, Q treated Bond with a circumspect irritation and established that wonderful love–hate relationship that lasted throughout the series.
Q’s appearance in a Bond film was always highly anticipated, so you can imagine my disappointment when he wasn’t in
Live And Let Die
. Apparently, it was decided that Bond was relying a little too much on gadgets, and Q would therefore be dropped.
However, there was such an outcry after the film’s release that Q was immediately written back into the next film.
The miniature spy camera from
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
, that Jim used to photograph Blofeld’s Angels of Death.
In Japan, Tiger Tanaka demonstrated the rocket-firing cigarette to Bond. They say smoking kills …
In
Goldfinger
, early GPS-style technology was employed in these two tracking devices. One was affixed to Auric Goldfinger’s car while the other, smaller, device was hidden in Jim’s shoe.
EVIL PERSONIFIED (ME, THAT IS)
Desmond always struggled to learn his dialogue, as after all, it was usually quite technical. I, being a caring and kind performer, noticed this early on in our working relationship and decided to take full, evil advantage of it.
Beware of pickpockets … or should that be, beware pickpocketers. A finger trap slipped in the inside jacket pocket gives any hoodlum in search of your gun a nasty snap.
Lewis Gilbert, who had directed
You Only Live Twice
, told me how Desmond complained about having to wear shorts in the movie. He didn’t particularly like exposing his legs to the elements, and so whenever Desmond was in earshot I’d say quietly to Lewis, ‘Oh, do you think it would work better if Q were to wear shorts in this sequence?’
The bug detector, used by Bond in his Istanbul hotel room. Walls have ears, you know.
The Nikon underwater camera – a prototype for future technology, as were many of the early Q-Branch gadgets – was first seen in
Thunderball
.
‘Eh? What?’ said a worried Desmond.
‘Yes, good idea, Rog!’ Lewis replied. ‘And perhaps in the next sequence too?’
In
Thunderball
, Jim was issued with another tracking device, but this one used (harmless) radioactivity principles and took the
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