“I take it you spend quite a lot of time in the saddle.”

BOND 16 . A VIEW TO A KILL

Cubby Broccoli's Bond 14 opened soon after the real James Bond, the noted ornithologist, died February 14, 1984, in Philadelphia aged 89. There are many fans who figure the screen Bond died about the same time.

David Bowie was one of them.

Bowie refused to be the villain

-  he was bored by the recent Bonds.

Then again, he could also see that Max Zorin was obviously modelled upon and aimed at Sting.

After Thunderball II , meet Goldfinger revisited...

The Kill script sadly shared (too) many similar story elements with Bond 3, as the scenario tried to hide its slim origins - a 1959 short story first called Murder Before Breakfast. That made it appear like a case for Miss Marple. So did the film!

Stacey Sutton . Broccoli selected Timothy Leary's sister-in-law, Tanya Roberts - the ex-Sheena who had been turned down by director Blake Edwards for 10. Oddly, becoming a Bond Girl seemed to mark the end of her career... on the A, B or Z lists. She has been buried in TV guest slots since 1994.

After the usual contract delays, Roger Moroe was announced on December 9, 1983 for what proved his 007th and final film - at last! - and his least favourite. Shooting started on August 3, weeks after the fire at the 007 stage at Pinewood (re-opened in January 1985 as the Albert R Broccoli 007 Stage).

Moore said he decided to quit on learning that Tanya Roberts's mother was younger than he was! At 57, he was now old enough to play M.

Roger Mortuary

finally got the message.

Moore is less.

“I’ve done it,” he told me as far back as 1980. “I’ve proved I can do it. I’ve proved I can make money. And I object to discussing terms for the next film while being threatened with their many clones being tested. Which strikes me as being slightly bad manners. I’m not into that rat-race.”

He had played the suave secret agent until he was 58 years old, and knew that his clinches with young co-stars in Octopussy and A View to a Kill had the public squirming. “Of course I was getting long in the tooth. I was 58 when I finished. My God, Gary Cooper was seemingly an old man when he was about 56 doing Love in the Afternoon with Audrey Hepburn... When the leading ladies came in and they were younger than my daughter, I thought: Hmm, this is getting on a bit. And then... God, I could’ve had them as grand-daughters. It becomes rather disgusting - dirty old man. I see the blogs where [people write that] I was too light and I was too old... Well, I still got paid, and had a lot of laughs. I didn’t regret any of it.”

Lois Maxwell also made it her last film as Miss Moneypenny. Broccoli blocked her promotion to M. Robert Brown remained behind the desk as Cubby felt the public would not approve of a woman giving orders to 007. SIS (aka MI6) had its first woman head, Stella Remington, in 1992 and the Bonds followed suit in 1993 with Judi Dench’s M in GoldenEye.   (“OK,” said Judi, “as long as it’s not a gimmick”).

“People loved Roger Moore,” said one of his  successors, Pierce Brosnan. “Roger did a great job, did seven films and it was entertaining. His Bond was what it was. I think you’ve got to respect the role.”

When Broccoli and his step-son heir, Michael G Wilson (co-scripter and co-producer) studied the entrails of the box-office take, they found it lower than usual. They needed a new Bond - fast. “We're not,” stated Broccoli, “in the superannuated Bond business. Roger Moore had a shade too much mileage behind him.”

Whose fault was that!