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If there’s one constant thatruns through the 40 yearsplus of this writer’s foray into

James Bond fandom, it must belove – an all-consuming love of asubject matter. This love affairwith James Bond can meanmany different things to manydifferent people, from all walksof life, on every level of socialstrata – in fact, every race,creed and colour on the planet.Never have so many peoplebeen so addicted by one fiction.

This fascination with ‘allthings Bond’ has thread its waythrough my life for over fourdecades, and is now as impossi-ble to separate from my life asthe emptied stratums ofcoloured sand from the glassornaments purchased on sea-side holidays in those bucketand spade days..

My early introduction to theJames Bond character first began atthe impressionable age of 11 when myDad took me to see the first Bondfilm, Dr. No, on its original cinemarelease in 1962. By 1964, with therelease of the third Bond filmGoldfinger, I had discovered IanFleming’s oo7 novels and was hooked– for life! As a schoolboy I would oftencycle the 10 miles from my home inSouthall to Pinewood Studios inBuckinghamshire, on the off-chance

of spying some ‘Bond action’. Thegatehouse ‘boasted’ a smart peak-capped Commisionnaire in theSixties, and he became used to myregular cycling trips. He would oftengive me reams of ‘Call Sheets’ for theproductions shooting at the time,including You Only Live Twice and later,

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It wasdue to this Commissionnaire that Ibriefly met Sean Connery one day onhis way out of the studios in his chauf-feur-driven car – I was dumbstruck.Speechless! So-much-so I didn’t evenask for an autograph, and just listenedas he explained that his back was play-ing up a bit after sliding down a metal

chute. Tomorrow the stuntman coulddo it! Later, also thanks to theCommissionnaire, I would visit KenAdam’s fantastic volcano set. Bothevents would have a profound andlasting effect.

Leaving school at 16 in 1968,I suppose it was the artistry on somany levels of the James Bond filmsthat eventually led me into an earlycareer of design and photography;however, I was unable to combineboth my interests in a professionalcapacity until many years later. You’veseen those joke mottos in officeswhich read, “You don’t have to bemad to work here but it helps!” –well, after revisiting all that’s hap-pened in the last 25 years of theseBondian misadventure, I have realisedI must have been completely insane!

The James BondInternational FanClub began life in1979 as The James

Bond British Fan Club, when teenageJames Bond fan and fervent Queen’sPark Rangers supporter Ross Hendrydecided it was about time there was aclub in the UK to celebrate hisfavourite hero, James Bond oo7 – andalso in order that Bond fans couldmeet and share their common interest.

High School students RichardSchenkman and Bob Forlini had start-ed an American James Bond Fan Club

based in New York earlier in 1974.Schenkman would later go solo tocontinue his excellent (but unfortu-nately titled) publication ‘Bondage’,until joined by James Bond author-to-be Raymond Benson, as Vice-President of this U.S. club. Bondagewould subsequently close some 15years later when Schenkman’s careerat that time, directing ‘Playmates’ fea-tures for the Playboy empire, preclud-ed him from overseeing the produc-tion of a Bond ‘fanzine’.

April 1st 1979 saw issue numberone of ‘oo7’ published by The JamesBond British Fan Club – a double-sidedA4 photocopied news-sheet heraldingthe imminent arrival of the eleventhJames Bond movie Moonraker.Although these early publicationswere often executed in rather a crudefashion, the enthusiasm and love ofthe subject matter shone throughfrom all who contributed.

In 1979 for the princely sum of£1 (£1.50 International no less!),JBBFC members were treated to a‘Membership Card, Four 007s a year,a chance to purchase Bond material,Competitions, Outings, Pen-pals’ –and even an ‘Answer service!’ Ross ranthe whole affair from his bedroom inhis parents’ house in a quiet Harrowcul-de-sac – a monumental task forany individual! Five hundred JBBFCmembers from around the worldensured that all his personal time (and

1979

‘Five hundred JBBFC members ensured all Ross’s personal time was at a premium.’

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ADVENTURES IN THE FAN TRADE

For 25 years The James Bond International Fan Cluband ‘OO7’ MAGAZINE have consistently

set the standard in James Bond magazine publishing, special events, archiving, and a

unique range of OO7 products.GRAHAM RYE takes a personal

journey through a quarter century ofinnovation and determination – and when

necessary, sheer bloody-mindedness, to show that still…

…NOBODY DOES IT BETTER!

PART I – 1979-1994

“Nothing is ever accomplishedby a reasonable man.”

George Bernard Shaw

GRAHAM RYE ON THE GOLDENEYESET AT LEAVESDEN – PHOTOGRAPH/ANDREW PILKINGTON

NO LIMITS • NO FEARS • NO SUBSTITUTES

I

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was certainly more professionally con-ceived, and the highlight wasundoubtedly Ross’s excellent inter-view with new Bond author JohnGardner, an impressive coup at thetime. Unfortunately we were badly letdown by the Conference Centre whenits sole projector broke down, leavingour audience at a loss for over an hour.With more experience under our col-lective belts we could have handledthis faux pas better than we did – buthey, no pain no gain!

The JBBFC planned to return tothe Wembley Conference Centreannually for its convention, but unfor-tunately in 1983 the Bond filmmakersEON Productions decided to put theblock on us hiring any prints forscreening. Earlier in the year Ross hadreceived a letter from EON after hehad written to them hoping theywould sponsor The JBBFC andreceived the following reply fromCharles ‘Jerry’ Juroe:

“In answer to yours of 11thSeptember, please understand thatthere is no way that Eon, as a compa-ny, can financially back any 007 fanclub anywhere in the world.

It is a bit different for an individ-ual actor, such as Clint Eastwood, todecide whether he wishes to back oneof his own clubs. I know this may bedifficult for you to understand, but wehave painfully reached the decisionthat a James Bond 007 fan club is not

necessarily acting in our best interest.Therefore any co-operation on ourpart must be kept to a relative mini-mum.”

I telephoned Jerry, then EON’sVice-President in Charge of Marketingto plead our case for the conventionprints. But he was having none of it,and told me in no uncertain terms,“We do not find it in our interest foryou to show our films now or at anytime in the future!” Regrettably, and tothe huge disappointment of JBBFCmembers around the world, we hadno other option but to cancel our pre-advertised event, as the films took upa major percentage of the day. Lookingback at the editorial stance in ‘oo7’ onthe Roger Moore Bond films duringthe Eighties, it’s not difficult now tounderstand EON’s attitude. Rogerwas forever being castigated (andthat’s putting it mildly) for not beingSean Connery, and, rightly or wrongly,the films were generally given a rightlambasting! For us at the time, had wethought about it, it would have been abit like wondering why our uncle had-n’t given us a birthday present afterwe’d kneed him in the groin. So min-imalism set in for many winters of ourdiscontent.

1982 also saw the first printededition of ‘oo7’ (#11), but I felt thefinished item still left a lot to bedesired – the printer should have beenshot! Printers have given me more

The following transcription isthe interview with author JohnGardner at The James BondBritish Fan Club 1982International Convention atThe Wembley ConferenceCentre, and originally appearedin The JBBFC bi-monthly publi-cation ‘For Your Eyes Only’ (Vol.4 No. 6 – 1983)

You’ve written a large number ofbooks and are a very prestigiousauthor. How were youapproached to write the Bondnovels?Well, I didn’t believe it when it hap-pened. I was working on a novel at thetime, and one morning the mailarrived, and I found an envelope whichI couldn’t quite place. So I left it untiljust before lunch, and when I openedit discovered that it was from a friend,who was himself a very famousauthor, saying that he had been askedto sit on a panel at Glidrose, the liter-ary copyright holders of Ian Flemingand James Bond, and they had a shortlist of six names to ask and I was atthe top of the list. Would I preparedto discuss doing some continuationJames Bond books. Well, I left it forabout three days and then rangauthor friend to ask him if he wasplaying a practical joke on me, and hesaid he wasn’t, far from it.

Well, I waited another three days

to get things sorted out. You seeI already had enough work to keepme going for the next four years. Soall my time was taken up. However, itwas a tremendous challenge and agreat honour, so I thought I wouldhave a go, and if it worked, okay, if itdidn’t, well it didn’t. I was consciousby that time that everyone was takinga gamble.When I met Glidrose I waseven more conscious just how mucha gamble the idea was. I finally rangmy agent explaining that I had beenasked to do some continuation JamesBond novels – what do you think?Like all agents he said, ‘of courseyou’ll do it!’ So it was settled.

When they drew up the con-tracts it was for three novels, butbecause it was such a risky venturethere were let outs all the way downthe line, which meant that they had topay me even if I didn’t write thebooks, or if at anytime they didn’t likewhat I had written and I was not pre-pared to change it, then the bookswould not necessarily published.

Happily LICENCE RENEWEDhas done exceptionally well both inthe UK and the States, and FOR SPE-CIAL SERVICES comes out overthere next month.

Did you ever meet Ian Fleming?No, which was rather sad because hedied two days before my first suc-cessful novel was published.We were

LICENCE RENEWEDmuch more besides!) was at a premi-um. During the following two yearsThe JBBFC became organised alongthe lines of a social club run by a com-mittee. It also boasted branch headsin many different areas of the UK andoverseas – and even a Junior Branch!During this period Hendry’s team inthe UK included: Peter Ettedgui,Adrian Cowdry, Mark Ashby, PaulRiddell, Chris Nixon, AndrewPilkington, Kevin Harper, MikeCorfield, Nick Capp, Bill Lynas, MarkNoakes, David Rees, Peter Doherty,Iain McDougall, Gerald Mulligan,Simon Butt, Paul Ettedgui – and in1981, Graham Rye, JBBFC Vice-President and graphic designer on‘OO7’. While overseas Club memberswere organised by: Joel Shapiro, PeterCaifa, Thomas Nixdorf, and BerntRingvold.

After testing thewaters with twofledgling events inWardour Street

screening theatres, The JBBFC brokenew ground with its 1981 conventionheld in the Dennis Compton Room atthe Westmoreland Hotel in St. John’sWood. For the first time Bond fansfrom the UK and overseas were able tomeet an impressive array of Bond tal-ent, including: For Your Eyes Only castmembers – Alkis Kritikos, WalterGotell, Desmond Llewelyn, and

Cassandra Harris – accompanied byher husband Pierce Brosnan, who satwith their children at the side of theaudience while his wife was inter-viewed on stage. I was shooting stillsof the event all day, and guess what –I never shot one frame of Pierce!

In those days no one knew whohe was!!! But I did sit and chat with

him a while – a great bloke! Our pathswouldn’t cross again for another 14years. Other guests who attendedwere: Bond credit title designerMaurice Binder, Goldfinger’s Mr Ling –Burt Kwouk, Sue Vanner – the ‘AlpineChalet Girl’ from The Spy Who LovedMe, Wing Commander Ken Wallis

(with ‘Little Nellie’ – of course!), andDon McLauchlan from Lotus Cars.Another Brosnan also lending theirsupport on stage was James Bond InThe Cinema author John Brosnan (norelation!). What I remember of theevent, everyone enjoyed themselvesand it was a good first attempt at aconvention. This was the first timethat fans anywhere had been able tomeet Desmond Llewelyn, and hewould return time and again to lendhis support to the Club, something hebelieved was a worthwhile organisa-tion, right up until his tragic untimelydeath. No matter how many timesDesmond appeared at our events hewas always surrounded by enthusias-tic hordes of fans hoping for a wordwith ‘Q’ and the obligatory auto-graph. He is still greatly missed by allwho loved him.

In December 1981, GeorgeLazenby featured for the first time onthe cover of ‘oo7’ (#9), which hadnow increased to 24 pages, but hadshrunk in page size to A5.Unfortunately the publication wasstill produced on a photocopier.

On the eve of its1982 convention,The JBBFC gainedits first TV publicity

when it was featured on LondonWeekend Television’s The 6 O’ClockShow, hosted by Michael Aspel with

Danny Baker and Janet Street-Porter.Ross Hendry, together with MarkAshby (replete in a yellow Moonrakerspace suit two sizes too large!) andAndrew Pilkington, were questionedby Gloria Hunniford, making herdebut as a TV interviewer, then look-ing more like a drab housewife thanthe glamorous showbusiness person-ality we know today. I realised howThe 6 O’Clock Show treated most of itsitems and wisely stayed incommuni-cado. As was to become the norm formany years, TV took a clichéd stance(nothing’s changed there then!) andsent up the whole thing.

The subsequent convention atthe Wembley Conference Centre wason an altogether larger scale, beingheld over a weekend in a 200-seaterauditorium, featuring screenings ofBond films and a ‘James BondMastermind Competition’, and alsoincluded a separate Bond exhibitionof costumes and memorabilia. Theguests at this event included: Editor& Director Peter Hunt, MauriceBinder, Production Designer SydCain, Screenwriter ChristopherWood, author John Gardner,Stuntman Fred (Krilencu) Haggerty(who turned up unannounced andasked if it was okay to watch FromRussia With Love – great bloke! Sadlynow deceased.), and John McLusky –illustrator of the original Daily ExpressJames Bond comic strips. This event

1981

1982

‘The JBBFC broke new ground with its 1981 convention in St. John’s Wood.’

NOBODY • DOES • IT • BETTER NO LIMITS • NO FEARS • NO SUBSTITUTES

oo34

oo37

N O L I M I T S • N O F E A R S • N O S U B S T I T U T E S

N O B O D Y • D O E S • I T • B E T T E R

D O U B L E - O - S E V E N M A G A Z I N E

N O L I M I T S • N O F E A R S • N O S U B S T I T U T E S

N O B O D Y • D O E S • I T • B E T T E R

D O U B L E - O - S E V E N M A G A Z I N E

became available for sale as a non-licensed product in high streetbranches of W. H. Smith, JohnMenzies, Harrods and other new-strade retail outlets, selling over30,000 copies in its first 12 months ofpublication. In 1989 it would alsobecome available in the Odeon andCannon cinema chains throughoutthe UK for the release of Licence ToKill. The JBOO7FC was the first fanorganisation in the world to be enter-tained seriously by EON Productions.A number of official meetings tookplace through the years in EON’soffices at South Audley Street,Pinewood Studios and LeavesdenStudios between myself and DerekCoyte, Jerry Juroe (Vice-President inCharge of Marketing), John Parkinson(Vice-President in Charge ofMarketing 1991-1997), andProducers Barbara Broccoli andMichael G. Wilson.

Between 1988 and 1989, ‘oo7’issues #18 to #22 extensively cov-ered Timothy Dalton’s unfortunatelyshort but impressive tenure as JamesBond, partnered with an array of othergroundbreaking articles and inter-views. During this period I embarkedon the first edition of my book TheJames Bond Girls when I took the ideato EON Productions and the publish-ers Boxtree. At that time Boxtree werelittle more than a fledgling publishingcompany, and my project was to be

their first all-colour publication andofficially licensed film book. Becauseof the production expenses they pre-varicated until the eleventh hourwhether to run with the project or not– eventually leaving me only eightweeks in which to write the copy!

So the idea of interviewing theBond actresses for my book – many ofwhom lived around the world – wentcompletely out the window, andbesides, Boxtree didn’t have a travelbudget! Not a happy experience.

It took another 14 years beforeMaryam d’Abo and John Cork, withEON’s complete support, would setthe record straight text-wise, if a littlepreciously, with their Bond Girls AreForever volume.

In 1989 membersof The JBOO7FChad their first offi-cial taste of a James

Bond preview screening when I per-suaded EON Productions, MGM/UAand United International Pictures tosupply me with 200 tickets for dis-semination to our Club members.Cubby Broccoli and Michael G.Wilson attended the morning previewat the Odeon Leicester Square, wheremy Bond girls book was also given itsfirst airing in the cinema foyer. Onleaving the cinema, Club memberscouldn’t believe their luck whenCubby and Michael made their day by

1989

supposed to have had an amusingconfrontation on television, which hehad almost agreed to, but it all fellapart when he died.

Had you read any of his books atthat time?Oh yes. I was a great fan in those days.

How did you envisage Bond atthat time?Well, this is something that came upwhen I began to start the new ones. Ihave to say straight away that the filmimage went out the window becausemy brief was to go back to the origi-nal books. I’m not interested in thefilms at all. I realised at the very begin-ning that I had to wipe Mr Connery’sface from my mind and Mr Lazenby’sand Mr Moore’s. I had to try to goback to my own first reading of thebooks years ago and try to rememberhow I first pictured the character,which was more or less the case asMr Fleming described him.

I seem to remember hearingthat you started LICENCERENEWED by listening to Bondfilm music.Yes, that’s true. I always use music toblot out the silence that always sur-rounds a writer when he is workingalone. It is usually a film score, butI also have an extensive collection ofclassical records which I listen to seri-

ously. I thought stupidly that it wouldbe easy.All I had to do was to play theBond scores and everything would fallinto place, but the first morning I satdown, and I think I started out withGoldfinger and went through thewhole lot and got snow blind lookingat white sheets of paper. It was nogood because I had already wiped thefilms from my mind. On the secondday I had to think of something elseand it turned out to be Wagner’s RingCycle, which I knew very well. SoI wrote the first one to Wagner andthe second mainly to Shostakovitchand Walton.

Some readers have describedLICENCE RENEWED as a filmscript, which is fair comment asit is very visual.Well, I always try to write visually.Actually, when I was in New Yorkdoing a show, I was accused blatantlyacross the microphone of writing afilm scenario, which was the farthestthing from my mind, because I’m notreally interested in the movies. I’msorry but I’m not. My interest is in thewritten word. Anyway, this personsaid it reads like a film scenario andyour doing this because they wererunning out of film titles, and theywant to make some more. Well this,of course, is nonsense – and as far asI understand the situation the pro-ducers can make their own stories

heartache in the 25 years of publish-ing ‘oo7’ than anything else I wouldcare to mention. ‘oo7’ (#12 & #13)became the first issues to use a secondcolour red as part of its strap headingand was the last issue at the A5 pagesize.

In 1983 it wasdecided to step upthe print quality of‘oo7’ (#14) and

increase the size of the publication toA4 with 44 pages and a two-colourcover (a reprint of ‘007’ [#14] wasalso produced with a different secondcolour blue and marginally differentcontent). JBBFC members greetedissue #14 with much enthusiasm,but unfortunately the same could notbe said of EON Productions. EONpromptly fired a salvo from their solic-itors regarding the use by us of a‘modified version’ of their copyrightowned ‘007’ & Gun Logo as part ofour cover design (although at thattime remarkably, I later discovered, ithad not been trademark registered).Used in connection with a still fromthe rival Bond production Never SayNever Again, with hindsight, it isn’tdifficult to see why EON were upset,but such was our naivety at that stagein our development in running TheJBBFC, I can honestly say it neveroccurred to any of us at the time –James Bond was James Bond was

James Bond et al. Having skilfullyside-stepped any litigation for dam-ages (imagined or otherwise), it wastime for a new look for our oo7’ pub-lication.

After nearly fiveyears of little or nopersonal time, anda great deal of hard

work, Ross Hendry decided it wastime to say goodbye to The JBBFC,leaving in 1984, when, with AndrewPilkington, I took over the completeorganisation of the Club. Aftermonths of extensive reorganisationThe JBBFC rose again. Later in 1984,‘oo7’ #15 was published with a new

banner logo derived from the openingcredit title sequence from Never SayNever Again.

During late 1985I was made redun-dant from my posi-tion as a designer

and photographer on a magazine,which came two weeks after I signed acontract on a new studio flat. JamesBond took a back seat when survivalbecame the name of the game.

Having sold the flatliterally at theeleventh hour andfifty-ninth minute

to a new owner, avoiding repossessionby the building society by the skin ofmy teeth, I was back with Mum andDad. Of my almost 53 years, I havespent 45 of them under My Mum andDad’s roof. It wasn’t laughter andsmiles all the time, we had our dis-agreements, but these were alwaysshort-lived and ultimately of little con-sequence. It says a lot about one’sparents that it is possible to co-exist insuch harmony over such an extendedperiod of time. They have both beenwonderful.

At last ‘oo7’ #16hits the doormatsof some verypatient and under-

standing Club members. While thebanner heading derived from thecredit titles of Never Say Never Again‘kind of’ worked with a still of SeanConnery from that movie underneath,its shortcomings became starklyapparent on the cover of issue #16when used with an image of TimothyDalton in The Living Daylights – timeonce again for a total rethink!

March 1988 sawthe publication of‘oo7’ #17, com-plete with new logo

design. In the summer of the sameyear The JBOO7FC became a com-mercial business and moved into itsfirst rented office in Woking. A busi-ness client lent me my first month’srent and urged me to go for it. I start-ed with no financial backing otherthan the limited subscription feesfrom the fan club. Our office tele-phone number was the first use byany James Bond-related business ororganisation of the numerals 007 inthe last three digits of its telephonenumber (Soon after, The JBOO7FCtelephone number was used as theanswer to a question in the Channel 4quiz 15-To-One). Now it’s a cliché.

Also during 1988 after joint con-sultations with Derek Coyte for EONProductions, and Peter Janson-Smithfor Glidrose Publications, ‘oo7’ #17(a marginally different reprint version)

1986

1987

1988

‘….everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a good first attempt at a convention.’

1983

1984

1985

NOBODY • DOES • IT • BETTER NO LIMITS • NO FEARS • NO SUBSTITUTES

“I’m not really interested in the movies.”

oo36

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studio complex – in lock-up garages,in storerooms at the top of narrowflights of stairs, in fact, in every nookand cranny imaginable. In the processI identified and itemised all the props,and produced together with Iris Rose,EON Productions’ Unit Manager, adetailed itemised inventory of theirunique collection for the first time,sowing the seeds for future JamesBond exhibitions. I also plotted theexact Bond film locations in andaround the studios’ gardens andbacklot, and organised the walkingtour for Club members attending thetwo-day event, briefing JBOO7FCsteward Dave Worrall who acted astour guide. A ‘oo7 Mastermind’ com-petition was also held live on stage.We were joined on ‘B’ Stage by ourcelebrity guests, including DesmondLlewelyn, Maurice Binder, ProductionDesigners Syd Cain and PeterLamont, Special Visual Effects Oscar-Winner for Thunderball John Stears,Wing Commander Ken Wallis and‘Little Nellie’ (of course!), and ex-Bond girls Carole Ashby (featured inOctopussy and A View To A Kill) andMolly Peters from Thunderball.

From the letters of thanksI received I’d say the event was aresounding success, despite beingconsiderably let down by the thencrummy in-house caterers. This eventproved to be my ‘baptism of fire’when it came to event organising. I’ve

never learned so much so quicklyabout all kinds of stuff in my lifebefore or since. I began to believe I’dbitten off more than I could chew, andboth my mental and physical staminawas stretched to breaking point in therun up to the event. Luckily I’vealways had a healthy appetite when itcomes to a challenge, and just as well,because in the three days prior to theevent I only managed to snatch threehours sleep. To say I was spaced outover that weekend would be theunderstatement of all time, only myadrenaline carried me through. Tothink I did all that – and didn’t earn apenny out of it! (For the full story see‘oo7’ #24). I vowed – “Never again!”The 1990 event was seen round theworld on TV news footage, and all oursubsequent events would gathermajor world media coverage.

Monday April 8th,a black day for thefriends and fans ofMaurice Binder.

Maurice died aged 66, finally suc-cumbing to a lengthy battle againstlung cancer. A very private manMaurice kept his illness a secret fromfriends, family and colleagues. HisBond credit titles were one of themain inspirations behind me wantingto enter graphic design as a profes-sion. His gun barrel sequence for theopening of Dr. No is the most innova-

1991

too if they want. It make no differenceto me financially, they pay me astraight fee, which is less than I get formy other novels, but then as I saidthey are taking a gamble.

How do you actually set aboutwriting a book?I start out with a broad idea.Actuallythis was a terrible bone of contentionbetween Glidrose and I.They wantedthe whole thing set out, a synopsis ineffect, and I hate doing synopses ofbooks because if you are, as I am, awriter of fiction, you have to enter-tain a reader, and I don’t like to knowwhat happens. I like a character tosurprise me. I only start with a broadplan, so that by the time I get halfwayI have a rough idea where the end isgoing to be. If I’m not surprised I’mnot going to surprise an audience. Ionce asked a famous theatre directorwho he directed for, and he said Ialways direct for myself and hope theaudience will enjoy it.

I had a lot of hassle with Glidroseabout a full synopsis, but I did one andpointed out that it was really only halfa story because the second half waslikely to change and the ending ofLICENCE RENEWED was very dif-ferent from the one you eventuallygot. It was going to be a flower festi-val along the Italian Riviera, a partwhich I knew very well as I had beenthere many times before. However,

almost at the last minute I decidedthat it was too hackneyed, and every-one knew about the flower festival.The I saw in the paper about thePerrignen thing which was about tohappen so I flew down there andwalked through each sequence whilethe actual festival was going on. I alsopicked up the airport scene fromthese because, the airport buildings,the aircraft, the broken fence and therailway line were all there.

Your style of writing is very dif-ferent from Ian Fleming’s. I thinkKingsley Amis tried to copyFleming, whereas you appear tohave used your own style.Well, sorry to disappoint you, but thatisn’t my style. One of the first things Isaid to Glidrose was ‘do you want meto copy Mr Fleming?’ – and they toldme no! I was to write it and see whathappened.

It’s strange because your stylechanges, because you are writingBond you have to change your styleto recapture him. I hope I have. Somepeople say I haven’t. My agent andmyself both talk about Bonds andGardners, which are my own books.Once you have Mr Fleming’s charac-ter there are certain restrictions, youcan’t go shooting off in differentdirections. You have the charactercompletely formed.The most difficultthing was to lift Bond out of the

enthusiastically signing autographs.With The JBOO7FC’s profes-

sional and commercial status firmlyestablished in the summer of 1988, itwas unanimously agreed that our nextconvention could only be held at onevenue.

Like I didn’t alreadyhave my work cutout during 1990I decided we

should hold a 25th anniversarycelebrity screening of Thunderball atthe National Film Theatre. Little didI know the fun and games I wouldencounter in attempting to secure aprint of the film worth screening.Literally having been unable to sourcea projectable print of Thunderball any-where on the planet, and with timerunning out I was left with only oneoption – to compile the most screen-able version of the film by editing thebest footage from the 56 reels of filmput at my disposal by the distributorsUIP. With the invaluable help of then-assistant film editor Chris Nixon (he’sknocking around with the likes ofRobert De Niro and Harvey Keitelthese days – where did I go wrongChris?), we spent a week in UIP’sTechnical Department cutting-room inorder to reconstruct a suitable print.We both agreed it was more importantto retain dialogue over picture quality,particularly at the end of each reel,

where the damage was more notice-able. With only three days before theevent the finished print was deliveredto the NFT for a test screening – andas Chris and I sat and watched thefilm, it passed with flying colours. Ajob bloody well done!

May 5th 1990 and I took to thestage of the NFT for the first time, infact any stage for the first time, andwas as um! nervous um! as um! hellum! Not one of the most dynamicdebuts by a long shot. I introducedTerence Young, the film’s director,who came on and spoke a little about

the film and aired his annoyanceabout the fact there wasn’t a top qual-ity print available of the most success-ful Bond film ever made! Watchingthe film sitting next to Terence Youngwas a priceless experience, as fromtime to time he would lean over andwhisper personal memories of thefilmmaking. Had someone told mein 1965 while I was sittingwatching Thunderball in the OdeonHammersmith, that 25 years laterI would be watching the film again sit-ting next to its director, I would havedismissed the idea as a fanciful dream.So sometimes, dreams can come true– you just have to make them happen.After the screening, Andrew and I anda number of Club associates, with ourcelebrity guests Terence Young and hisfamily accompanied by Lady Orr-Lewis, Molly Peters, Maurice Binder,John Stears, Syd Cain, and GeorgeLeech all left by special coach for the‘Thunderball 25th AnniversaryDinner’ I had arranged at Oscar’sBrasserie in Leicester Square. It was awonderful evening of anecdotes andwarmth.

In our 1990 special Thunderball25th Anniversary issue of ‘007’ (#23)we ran a complete report on our eventat the NFT, and as an epilogue in thatarticle we strongly suggested that a setof new prints of the Bond films shouldbe donated to the British FilmInstitute for regular screenings at the

NFT. We also directly suggested thisidea to EON Productions. In 1996 theBFI acquired brand new prints of Dr.No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger,Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice,which were screened in a seasonsponsored by Martini.

After a mammoth amount ofplanning, and persuading and cajolingof studio management, TheJBOO7FC presented a world first in1990 – an exhibition of James Bondfilm props in a two-day convention –an exhibition yet to be equalled for itssheer variety, style and location –Pinewood Studios – and in theprocess became the first organisationoutside the film industry to be grant-ed permission to hold an event in theprestigious studio complex. Over theweekend of September 29th and30th, 200 JBOO7FC members fromaround the world spent their weekendimmersed in the world of James Bondat the spiritual home of oo7, being fer-ried to the studios from train stationsin specially organised double-deckerbuses. The weekend event featuredthe largest display of James Bondmovie props ever assembled for pub-lic viewing, when on ‘B’ Stage atPinewood Studios, The JBOO7FCexhibited every single item housed instorage at the studios by oo7 film-makers EON Productions. Much tomy frustration I discovered that theBond props were scattered all over the

‘I realised how ‘The 6 O’Clock Show’ treated most of its items and wisely stayed incommunicado.’

1990

NOBODY • DOES • IT • BETTER NO LIMITS • NO FEARS • NO SUBSTITUTES

“…this was a terrible bone of contention between Glidrose and I.”

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I got the better side of the bargain.Thank you Vladek.

Co-organised with Dave Worrallof The James Bond Collectors’ Club, theevent ran smoothly, but for meseemed to lack a certain je ne saisquois. Everyone attending once againseemed to have had the time of theirlives, which again was confirmed bymany letters expressing their enjoy-ment. But that was it for me – neveragain!

During 1992 after much search-ing I eventually discovered the where-abouts of the Moon Buggy fromDiamonds Are Forever and purchased itfor my archive, although organisingthe refurbishment required on thevehicle is a story in itself! The MoonBuggy was leased to PlanetHollywood from 1993 for 10 years,when it was displayed in their restau-rant in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. It isnow in storage in the UK.

When meeting LoisMaxwell again, inNew York (I’d inter-viewed her at The

Dorchester in 1983 for ‘oo7’ #14),while both of us were attending the1993 ‘Spy-Fi’ Convention, I persuad-ed her to headline our first‘JBOO7FC Christmas Lunch’ atPinewood Studios on December12th, which was organised partly inaid of Guide Dogs For The Blind. The

event was themed around the oo7film Diamonds Are Forever, and guestsalso included Desmond Llewelyn(reunited with Lois for the first timein eight years at our event), PaulWeston and Syd Cain. Also on dis-play, just before its 10-year tenure atPlanet Hollywood was the JamesBond Moon Buggy, newly refurbishedby The JBOO7FC after deterioratingfor over 20 years in the Kent country-side. The 150 Club members attend-ing could also purchase a cardboardconstruction kit of the vehicle special-ly designed by my friend WayneLorden and myself for sale at theevent. Although these events werebilled as a lunch, they usually com-menced at 10.00 am but didn’t finishuntil around 6.00 pm – real value formoney at £65 per head! Also in atten-dance were ‘Essential Bond’ authors-to-be, Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall,who were both ‘roped in’ to the pro-ceedings. Pfeiffer acted as an enter-taining auctioneer for Lois’s Ascot hat(from A View To A Kill), much to theenjoyment of the audience of poten-tial bidders – including yours truly,who finally purchased it, narrowlyoutbidding Club member Tony Gould– the rascal! Dave Worrall took part inthe ‘Get OO7’s Hat On The RackCompetition’ blindfolded – and suc-ceeded with the last of his threeattempts. Beginner’s luck? The eventraised £1,500 for Guide Dogs For The

Sixties’ image and set him down inthe Eighties’ image and still have himknow all the things that have gone onin between.

Whose idea was the change ofcar and lifestyle?Well, the change of car was me. It’sfunny, actually. I was summonedbefore this board at Glidrose anddecided that the best form of defenceis attack. So I told them what Ithought could do. I thought there wasno point in doing retrospective Bondsand going on from there, so I put for-ward the idea of freezing him andbringing him into the 1980’s image.Well, they all looked aghast and saidthat’s whet we were going to suggest.

The car idea I thought was goingto be turned down. I knew we had tohave a different kind of car becausenowadays he wouldn’t be drivingaround in a Bentley, it would look abit peculiar and would also cost agreat deal of money. I asked a guywho knew a great deal about motorcars to pick six cars for me that hethought might be useful. I looked atthe list and then borrowed the sixcars from friends and test drove themall. The Saab seemed tp present theimage I wanted, but then I thought no,because when I take this in front ofthe board there are going to reject itfor not being a British car, and Ithought I would end up with a Mini-

Metro or something.I was very worried, and went

into this meeting and one guy stoodup and said ‘well one thing Gardnerhas got absolutely right is the car.Thatis the car Bond would have!’ – whichwas very relieving.

The Saab features certainextras, which presumably arereal and would be used by anagent in the field today?Well, I don’t think an agent would usethem because I don’t believe that kindof thing goes on any more. They areall available.There is one firm, as youwell know, that does the job here inthe UK and the States, and you cantake your own motor car along, andfor a great deal of money they will doexactly what I have done to the Saab.There are instruments and technolo-gy on the market, and I think Bondwould have made use of them, theyare not put in for fun. I know of atleast two cars which have had similarextras added but there are manymore.

When we had a full typescript itwas suggested that we should send acopy to Saab in case they tookoffence, which we did, and before weknew what was happening Saab hascontacted the company concernedand had the car built specially, and Iunderstand they are building a secondone now.

1993

Westmoreland Hotel 1981

tive piece of title design I think I’veever seen. As Maurice recalled at oneof conventions: “Time was pressing asthe film (Dr. No) was all but complet-ed and about to premiere.” “I had fif-teen minutes to prepare a presentationto the studio of my ideas for a titlesequence! I figured a gunshot acrossthe screen would be effective, and hadthese little white price stickers which Iplaced on a black storyboard. Ithought it would be a good idea tolook through the gun barrel and seeJames Bond as he walked out firing atyou. Then the blood comes down thescreen. They liked the idea but it did-n’t come to life until I filmed it.”

Maurice was always the voice ofencouragement. He was enthusiasticabout what I was trying to achievewith the Club and always supportedour events. It was my good fortune todine out with him on several occa-sions at the La Famiglia restaurant(he’d never let me pay my share of thebill!), when we would discuss allkinds of things, including his abidingpassion with ships, which stemmedfrom his early days in the U.S. Navy.However, the conversation wouldusually come back to Bond, or some-times his work with the Americandirector/producer Stanley Donen, onfilms such as Arabesque and TheGrass Is Greener. His burial took placeon Sunday April 21st at the LiberalJewish Cemetery in London. The

service was a simple one attended bya handful of friends and colleagues,and at which both Andrew and I werehonoured to attend. He was a realfriend and mentor and I wept openlyas I let the soil fall from my hand on

to his coffin. It is my deep regret thatI failed to attend his final publicappearance, his lecture at theNational Film Theatre, particularly asafterwards he asked Andrew,“Where’s Mr Rye tonight?”

In addition to producing furthereditions of ‘oo7’, much of my yearwas taken up with editing and design-ing Dave Worrall’s excellent book

about James Bond’s Aston MartinDB5, The Most Famous Car In TheWorld.

1992 was the30th anniversaryof the James Bondfilm character, but

unfortunately there was no Bondmovie in release or even in produc-tion. An anniversary too important tomiss, it fell to The JBOO7FC to cele-brate oo7’s birthday in style with aconvention at Pinewood Studios onSaturday September 26th, where aselective display of oo7 props werealso exhibited. Club members werealso treated to a big-screen showing ofDr. No in Pinewood’s luxurious‘Theatre Seven’. Guests included ex-Bond girls Madeline Smith (from LiveAnd Let Die) and Jan Williams (fea-tured with Robert Shaw in FromRussia With Love), Stunt ArrangersPaul Weston and George Leech, WingCommander Ken Wallis and ‘LittleNellie’ (of course!), DesmondLlewelyn, Iris Rose (unit productionmanager for EON Productions on allthe James Bond films from For YourEyes Only [1981] to Die Another Day[2002]), Production Designers SydCain and Peter Lamont, SFX minia-tures Oscar-Winner Derek Meddings,and From Russia With Love Bond vil-lain Vladek Sheybal, who, before cut-ting our special 30th anniversary

cake, gave a memorable imprompturecollection of his time at Pinewoodover the years, and the ‘ghosts’ fromthe past who once occupied the verychairs in which we were seated forlunch. It was a truly poignantmoment as he gestured to where heremembered a veritable ‘who’s who’of international stars had sat and chat-ted over lunch, such as Sir LaurenceOlivier, Gregory Peck, Diana Dors,Alan Ladd, Tyrone Power, DirkBogarde, Kenneth More, StewartGranger, Peter Finch, Jack Hawkins,Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn,Richard Harris, Sean Connery, RobertShaw, Orson Welles, and MarilynMonroe. Sadly it was to be Vladek’slast public engagement, as only threeweeks later he died suddenly at homeof an abdominal haemorrhage. Hewas 69.

I attended Vladek’s funeral serv-ice at the Brompton Oratory onOctober 27th, where the lesson wasread movingly by fellow Polish actor,Rula Lenska, and a choir sang magnif-icently. I had only spent a few hourswith Vladek toward the end of his life,but this short meeting afforded methe truly beautiful experience of visit-ing a magnificent building to honourthe memory of this multi-talented andremarkable man. He had given histime freely for my event and thrownhimself into it with much gusto. I feltit my duty to reciprocate. I still believe

1992

Westmoreland Hotel 1981

‘This event was certainly more professionally conceived….’

“Well, the change of car was me.”

1. Desmond and Ken Wallisare joined by Sue Vannerfor the photo-call. 2. Rossand Sue pose for the DailyMirror. 3. Walter Gotellchats with Ken Wallis.4. Maurice Binder takescentre stage. 5. The Lads!JBBFC Stewards: PaulRiddell, Adrian Cowdry,Andrew Pilkington, ChrisNixon. 6. Tickets please!Andrew Pilkington greetsconvention attendees.7. Cassandra Harris answersa question. 8. With Ross,Walter Gotell practisesdétente off-screen as wellas on, while Burt Kwoukkeeps them both covered.9. Desmond with LotusCars representative DonMcLauchlan. 10. Sue Vannerautographs Adrian Cowdry’sconvention programme.11. Mastermind winnerMark Ashby is presentedhis trophy by AdrianCowdry. 12. Carol Bryantand Paul Riddell model thelatest in Moonraker-wear.13. Ross hosts questiontime with guests Burt, Sueand Walter. 14. Alkis andCassandra answer questionsfrom the audience.15. Maurice explains howhe created the gun barrelsequence.

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The Laird’s castle in LICENCERENEWED, is that a reallocation?No that’s all made up.

What about the Laird himself –is he based upon anyone?No – he is based on two people.

How do you go about findingnames for all your characters?Fleming, for example, used tolift them from shop hoardingsetc.

Well, yes you do that. LavenderPeacock was named after my head-master at School whose names wasPeacock. I forget how the Lavendercame about. I think I saw it some-where and it seemed to fit.

Anton Murik comes from, wellthe Murik part comes from a motormechanic at a garage near Bath.

Caber is the heavy. Did you feelit necessary to have a characterlike Caber?

Oh yes, of course. You are intoformula writing with Bond and wewere trying to go back to the origi-nal books which always had a heavy.

What about Q’ute?Well, that was unfortunate. Whathappened was we asked Mr Broccoliif he would mind if we used Q.Because Q, of course, is not a

Fleming character and we are notallowed to use him, he was a moviecharacter. Mr Broccoli said he wouldrather we didn’t use Q, and I wasn’ttrying to be clever, but I had alreadywritten Q in. So I thought it wouldbe nice to make the character a lady,and that’s how Q’ute appeared.

Can you tell us anything aboutyour new Bond book FORSPECIAL SERVICES?Well, it depends. I am under a certainamount of restraint. I was with thepublishers for three hours yesterdayand they asked me not to say any-thing to the television of the press oranybody else, because they wantedmaximum publicity when the bookcame out. But you ask the questionsand if can I’ll answer them.

Is it better than the first book?They tell me it is stronger. I would bevery disappointed if it wasn’tstronger because I’ve had the expe-rience of writing the first one. I’vehad the experience of being draggedthrough the Bond promotional mill,etc. So I hope it is better.You have toremember, of course, that I’m writinganother book in between each Bond.

What is FOR SPECIALSERVICES about?Well, Bond is on loan to theAmericans. SPECTRE is back, and so

is Blofeld, although that’s all I can say.However, you are meant to spot whoBlofeld is fairly quickly.

How do you think up all thescenes? Do you get an idea and rush intoyour study to get it down on paper?

No, no. I’m a professionalwriter, I have been for 20 years, anda professional writer of fictionworks seven days a week. I start atnine in the morning and finish atseven in the evening. Until a fewweeks ago I hadn’t been on holidayfor three years, and I won’t getanother break for 18 months. I gotused to writing when I was veryyoung and the only way to continuebeing a success is to keep writing,and so it is a purely professionalbusiness. One sits down at a type-writer and stays there until the bookis finished. Now what was the ques-tion again? Oh, yes. Where do ideascome from? I honestly don’t know.They run into one another.You thinkof one thing which leads you ontosomething else.

Well, we hope you carry ondoing the Bond books.Well, I hope I shall. I know I likedoing them, and if I’m asked to dosome more I shall yes. Of course, Ishall say yes. But we shall have towait and see.

Wembley Conference Centre 1982

Blind, and after a heartfelt speech, LoisMaxwell presented our ‘jumbo-sized’cheque to the charity’s representa-tives, the husband and wife team ofGeorge and Rhoda Carratt, who wasaccompanied by her guide dog Molly.Mrs Carratt, who was blind frombirth, gave a very moving speechabout what a guide dog means to ablind person. Standing behind herI looked around the room, and as shespoke I could see her words weredeeply affecting many of the peoplelistening. Turning to look behind meI saw that tears were streaming downDave Worrall’s face. I swallowed hardand tensed my jaw, only just succeed-ing in quenching my own emotions.Thanks to members of The JBOO7FCthere was now 4,001 guide dogs inthe UK – the 4,001st namedMoneypenny!

For me, the charity aspect of theevent gave it a worthiness that madeall the hard work even more worth-while – but it was still exhausting.Never again!

In 25 years we’ve beenapproached by every charity knownto man – and then some. We haven’talways been able to raise the kind ofmoney we achieved at our‘Diamonds Are Forever ChristmasLunch’, but we’ve always helped asmuch as we can when ever we’vebeen called upon.

“EON PRODUC-TIONS LIMITEDCordially invites

you to meet THE NEW JAMES BONDin The Drawing Room of the RegentHotel, 222 Marylebone Road, LondonNW1 on Wednesday June 8th 1994 at12 noon for 12.30” read the fax from

Amanda Schofield. What can you say?Wow, actually. What a day! I remem-ber there was doubt in my mind onthe day regarding the actual identity ofthe new James Bond actor. PierceBrosnan had been seen in Londonthat week, so the media had been put-

ting two and two together and comingup with five! I hoped they were cor-rect because as far as I was concernedthere was no one else capable of doingjustice to the role. And for the record– there still isn’t! Gordon Arnell,EON’s head of publicity on Bond 17(soon to be titled GoldenEye) stoodand asked the assembled world mediato, “Please welcome the new JamesBond, Mr Pierce Brosnan.” If anyoneelse had walked out from behindthose screens accompanied by ‘TheJames Bond Theme’ I’d have been off!Later, Pierce posed with me for a pho-tograph, and then posed for me as Itook a shot of him standing next to a007 and gun logo sign. Before he lefthe thanked me for the positive com-ments I’d made in the press regardinghim being the only man for the role.As he left the room someone wishedhim good luck, and I commented,“This man doesn’t need luck!” Pierceheard, and turned and looked overand said, ‘You always need luck!”Never was a truer word said.

October 1994 our publication‘oo7’ changed its name to ‘oo7’MAGAZINE with issue #27 – On HerMajesty’s Secret Service special. Thisissue was one of our fastest sellingeditions ever.

Christmas 1994 saw a great coupfor The JBOO7FC, when one-timeoo7 George Lazenby agreed to be mycentral guest at our Christmas lunch,

themed around his oo7 film On HerMajesty’s Secret Service. This was thefirst UK autograph signing ever under-taken by the ex-Bond star, who I alsoappeared with on SKY TV to publicisethe event. Other celebrity guests inattendance included Lois Maxwelland Desmond Llewelyn, reunited withGeorge for the first time since therelease of their film in 1969. Otherguests attending were the wonderfullyeffervescent Eunice Gayson (Sylviafrom Dr. No and From Russia WithLove) and Goldfinger Oscar-winnerNorman Wanstall – both attendingtheir first James Bond fan club event;Syd Cain, George Leech (OHMSSStunt Arranger), and Alf Joint(Stuntman, Stunt Arranger andCapungo in Goldfinger).

I think I probably enjoyed thisevent more than any I have organisedbefore or since. To see GeorgeLazenby walk out from behind theprojection screen at the end of hisfilm and be given a tumultuous stand-ing ovation was about as good as itgets. To see how genuinely movedGeorge was by the audience’s exhila-rating tribute brought a tear to my eye– a truly great moment I’ll never for-get. George was good fun to bearound and I have fond memories ofthe time we spent together during hisshort stay in England, and it’s alwaysgreat to see him when he’s back inthe UK.

‘Roger was forever being castigated (and that’s putting it mildly) for not being Sean Connery….’

1994

Wembley Conference Centre 1982

“Because Q, of course, is not a Fleming character and we are not allowed to use him.”

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1. Maurice clowns aroundwith a Roger Moore cut-out. 2. Sometime ‘OO7’MAGAZINE contributor FredBryant visits the exhibitiondisplay. 3. Peter Hunt andMaurice are shown theexhibition display by PeterEttedgui. 4. Peter joinsMaurice in clowningaround. 5. Syd Cain andPeter react to Maurice’swonderful sense of humour.6. Syd Cain answers questions from the audience. 7. Ross hosts theinterview with Maurice,Syd, and Peter. 8. JohnGardner poses with 007’snew Saab, and signs copiesof LICENCE RENEWED inour ‘green room’. 9. JohnMcLusky explains how acertain Mr Conneryobjected to having hislikeness used in the DailyExpress comic strip, untilJohn explained that hecreated the ‘likeness’ priorto 1962. 10. Ross interviews Bond authorJohn Gardner and… 11. …screenwriterChristopher Wood. 12. Sydand John McLusky relax inour ‘green room’.

JOHN GARDNER’S JAMES BOND NOVELS

1981 Licence Renewed1982 For Special Services1983 Icebreaker1984 Role of Honour1984 Nobody Lives For Ever1987 No Deals, Mr Bond 1988 Scorpius1989 Licence To Kill (from

the motion picture of Licence To Kill written by Michael G.Wilson and Richard Maibaum)

1989 Win, Lose or Die 1990 Brokenclaw 1991 The Man From

Barbarossa 1992 Death Is Forever1993 Never Send Flowers1994 Seafire 1995 GoldenEye (from the

motion picture ofGoldenEye story by Michael France, screenplay by Jeffrey Caine & Bruce Feirstein)

1996 Cold

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