James Bond Radio: 007 News, Reviews & Interviews!

Day 8 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   It’s Lucia Sciarra day on James Bond Radio! Played by one of the world’s most beautiful women, it’s a crime Monica Bellucci hasn’t already been cast as a Bond Girl. She finally gets her shot in SPECTRE but is she underused? Should we have seen more of Mrs. Sciarra? Will we see her return in Bond 25?   Let’s talk Lucia!

Day 7 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   SPECTRE is Daniel Craig’s 4th outing as James Bond 007. Today’s episode is dedicated to the man himself, how his performance has evolved since Casino Royale and how this film compares to the other Bond actors 4th films.    In addition we respond (quite passionately) to the negative SPECTRE reviews coming in from the US. 

Day 6 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   It’s time to talk about another newly resurrected classic Bond character in today’s episode of James Bond Radio.   Moneypenny has always been a staple in the Bond series from Dr. No all the way through to Die Another Day. After her return in Skyfall, this time we get to see Naomi Harris' Moneypenny settled in to the more traditional desk bound position as made popular by Lois Maxwell.    Let’s talk Moneypenny!

Day 5 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   Today it’s time to talk Q. There’s no doubt Ben Whishaw has huge shoes to fill after Desmond Llewelyn’s final appearance in 1999, so does he pull it off?    With key scenes inside Q’s lab and played out in the field, Q gets a lot more screen time than usual in SPECTRE. So, let’s find out if he has what it takes to carry the Q torch.   

Day 4 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   Ralph Fiennes, Ralph Fiennes, Ralph Fiennes! Is there any finer actor for Judi Dench to pass the M torch to than that? We wager that there is not.    We had a brief glimpse at the end of Skyfall but SPECTRE is the first time we get to see the new M in all his glory.    We talk through all the M scenes from SPECTRE, ponder on the Gareth Mallory character in comparison to Sir Miles, as played by Bernard Lee and speculate on just how long we might see Ralph dishing out 007’s orders.   

Day 3 of 30 Days of SPECTRE! This time we're talking about that unique and wonderful feature of the Bond films, the title sequence. We discuss the visuals, the nods to the past vs the new stuff we've not seen before and we take a good look at Sam Smith's Writing's on the Wall. Will it turn the haters into lovers once they see in the context of the film? Will they hate it even more? Let's find out with today's episode of James Bond Radio

Day 2 of 30 Days of SPECTRE!   This time we’re taking a look at the pre-title sequence of SPECTRE. We discuss the opening gun barrel (Yay!), we take a look at that glorious opening shot and cover every inch of film up until Sam Smith starts singing. 

100% SPOILER FREE!!!   James Bond Radio kicks off the 30 days of SPECTRE extravaganza by telling the story of our very first red carpet Bond premiere. Find out who we met, which stars we managed to get photos with and what we thought about the movie itself.    This episode is 100% spoiler free, with no hints, insinuations or anything remotely spoilery, so for those of you who haven’t seen the film yet, you can listen in comfort and safety…with that said, it’s spoiler city from day 2 onwards.   Enjoy :-)        

SPECTRE comes out in just 3 days time!!! Today Chris & Tom spend 2 hours discussing what we know about SPECTRE, what we hope to see in the film and we mix in a TON of SPECTRE-lation to boot. Plus we talk about JBR's recent surprise mention by Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2, the Ultimate Bond feature in The Times last week and last but not least we have a VERY special announcement anyone who's going to watch SPECTRE will not want to miss.   

We're honoured to have a legendary member of the James Bond family on the show this week, Bruce Glover. We talk Bond, Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery, Putter Smith and a whole lot more besides. Outside of the 007 world we hear equally fascinating stories all about Bruce's life growing up in depression era Chicago, the hilarious story behind his very first acting job and we discover the process Bruce would use to get into character.  Big thanks go out to Bruce for being so generous with his time. Not only is he amazing to talk to, he's also one of the most down to earth people you could ever wish to meet.  DO NOT MISS THIS EPISODE!   

This week we conclude our 3-Part Bond Girl coverage with an episode dedicated to the ladies from Goldeneye to Skyfall. Find out our thoughts on everyone from Natalya Simonova, to Elektra King, to Camille Montes and even the ladies of that most chin scratching of Bond films Die Another Day.

JBR returns this week with Part 2 of our mammoth 3-part Bond Girl coverage. This time we go from The Man With The Golden Gun to Licence To Kill discussing all Bond girls big and small. We also revisit Sam Smith's Writing's on the Wall a week on from release.

It's a red letter day for Bond fans across the world today with the big reveal of SPECTRE's title song, Writing's on the Wall by Sam Smith. The JBR team thought we'd leap into action and record a special emergency podcast dedicated to the new song, with a section by section break down, lyrical discussions and more!

Following on from our recent interviews with Caroline Munro and Martine Beswick, it's time for James Bond Radio to talk about Bond Girls! We'll be going right back to Dr. No through to Live & Let Die in today's podcast talking Honey Ryder to Solitaire with all the Bond girls in between. In addition, the second round of Bond Celebrity Deathmatch comes to an end, we run the usual gauntlet of quotes, trivia and all the usual JBR goodness!

It's time to open the MI6 Mailbag at James Bond Radio. This week we're answering listener questions including thoughts on The Living Daylights starring Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton in Casino Royale and what Quentin Tarantino's take on Casino might have been like.  Not only that we give an exclusive play to what could possibly be the greatest undiscovered Bond song ever written! Enjoy :-) Chris & Tom

It’s a red letter day at James Bond Radio. We have our very first Bond girls on the show!   First up we have The Spy Who Loved Me’s Caroline Munro regaling us with stories of working with Sir Roger Moore, Richard Kiel and Lewis Gilbert. Then we talk to 2 time Bond girl, Martine Beswick who we all know as Zora the fighting gypsy girl in From Russia With Love and for her turn as Thunderball’s Paula Caplan.    

Well, well, well we reached 50 episodes of James Bond Radio. What better way to celebrate than for us to conclude our review of that most polarizing of Bond films; Moonraker. Along with the Roger action we run the usual gauntlet of Bond Trivia, Guess The Music Q, Complete The Lyric, Guess The Quote and the latest round of Bond Celebrity Deathmatch!

Wheeeere aaaare you? Why do you hiiiide? That's right JBR army, it's time for us to review that most misunderstood of James Bond films, 1979's Moonraker.  Until 2002, this film tended to be the butt of many a joke. "Bond in space? Come oooon" and "That's the crazy one that's a bit like Star Wars, right?" have been common remarks throughout the years.  So it's time for Tom & Chris, your intrepid Bond reporters to revisit what was once one of the most controversial among fans and see how it stands up today. Sit down, strap in and see how many G's you can take!

JBR has been on leave for the last 3 weeks but as of today we're officially back to Bond it up! This week we have a big old catch up with Tom telling us all about his trip to see some killer Casino Royale locations in the Czech Republic along with some classic Living Daylights locations in Vienna. Chris tells us all about his Diamonds Are Forever pilgrimage to Amsterdam ("Who is your floor?"), we catch up on all the latest Bond news from Lazenby's recent visit to Piz Gloria to Jane Seymour's story about falling asleep whilst in bed with Sir Roger... ...And finally we reveal the details of a VERY special competition you won't want to miss!

This week we're joined by an unsung hero of Bond, Nikki Van Der Zyl. As a voice artist she provided the voice of some of the most iconic Bond girls of all time from Honey Ryder (...and yes that is Nikki singing Underneath the Mango Tree), to Shirley Eaton's Jill Masterson,  and Thunderball's Domino. The list doesn't end there either. Nikki was involved in a total of 10 Bond films with Moonraker being her last.  This is another behind the scenes interview with someone who was there from the very beginning of the cinematic Bond. You'll hear tales of hanging out on set with Gert Frobe during the filming of Goldfinger, you'll hear how she revoiced the entire female cast of Dr. No (with the exception of Moneypenny and Miss Taro) and maybe...just maybe you might even hear Nikki performing a line of Bond girl dialogue too.  Enjoy :-)