Q (James Bond)
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Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. The character actually appears only fleetingly in Ian Fleming's novels, but comes into his own in the successful Bond film series; he is also mentioned in the continuation novels of John Gardner and Raymond Benson. The character of Q (although not always identified as such) has appeared in each of the 007 films except for Live and Let Die. He is also absent in Casino Royale, the newest Bond film released in November 2006; it has not yet been announced whether the character will return in the as-yet untitled Bond 22.
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[edit] Major Boothroyd
The ancestry of the Q character is rather complicated. In the Fleming novels there are frequent references to 'Q Branch', with a reference to "Q's craftsmen" in From Russia with Love. In the sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, a firearms expert who lived in Glasgow, Scotland. He had written to him suggesting that Bond was not using the best firearms available. Boothroyd is also referenced occasionally in the Bond novels of John Gardner, but the author preferred instead to focus on a new character (see "Other Qs", below).
In the films, Major Boothroyd first appears in Dr. No and later in From Russia with Love, although played by different actors. Beginning in Goldfinger and in each film thereafter Major Boothroyd is most often referred to as Q, however, in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) he is referred once again as Major Boothroyd in dialogue. Some sources, most notably the 1980s James Bond 007 role-playing game suggested that Boothroyd's first name was Geoffrey (the real Boothroyd's given name), although no first name was ever mentioned in the novels or on screen. In the non-canonical James Bond Jr. cartoon series, Boothroyd's grandson was Horace Boothroyd III, suggesting that Major Boothroyd was also named Horace.
[edit] Desmond Llewelyn as Major Boothroyd
| James Bond character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Q (a.k.a. Major Boothroyd) | |
| Gender | Male |
| Role | Ally |
| Affiliation | MI6 |
| Current status | |
| Portrayed by | Desmond Llewelyn |
Due to scheduling conflicts, Peter Burton was unavailable to reprise his role as Boothroyd in From Russia with Love (1963) and was replaced by Desmond Llewelyn, who would continue to play the role, with the exception of Live and Let Die (1973), in every James Bond film until his death in 1999.
In the series, Boothroyd was preparing to retire during the events of The World Is Not Enough (1999) and has clearly retired by the time of Die Another Day (2002), but it has yet to be confirmed on screen whether the character is now deceased. In the Playstation game 007 Racing (2000), the character R (voiced by John Cleese) specifically says: Q could drive better than that, and he's dead!. The game's canonicity is debatable however (as is the good taste of the line itself, given that Llewelyn died in a car crash).
In the James Bond films, the relationship between Q and Bond is one of fatherly exasperation ("Oh, do grow up, 007!") met with adolescent indifference. The exception is during From Russia with Love, Llewelyn's Bond debut, in which he simply introduces the gadgets, then makes sure Bond knows how to work the booby-trapped briefcase catches. The relationship was established by director Guy Hamilton in Goldfinger, when he explained to Llewelyn that he didn't want Q to actually like Bond, since the agent tended to abuse and destroy Q's gadgets when in the field.
The gadgets supplied by Q are almost invariably destroyed as a result of Bond's use of them, and Q is constantly exhorting Bond to take better care of them and to occasionally read the instruction manual. Before introducing any new gadgets, Q is nearly always quoted as saying: "Now pay attention, 007." Bond usually responds by displaying an instant mastery of whatever device Q hands to him.
In addition to the tech laboratories, Q occasionally meets Bond in the field to deliver some equipment or to personally handle some specialized devices to assist Bond. This goes so far as in Licence to Kill (1989) where Q sides with Bond, supplying him with gadgetry and even helping him operationally despite Bond's having resigned from the British Secret Service.
[edit] Featured in
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Thunderball (1965)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- This is the only time in which Q calls Bond "James", during the wedding scene with Tracy.
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Octopussy (1983)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- Licence to Kill (1989)
- GoldenEye (1995)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- The World Is Not Enough (1999)
[edit] John Cleese as Q (formerly known as R)
| James Bond character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Q (formerly known as R) | |
| Gender | Male |
| Role | Ally |
| Affiliation | MI6 |
| Current status | Active |
| Portrayed by | John Cleese |
In The World Is Not Enough an assistant to Major Boothroyd (Q) was introduced played by John Cleese. His real name has yet to be revealed, but he is initially credited as R in The World Is Not Enough stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q: "If you're Q does that make him R?" (Cleese's character responds, "Ah yes, the legendary 007 wit. Or at least, half of it").
Between films, Cleese was still referred to as "R" in the video game 007 Racing (2000) and in Agent Under Fire (2001) until he was elevated to "Q" in Die Another Day (2002) following actor Llewelyn's death in 1999. In 2004, Cleese was featured as Q in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
Initially portrayed as rather clumsy, once R was "promoted" to Q he has become more self-assured and more in the style of his predecessor. They both share the same attitude towards their professional work. In almost every film one or the other have said either "I never joke about my work" or "Pay attention" to Bond.
Although having some similar characteristics, Cleese's Q is almost a radical departure from Major Boothroyd. From the start, Cleese's Q never liked Bond based simply from Bond's reputation of not returning items in pristine condition. When Bond tries to joke with Q, Cleese's Q is a lot quicker at comebacks than Boothroyd ever was, making him more of a match for Bond in terms of wit.
In the 007 game, Everything or Nothing, Cleese' Q has an assistant, Miss Nagai, portrayed by Misaki Ito.
[edit] Featured in
- The World Is Not Enough — as R (1999)
- Die Another Day (2002)
[edit] Other Qs
[edit] Geoffrey Bayldon as Q
In the 1967 version of Casino Royale, Q is played by Geoffrey Bayldon, although he kits out not James Bond, but one of his subsitutes Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers). Generally held to be one of the stronger sequences in the uneven film, the famous gadget sequence is mercilessly lampooned. "It's an American idea," Q tells Tremble as he gives him a watch with two-way camera attached, "they got it from one of their comic strips," a reference to "Dick Tracy". In this film, Q is assisted by Fordyce (John Wells).
[edit] Algernon
In the 1983 unofficial (non-EON Productions) film Never Say Never Again, Q Branch is headed by a man (played by Alec McCowen) referred to by Bond as "Algernon" and "Algy", though his opening line is "Nice to know old Q can still surprise you 00s." In the closing credits, he is named as "Q Algy". It is never stated whether he is intended to be a successor to the EON Q (like the film's M is said to be) or actually a manifestation of Boothroyd. But since this film is generally not considered as canon, it can be said that it takes place in an alternate universe, different from that of the EON films.
[edit] I.Q.
In the 1991 animated TV series James Bond Jr., Q's adolescent grandson, Horace Boothroyd III (aka "I.Q.") attends the same high security secondary school as James Bond's supposed nephew.
[edit] Q'ute
John Gardner, in his James Bond novels, introduced the character of Ann Reilly, a young female assistant to Q whose co-workers as well as Bond nicknamed Q'ute. Major Boothroyd himself was only mentioned a couple of times. During Licence Renewed and For Special Services, Q'ute and Bond maintained a brief romantic relationship. Afterwards, it was revealed a number of times that Bond and Q'ute were involved in a casual relationship. By the time Gardner left the book series, Q'ute had taken over the running of Q Branch, but when Raymond Benson took over the literary series, he ignored much of Gardner's continuum and gave Q Branch back to Major Boothroyd with no explanation and no further references to Ann Reilly.
[edit] Q-like characters
The "gadget-man" character type epitomised by Q has been featured in numerous other productions centered around a secret agent theme. For example, the 1990s series La Femme Nikita featured the character of Walter, a wizened agent who designs all the gadgets and tools used by "Section One". A similar character was played by John Rhys-Davies in the short-lived spy series Under Cover. One episode of the generally gadget-lite Danger Man also featured a Q-like character who provides agent John Drake with items in one episode. Artemus Gordon of The Wild Wild West was that show's resident gadget man and inventor and was often seen giving Agent James West very Q-like instructions on the use of his inventions.
The Terry Pratchett novels Thief of Time and Night Watch both feature an innovative weapons designer named Qu, a member of the History Monks.
In the popular Spanish comic strip series Mortadelo & Filemon, the character of Professor Bacterio, a mad scientist providing TIA agents with (often failing) gadgets, could be considered a parody of Q.
In the Naked Gun film series, a police scientist named Ted Olsen provides Lt. Frank Drebin with assorted gadgets to aid him in his investigations.
In the movie Muppets from Space, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker have a laboratory, with inventions similar to Q's. During the TV series, they also present guest star Pierce Brosnan with similar gadgets, even as Brosnan insists he is an actor and not James Bond (Honeydew is convinced that Bond is working undercover).
In the No One Lives Forever video game series, the UNITY gadgeteer is codenamed "Santa".
In the 2003 movie Agent Cody Banks, Cody is given his gadgets by Earl (Darrell Hammond).
In the 2004 film Van Helsing, Friar Carl makes gadgets in a lab like Q. (Though, unlike the vast majority of Q-style characters, he actually joins the hero in the field.)
Another recent Q-like character is Marshall Flinkman on the series Alias.
In the 2005 motion picture Batman Begins, Morgan Freeman plays Lucius Fox, head of Wayne Enterprises' "Applied Sciences" division, giving Bruce Wayne access to numerous gadgets in a similar manner to Q. Among these include a swingline, utility belt, protective body armor, gliding cape, and the amazingly rugged Batmobile of the movie. At the end of the film, Fox is promoted as CEO of Wayne's business, thus establishing him in his traditional role as the billionare's business manager.
In the Alex Rider series of novels by Anthony Horowitz, the gadget expert for MI6 is Smithers.
In the Food Network series Good Eats, Alton Brown's equipment provider is "W". They have a similar relationship to the one between Bond and Q.
[edit] Gadgets
For a more complete list see: List of James Bond gadgets
Some of the more memorable gadgets supplied by Q include:
- The trick briefcase in From Russia with Love
- The Aston Martin car with the ejector seat in Goldfinger
- The autogyro 'Little Nellie' in You Only Live Twice
- The submersible Lotus car ('Wet Nellie') in The Spy Who Loved Me
- The AcroStar mini-jet in Octopussy
- The ghetto blaster radio rocket launcher ("Something we're working on for the Americans!!") in The Living Daylights (not used by Bond)
- The pen grenade in GoldenEye
- The remote control BMW 7 Series in Tomorrow Never Dies
- The actively camoflaged Aston Martin Vanquish (the "Vanish") in Die Another Day
