London

Eliot, The Apes of God by Wyndham Lewis, Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby and White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Some of the more memorable ones include Bill Tanner, Rene Mathis, Felix Leiter, and Jack Wade. S. Throughout both the novels and the films there have only been a handful of recurring characters. Other famous works that feature London include A Journal of the Plague Year and Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Waste Land by T. Since Brosnan's tenure, however, the character has taken on a (relatively) more progressive outlook on women; he respects the new, female M (played by Judi Dench) and has let a few women, particularly Paris Carver and Elektra King, get under his skin. The famous aphorism of Samuel Johnson, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life!" features alongside many other sayings and quips. Despite Bond's philandering, most end up, if not in love with him, at least subdued by him.

Most of it takes place in London. The aggressiveness of Bond's sexual conquests occasionally while his lovers eventually return his advances, he does not take the initial "no" for an answer. James Boswell's 'Life of Samuel Johnson' is the most notable biography in English. Bond's women, particularly in the films, often have double entendre names, leading to coy jokes, for example, "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger (a name invented by Fleming), "Plenty O'Toole" in Diamonds Are Forever, and "Xenia Onatopp" (a villainess sexually excited by strangling men with her thighs) in GoldenEye. The two writers who are perhaps most closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous among other things for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, and Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets is a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London. In the films, Leiter appeared regularly during the Connery era, only once during Moore's tenure, and in both Dalton films; however, he was only played by the same actor twice. London has been the setting for many works of literature. Occasionally Bond is assigned to work a case with his good friend, Felix Leiter of the CIA.

Hampton Court Palace also has a celebrated garden. In the novels (but not in the films), Bond has had two secretaries, Loelia Ponsonby and Mary Goodnight, who in the films typically have their roles and lines transferred to M's secretary Miss Moneypenny. The leading paid entrance garden in London is the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Bond's superiors and other officers of the British Secret Service are generally known by letters such as M and Q. Some of the other major open spaces in the suburbs, such as Hampstead Heath, Wimbledon Common and Epping Forest have a more informal, semi-natural character. The James Bond series of novels and films have a plethora of interesting allies and villains. Examples include Victoria Park, Alexandra Park and Battersea Park. Several comic book adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years, as well as numerous original stories.

Most of London's council-owned parks were developed between the mid 19th century and the Second World War. Titan Books is presently reprinting these comic strips in an ongoing series of graphic novel-style collections; by the end of 2005 it had completed reprinting all Fleming-based adaptations as well as Colonel Sun and had moved on to reprinting original stories. Many of the smaller green spaces in central London are garden squares which were built for the private use of the residents of the fashionable districts, but in some cases are now open to the public. Later, the comic strip produced original stories, continuing until 1983. Regents Park is on the northern edge of central London, while Greenwich Park, Bushy Park, and Richmond Park are in the suburbs. Since then many illustrated adventures of James Bond have been published, including every Ian Fleming novel as well as Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun, and most of Fleming's short stories. Green Park, St James's Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens form a green strand through the West End. After initial reluctance by Fleming who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed and the first strip Casino Royale was published in 1958.

The eight Royal Parks of London are former royal hunting grounds which are now open to the public. In 1957 the Daily Express, a newspaper owned by Lord Beaverbrook, approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips. London is well endowed with open spaces. Connery himself recorded new voiceovers for the game, the first time the actor has played Bond in 22 years. London also hosts the annual London Marathon, one of the largest mass-participation marathons in the world, and the Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race. This was the second game based on a Connery Bond film (the first was a 1980s text adventure adaptation of Goldfinger) and the first to use the actor's likeness as agent 007. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships is in Wimbledon in the south. In 2005, Electronic Arts released another game in the same vein as Everything or Nothing, this time a video game adaptation of From Russia with Love, which allowed the player to play as Bond with the likeness of Sean Connery.

Two Test cricket grounds are located in London: Lord's, home of Middlesex, in St John's Wood, and The Oval, home of Surrey, in Kennington. It was also the first game to feature well known actors including Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum and Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, although several previous games have used Brosnan's likeness as Bond. Twickenham Stadium in west London is the national rugby union stadium, and three Guinness Premiership sides (London Irish, Saracens and Wasps) all originate from London, although they are now all based just outside the Greater London area. Electronic Arts has to date released seven games, including the popular Everything or Nothing, which broke away from the first-person shooter element found in GoldenEye and went to a third-person perspective. Wembley Stadium (which is currently being rebuilt) has traditionally been the home of the England football team, and serves as the venue for the FA Cup final, as well as rugby league's Challenge Cup final. In 2004, Electronic Arts released a game entitled GoldenEye: Rogue Agent that had nothing to do with either the video game GoldenEye or the film of the same name, and Bond himself plays only a minor role in which he is "killed" in the beginning during a virtual mission similar to the climax at Fort Knox in the film Goldfinger. Arsenal and Chelsea are regarded as two of the Premier League's "big three" alongside Manchester United, and regularly play in the UEFA Champions League; the other London clubs in the top flight are Charlton Athletic, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. Subsequently, virtually every Bond video game has attempted to copy GoldenEye 007's accomplishment and features to varying degrees of success.

The most popular spectator sport in London is football, and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Bond video games, however, didn't reach their popular stride until 1997's GoldenEye 007 by Rare for the Nintendo 64. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012, making it the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on the films or using original storylines. London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1908 and 1948. In 1983, the first Bond video game, developed and published by Parker Brothers, was released for the Atari 2600, the Atari 5200, the Commodore 64, and the Colecovision. Over two-thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [11]. From Russia with Love also opens with an instrumental version over the title credits (which then segues into the James Bond Theme), but Matt Monro's vocal version also appears twice in the film, including the closing credits; the Monro version is generally considered the film's main theme, even though it doesn't appear during the opening credits.

Important national and royal ceremonies are divided between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, a gothic church on the scale of a cathedral. The latter having had contributions by Fleming towards its creation; the show's lead character, "Napoleon Solo," was named after a character in Fleming's novel Goldfinger and Fleming also suggested the character name April Dancer, which was later used in the spinoff series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. 1960s TV imitations of James Bond such as I Spy, Get Smart, The Wild Wild West, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. went on to became popular successes in their own right. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. The Austin Powers series by writer and actor Mike Myers and other parodies such as Johnny English (2003), the "Flint" series starring James Coburn as Derek Flint, and Casino Royale (1967) are testaments to Bond's prominence in popular culture. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. James Bond has long been a household name and remains a huge influence within the cinematic spy film genre.

Augustine to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. For more in-depth information, see the controversy over Thunderball. When Pope Gregory the Great sent St. McClory to this day still claims to own the film rights to Thunderball, though MGM and EON claim those rights have expired. The famous street markets of London, that shot to fame in the 1960s are also well known and include Carnaby Street, Notting Hill and Camden Town. A second attempt by McClory to remake Thunderball in the 1990s with Sony Pictures was halted by legal action which resulted in Sony Pictures abandoning their aspirations for a rival James Bond series. The Mayfair district, which includes Bond Street, is home to many exclusive designer stores and boutiques. Never Say Never Again was not made by Broccoli's production company, EON Productions, and is, therefore, not considered a part of the official film series.

Some of the world's most renowned department stores are based in London including Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. McClory did so in 1983 by producing the film Never Say Never Again, which featured Sean Connery for a seventh time as 007. London Fashion Week takes place twice a year. The deal specifically stated that McClory couldn't reproduce another adaptation until a set period of time had elapsed. Burberry, French Connection FCUK, Laura Ashley, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney are all famous London designers. Afterwards McClory made a deal with EON Productions to produce a film adaptation starring Sean Connery. London is one of the "big four" fashion capitals (alongside Paris, Milan and New York) and is home to some of the finest haute couture in the world. McClory filed a lawsuit that would eventually award him the film rights to the novel in 1963.

As a result, London now hosts key parts of the Internet, including LINX (London INternet eXchange), the largest Internet Exchange Point in the world carrying over 82Gb/sec (12/2005) of internet traffic - an estimated 96% of UK internet traffic. Initially the novel only credited Fleming. With computers and technology playing a key part in the economy, companies have created a large number of datacentres within Greater London, many of which are in the Docklands area. When plans for a James Bond film were scrapped in the late 1950s, a story treatment entitled Thunderball, written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham, was adapted as Fleming's ninth Bond novel. There are a vast number of local newspapers in the London area, often covering a small section of the city. For more information, see the history of Casino Royale. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group. The instrumental theme music was a hit for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

London is one of the two leading centres of English-language publishing alongside New York. Feldman who turned Fleming's first novel into a spoof featuring actor David Niven as one of six James Bonds. London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post-production industry centred in Soho. The rights to Casino Royale were subsequently sold to producer Charles K. The independent weekly listings guide Time Out Magazine has been providing concert, film, theatre and arts information since 1968. The episode featured American Barry Nelson in the role of "Jimmy Bond", an agent for the fictional "Combined Intelligence" agency. London has three daily newspaper titles - the popular Evening Standard, plus two free titles, Metro and Standard Lite (published by the Evening Standard) which are distributed every morning at London tube and railway stations. In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000 USD for the rights to adapt Casino Royale into a one hour television adventure as part of their Climax! series.

The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but Fleet Street is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press.
. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at Wapping in 1986 led to violent skirmishes. There's also lively debate on the best Bond movie, with most major film critics giving the top mark to either From Russia with Love (Connery's favourite, as he re-asserted in a 2002 ABC interview with Sam Donaldson) or its brassy followup, Goldfinger. Despite George Lazenby's short tenure in the tuxedo, some reviewers have also warmed to On Her Majesty's Secret Service (with Leonard Maltin's Movies on TV review book stating it might have been the best Bond film ever had Connery appeared in it). Most of these are in East London, most famously the News International plant at Wapping. Work is also already underway on the script for the follow-up film, currently referred to by its working title, Bond 22. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but in the 1980s they relocated to new premises with automated printing works. On October 14, 2005, EON Productions announced that Daniel Craig would be the sixth official James Bond and will star in the latest 007 adventure, Casino Royale in 2006.

The London newspaper market is dominated by national newspapers, all of which are edited in London. Every aficionado has a favourite James Bond: Sean Connery—the tough guy, his machismo ready beneath the polished persona, George Lazenby—the controversial ultra-macho man, equally loved and despised, Roger Moore—the sophisticate, a perfect gentleman, rarely mussing his hair whilst saving the world, Timothy Dalton—the hard-edged literary character, and Pierce Brosnan—the polished man of action. Local city-wide stations include music-based stations such as Capital FM, Heart 106.2 and Kiss 100 and popular news/talk stations include BBC London, LBC 97.3 and LBC News 1152. Thirdly, Octopussy (1983) incorrectly states the title of the next film as From A View To A Kill, the original literary title of A View to a Kill. There is a huge choice of radio stations available in London. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me stated Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only, however, EON Productions had decided to instead take advantage of the Star Wars space craze and release a film adaptation of Fleming's Moonraker, which was changed to a plot involving outer space. Local programming including news is provided by all main networks via city-based local station variants (eg: BBC One London or ITV London). The first, 1964's Goldfinger, in early prints announced Bond to return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, however, the producers changed their mind shortly after release and subsequently made the correction in future prints of the film.

This includes prominent universities such as Imperial College London, King's College London, University College London and the London School of Economics. The Bond films are unusual in retaining full opening and closing credits; since the late 1970s it has become common for most films to save detailed credits for the end, with only principal actors and crew listed at the beginning. London is home to a diverse number of universities, colleges and schools, and is a leading centre of research and development. The credits for GoldenEye depict the fall of the Soviet Union and thus provide a transition from the pre-fall era of the opening sequence to the post-fall setting of the rest of the narrative. This service was a key part of the Olympic bid and will provide access from northern areas of the UK via King's Cross and Euston. Die Another Day was unusual in that the images shown in that film's opening credits advance the storyline. The new high-speed line, due to open in 2007, will be used by the regular 'Olympic Javelin' service with a journey time of 7 minutes between Stratford and St Pancras. For Your Eyes Only begins with Sheena Easton singing the title song on-screen.

The main Olympic arenas will be sited close to Stratford International station, which is currently being constructed as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. For the most part, the credits are unrelated to the plot of the film, although the design may reflect an overall theme (for example, You Only Live Twice uses a Japanese motif as well as images of a volcano, both of which are elements of the movie itself). Although winning the Games has acted as a catalyst for action, most of the work would still be completed if the bid had been unsuccessful. While the credits run, the main theme of the film is usually sung by a popular artist of the time. In preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games, a total of £7 billion (€10 billion) will be spent on refurbishment and expansion of city links, mainly on the Underground. Since Binder's death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman has designed the credits and has introduced CG elements not present during Binder's era. It is one of the most complex transit systems anywhere on the planet, with just over 1 billion journeys each year on the Underground alone. The best known of the Bond title designers is Maurice Binder, who created these sequences for fourteen 007 films from 1962 to 1989.

The public transport network, administered by Transport for London (TfL), is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues. This sequence is a trademark and a staple of the James Bond films. Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. When the teaser sequence is finished, the opening credits begin during which an arty display of scantily clad and even (discreetly) naked females can be seen doing a variety of activities from dancing, jumping on a trampoline, to shooting weapons. The main docks are now at Tilbury, which is outside the boundary of Greater London. The 1999 film The World Is Not Enough currently holds the record as the longest Bond teaser ever, running more than 15 minutes; most teasers run for less than five. While the Port of London is now only the third-largest in the United Kingdom — rather than largest in the world, as it once was — it still handles 50 million tonnes of cargo each year. Since The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, they have often involved attention-grabbing action sequences, which have tended to become larger and more elaborate with each successive film.

Health services in London are managed by the national government via the National Health Service (NHS). Some sources have suggested that Jenkins novel was to be published under the Markham pseudonym. The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police. The novel was never published. The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". According to the book The Bond Files by Andy Lane and Paul Simpson, soon after Ian Fleming died, Glidrose Productions commissioned Jenkins to write a James Bond novel. For a list of London constituencies see List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. The first in 1966, was Per Fine Ounce by Geoffrey Jenkins, a friend of Ian Fleming who claimed to have developed with Fleming a diamond-smuggling storyline similar to Diamonds Are Forever as early as the 1950s.

The GLA was created in 2000 as a replacement body for the former Greater London Council (GLC) which was created in 1965 and abolished in 1986 after political disputes between the GLC (then led by Ken Livingstone) and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. The series was mildly successful and spawned six novelisations published in 1992 by John Peel writing as John Vincent, a 12 issue comic book series by Marvel Comics published in 1992, as well as a video game developed by Eurocom for the NES and the SNES in 1991. Readmitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the election later that year. In 1991 an animated television series, James Bond Jr, ran for 65 episodes. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. This book is for young-adult readers, and chronicles the adventures of 007's nephew (despite the inaccurate title). Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. In 1967, Glidrose authorised publication of 003½: The Adventures of James Bond Junior written by Arthur Calder-Marshall under the pseudonym R D Mascott.

The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the 2000 election. A second volume has been tentatively scheduled for publication in October 2006.[4]. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. Ian Fleming Publications, who had previously refused to comment as to whether the book was authorised, officially confirmed the book was and always had been a project by them on the day of the book's publication. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. John Murray admitted on August 28, 2005 that the books were a spoof after an investigation by The Sunday Times of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The novels had originally been touted as the secret journal of a "real" Miss Moneypenny and that James Bond was a possible pseudonym for a genuine intelligence officer, an idea shared by John Pearson's earlier biography, James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007.

In 2004, the Greater London Authority defined a metropolitan region centred on London with a population of 18 million. It is currently unknown whether these will be adaptations of Higson's books. Discounting eastern Kent, northern Essex, and West Berkshire, the figure is closer to 12 million to 12.5 million people. The Young Bond series is expected to add graphic novels in 2006. However, the definition used here for the metropolitan area of London should be taken with a lot of caution, as it includes areas quite far away from London, such as Dover, right by the English Channel, or Colchester, in the very north of Essex. The series is currently planned out for five novels according to Charlie Higson. If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004). A second novel was released in the UK in January 2006.

One such definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 (in 2001) [4]; larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Regardless, the first novel became a bestseller in the United Kingdom and was released to good reviews. Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. Since the concept was announced the series has taken heavy criticism for being aimed at the "Harry Potter audience" and has been seen by some as a desperate attempt to find a new audience for Bond. It is helped even less by confusion of the term "Greater London" with the political entity of the City of London, which is often confused with the metropolitan area. Written by Charlie Higson (The Fast Show) the series is intended to align faithfully with the adult Bond's back-story established by Fleming and Fleming only. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. Instead of continuing from where Raymond Benson ended in 2002, the new series featured James Bond as a thirteen-year-old boy attending Eton College.

This is left up to each individual city to define. In April 2004, Ian Fleming Publications (Glidrose) announced a new series of James Bond books. Unlike many other countries, the UK does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. Although it has been suggested a "big name" author might take on the task, the publishers have yet to approach anyone about this project [3]. London urban area is the third-largest in Europe, behind Moscow (11.7 million inhabitants in 2000) and Paris (9.6 million inhabitants in 1999). This would feature the adult version of the character as opposed to the "Young Bond" character of the recent Charlie Higson books (see below). (External reference: [3]). On August 28, 2005, Ian Fleming Publications confirmed it is planning to publish a one-off adult Bond novel in 2008 to mark what would have been Ian Fleming's 100th birthday.

The population of the urban area of London at the 2001 census, as calculated by the Office for National Statistics, was 8,278,251 inhabitants. The year 2003 marked the first year since 1980 that a new James Bond novel had not been published. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000). Low sales figures for the books, and plans by Ian Fleming Publications to focus on reissuing Fleming's original novels for the 50th anniversary of the character, were among reasons speculated by fans as to why Benson departed. 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. Benson abruptly resigned as Bond novelist at the end of 2002, despite having previously announced plans to write a short story collection. The largest religious groupings are Christian (58.2%), No Religion (15.8%), Muslim (7.2%), Hindu (4.1%), Jewish (2.1%), and Sikh (1.5%). Benson also wrote a fourth short story entitled "The Heart of Erzulie" that was rejected for publication.

In the 2001 census, 71% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as British White (60%), Irish White (3%) or "Other White" (8%) in the 2001 census), 12% as Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani or "Other Asian" (mostly Sri Lankan and other South Asian ethnicities), 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 1% as "Other Black", 3% as mixed race, 1% as Chinese and 2% as Other (mostly Filipino, Japanese, and Vietnamese). Benson's three short stories remain uncollected, unlike previous short stories from Ian Fleming. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [2]. Benson wrote six James Bond novels, three novelisations, and three short stories. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. Benson also contributed to the creation of several modules in the popular James Bond 007 role-playing game in the 1980s. The city and the 32 boroughs (some 610 square miles or 1,579 km&sup2) had an estimated 7,421,228 inhabitants in 2004, making London the most populous city in Europe alongside Moscow. The book was initially released in 1984 and later updated in 1988.

Residents of London are known as Londoners. Benson had previously written The James Bond Bedside Companion, a book dedicated to Ian Fleming, the official novels, and the films. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York. As a James Bond novelist, Benson was initially controversial for being American, and for ignoring much of the continuity established by Gardner. London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health, and American Raymond Benson quickly replaced him. Brixton, Camberwell, Lewisham and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as Afro-Caribbeans. Generally Gardner's series is considered a success although their canonical status is disputed.

It is also has a popular market. The biggest change in Gardner's series was updating 007's world to the 1980s; however, it would keep the characters the same age as they were in Fleming's novels. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. In the 1980s, the series was finally revived with new novels by John Gardner; between 1981 and 1996, he wrote fourteen James Bond novels and two screenplay novelisations, surpassing Fleming's original output. Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. Both novelisations were written by screenwriter Christopher Wood and were the first official novelisations, although technically, Fleming's Thunderball was a novelisation having been based on scripts by himself, Kevin McClory, and Jack Whittingham (although it predated the movie), and the For Your Eyes Only collection was also, for the most part, based upon unproduced scripts. Redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre, is due to start in 2006. This would happen again with 1979's Moonraker.

South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, Clapham, Eltham, Lewisham, Woolwich, Blackheath, Southwark, New Cross and Dulwich. In 1977, the film The Spy Who Loved Me was released and was subsequently novelised and published by Glidrose due to the radical difference between the script and Fleming's novel of the same name. North London's other world-famous football team, Tottenham Hotspur, play in nearby Tottenham. Prior to writing this, Pearson had written an early biography of Ian Fleming, The Life of Ian Fleming. Islington is considered one of the more affluent areas in London, due to large scale gentrification, although it is in fact one of the most deprived boroughs in the country; it is also home to Arsenal football club. Glidrose reportedly considered a new series of novels written by Pearson, but this did not come to pass. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews and Muslims, the Green Lanes area of Harringay and the Finsbury Park area have large Turkish and Greek communities. Since the book has many discrepancies with Fleming's Bond (for example his birth year), the canonical status of James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 is debated among fans—some consider it apocryphal, though at least one publisher, Pan Books, issued it as an official novel along with the rest of Fleming's series for its first paperback edition.

Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, site of Alexandra Palace. The book was well-received by aficionados—readers and viewers, alike. North London is hillier than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Pearson wrote James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007 in the first person as if meeting the secret agent himself. North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate, which retain a village atmosphere. In 1973, Fleming biographer John Pearson was commissioned by Glidrose to biograph the fictional character James Bond. This corner of London is home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby union. See The controversy over The Man with the Golden Gun.).

Considered more south-west than West London on account of its being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond and Twickenham. Amis had also been claimed for many years as the ghost writer of The Man with the Golden Gun, although this has been debunked by numerous sources. Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC, while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Europe's largest and busiest airport, London Heathrow. William ("Bill") Tanner", a recurring character in the Bond novels. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare. Amis had previously written two books on the world of James Bond, the 1964 essay The James Bond Dossier and the tongue-in-cheek 1965 release The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007 (written under the pseudonym "Lt.-Col. Kensington and Chelsea are the most expensive places to live in the country. Ultimately, only one Markham novel saw print, 1968's Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis.

Within the district is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Following Fleming's death in 1964, Glidrose Productions, publishers of the James Bond novels, planned a new book series, credited to the pseudonym "Robert Markham" and written by a rotating series of authors. The carnival attracts up to 1.5 million people, making it the largest street festival in the world. The second anthology, Octopussy and The Living Daylights (in many editions titled only Octopussy), originally only contained two short stories, "Octopussy" and "The Living Daylights"; a third story, "The Property of a Lady" was added in the 1967 paperback edition, and a fourth, "007 in New York", was added in 2002. The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event led by members of the Caribbean community, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s. When the project fell through, Fleming turned them into short stories: (i) "From a View to a Kill", (ii) "For Your Eyes Only", (iii) "Risico", plus two additional stories, "The Hildebrand Rarity" and "Quantum of Solace", which were previously published. West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made better known in 1999 by a film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. His first anthology of short stories, For Your Eyes Only, mostly consisted of converted screenplays for a CBS television series based on the character.

Further east in the London Borough of Newham are London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. To this day, it is still debated whether Fleming himself actually finished 1965's The Man with the Golden Gun, as he died very soon after completing the book. There has also been a great deal of gentrification and residential development in the area: North of the Thames around Limehouse Basin and toward Wapping, as well as south of the Thames in Rotherhithe where former wharfs and the old docks have been converted into high-priced loft apartments for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands. Between 1953 and 1966, twelve James Bond novels and two short story collections by Fleming were published, with one novel and one short story collection issued posthumously. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area, connecting to the London Underground at Bank, Shadwell, Canning Town and Stratford stations. Every year thereafter until his death in 1964, Fleming would retreat for the first two months of the year to his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye, to write a James Bond novel. Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there are three interconnected shopping malls beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. Upon accepting the job, Fleming asked that he be allowed two months vacation per year.

A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use. At the time, Fleming was the Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers, an organisation owned by the London Sunday Times. A massive-scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. In February 1952, Ian Fleming began work on his first James Bond novel. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up in 1981 to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best-known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1991. Followers of Farmer's speculations have greatly elaborated on Bond's family. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. In his fictional biographies, author Philip Jose Farmer suggests that Bond belongs in the Wold Newton family tree along with Tarzan, Doc Savage, and many other fictional heroes.

For a period in the early-1980s, many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists' studios and low-cost loft living spaces. While it is never stated explicitly, dialogue strongly hints that Reston is Bond's son and the grand-nephew of Sherlock Holmes. The London Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs along the Thames in the East End, has developed enormously since the early-1980s. Clive Reston, a supporting character in the series, resembles Bond in many respects and is an MI6 agent himself. East end of London is also home to the longest street market in europe- Walthamstow market. A second (non-canonical) son is suggested in the Marvel Comics series Master of Kung Fu. The area has many places of interest including many of London's markets, (for example Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. His first name, Campion, is believed to be a reference to fictional detective Albert Campion.

The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow, Millwall and Poplar. The second miniseries would continue the Holmes link, as MI6 would be taken over by Mycroft Holmes as the new "M." Although Moore makes no overt connection between Bond and Campion, the saturation of literary reference in the comics has led fans to propose that Campion is meant to be an ancestor of the modern secret agent. Successive waves of immigrants include the French, the Huguenots, Belgians, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups. Later in "League," it is revealed that this "M" is none other than Professor James Moriarty, the archnemisis of Sherlock Holmes. The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. His superior, the overall director of the top-secret team, is code-named M, an obvious reference to the Bond mythos. This is the second time in modern history that East London has seen large-scale rebuilding: it took the full force of the Blitz in World War Two, with post-war reconstruction leaving a legacy of bleak housing estates and tower blocks in several areas. In it, the portly, sinister, and secretive MI6 agent placed in charge of the League is named Campion Bond.

It was also key to London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and is now scheduled to undergo extensive regeneration in the run-up to the games. An interesting, if wholly noncanonical, conjecture about the Bond lineage can be found in Alan Moore's comic book series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, set in Victorian England. East London saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. Exactly when he learned this is not known; however he is aware of his son, James Suzuki, by the time of Raymond Benson's short story "Blast From the Past.". Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares. Bond had one child, by Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice, although he did not know of the boy's existence until sometime later. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. In the novels, Bond gets revenge in the following novel, You Only Live Twice, when he by chance comes across Blofeld in Japan, whilst the cinematic Bond takes on Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever with mixed results.

Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. In both the literary and cinematic versions of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond marries, but his bride, Teresa di Vicenzo (Tracy), is killed on their wedding day by his archenemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the event resonates in both versions of the character for many years thereafter. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, the notorious sex industry and as the major "gay quarter" of the city. In the novels (notably From Russia, With Love), Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: a three-inch, vertical scar on his left cheek (absent from the cinematic version); blue-grey eyes; a "cruel" mouth; short, dark hair, a comma of which falls on his forehead (greying at the temples in Gardner's novels); and (after Casino Royale) the faint scar of the Russian cyrillic letter "Ш" (SH) on the back of one of his hands (carved by a SMERSH agent). South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theaters and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. In the novels, Gardner replaced the PPK (eventually) with an ASP 9mm. West of the City, Covent Garden is home to the Avenue of Stars, London's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In the film Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond updates his gun to the latest model of the Walther P99.

The West End is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. The cinematic James Bond (introduced in 1962) already had a history with the Secret Service. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London. He later feels so strongly about his decision that he actually hopes M fires him for it; there are Fleming works in which Bond does not kill anyone. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Instead Bond intentionally wounds the assassin and still manages to accomplish the mission. The City has only a small (c. Such is the case in "The Living Daylights" where Bond makes a last second decision to disobey his orders and not kill an assassin.

London is an international center of culture in all its forms - music, theater, arts, museums, festivals and much more. Pearson's biography (disputed canonically) suggests Bond first killed as a teenager. There are many other places of interest across the city. Bond dislikes taking life—resorting to flippant jokes and off-hand remarks as after-the-fact relief, often misinterpreted as cold-bloodedness. Other important tourist attractions include St Paul's Cathedral, the National Gallery; the South Bank and Bankside areas of Southwark with the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern; London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and the Tate Britain on the Embankment; and the British Museum in Bloomsbury. Throughout Fleming's novel, further continuation novels, and even the films, Bond's attitude toward his job is similar. James's Palace; the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park. According to Bond, obtaining a 00 number is not hard so long as you're prepared to kill.

Tourist attractions are located mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its many cinemas, bars, clubs, theaters, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with Westminster Abbey, the royal residences of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and St. Bond travels to Stockholm where he kills the man in his sleep with a knife. London is one of the most visited cities on earth. The second was the assassination of a Norwegian who became a double agent and betrayed 2 British agents. While very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area. The first is the assassination of a Japanese cipher expert on the thirty-sixth floor of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with an average daily turnover of $504 billion, more than the New York and Tokyo exchanges combined. Bond earns his stripes in the 00 Section by completing two tasks, which Fleming outlines in Casino Royale.

The headquarters of more than 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies are all in London. It can be assumed that by this time Bond has moved on to another organisation. The City of London (also known as the "Square Mile") is at the center of international finance, and is Europe’s main business center. This action really doesn't make any sense since Bond is supposedly in the Royal Navy. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and consumer district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the UK's national government. One supporting reason is that Fleming describes Bond in the Ardennes firing a bazooka in 1944. 12 of these boroughs are defined as Inner London, the remaining 20 defined as Outer London. It is believed that it is during this time that Bond perhaps joined another organisation such as the SOE, the 00 Section of the British Secret Service, or perhaps as a commando in Fleming's own 30 Assault Unit (30 AU).

Today Greater London comprises the City of London and the 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster). According to Fleming, after joining the RNVR, Bond is mentioned as to traveling to America, Hong Kong, and Jamaica. A series of attempted/fake bombings also took place on 21 July 2005; however in the latter incident there was no fatalities. It is never stated when James Bond became a 00 agent. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. Since Benson's Bond was rebooted, Bond became a Commander again. On 7 July 2005, there was a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus, killing 52 people and injuring over 700. Bond maintains this rank through further continuation novels and in the films, however, Gardner promoted Bond to Captain in Win, Lose or Die.

Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressure the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. In 1941, Bond lied about his age in order to enter the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II, from which he emerged with the rank of Commander before joining the British Secret Service. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. Bond can speak a variety of different languages, most notably Russian and Japanese, although many times the languages Bond claims to know are contradicted between the film series, Fleming's novel series, and even later films and continuation novels. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. He also attends (presumably at some point) Oxford to study Danish in Tomorrow Never Dies, although in the film he's not there to study at all. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The film version of James Bond tacks on the additions of Bond being a graduate with a degree in Oriental languages from Cambridge University, as stated in You Only Live Twice.

In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created and was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body. With the exception of Fettes, Bond's attendance at these schools parallels Fleming's own life, as he attended these same schools. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In "Octopussy", Fleming writes that Bond briefly attended the University of Geneva. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. After Eton, Bond attended and continued his education at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father's old school. Rebuilding took over 10 years but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century and, by the early-19th century, was the largest city in the world. In Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill," Bond admits to losing his virginity on his first visit to Paris at the age of 16.

In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Bond briefly attended Eton College starting at the age of "12 or thereabouts", but was expelled after two halves when some "alleged" troubles with one of his maids came to light. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. Regardless, Bond is unquestionably British. London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighboring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. According to Pearson, Bond was born near Essen, Germany; however, Charlie Higson, in his novel SilverFin claims Bond was born in Switzerland. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century). It is also debated where James Bond was born.

Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Ian Fleming Publications recognised this issue for their Young Bond series of novels featuring Bond as a teenager in the 1930s and along with its author, Charlie Higson, defined Bond being born in the year 1920. The old Roman city (then called Lundenburh) was reoccupied during the late-9th or early-10th century because a fortified place was needed during the Viking attacks. Since all of the years claimed for when Bond was born would have made him too young to purchase this Bentley, a more likely scenario is that he inherited it. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Roman Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon village named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century, probably using the mouth of the River Fleet as a trading ship and fishing boat harbor. 1933 is the year mentioned in Casino Royale for when Bond 'bought' his first Bentley. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town. For instance, if one computes Bond's age for when he was admitted into the Ministry of Defence to when his parents died (1939 - 17 = 1922 + 11 = 1933) Bond would have been 11 in 1933 from January 1 through November 10 if he was born in 1921.

Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. He contends that a lot of details in Bond's timeline make better sense with the original 1939 date. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street. Griswold notes that Bond's joining of the Ministry of Defence was originally written in Fleming's manuscript as 1939 (the same year Fleming joined). It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. A more complex date of birth, according to John Griswold and his authorised book Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies, is November 11, 1921 (November 11, being Pearson's date). Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. Prior to this, Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service, states Bond was born in the year of the rat, which supports 1924.

According to findings displayed in The Museum of London, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. If Bond was 17 in 1941, then he was born in 1924. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. M writes that Bond left school when he was 17 years old and joined the Ministry of Defence in 1941. overgrown or forested) place. In the novel, M writes an obituary for James Bond after believing him to be dead. The BBC History website, however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. According to John Pearson's James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, Bond was born on November 11, 1920; no Fleming novel supports this date, in fact, the novel You Only Live Twice makes a couple references to Bond's birth year being 1924.

The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around AD 43– although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. Most researchers or biographers have concluded that Bond was born in either 1920, 1921 or 1924. London's large built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas. Due to Fleming's changes of dates and times in which events occurred, Bond's specific birth year is unknown. London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. This approximate age carries on in continuation novels written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson. In recent winters, snow has rarely settled to more than an inch (25 mm). In the same novel Bond notes that he has only 8 years to go, thus in Moonraker, Bond is 37 years old.

Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. Many Ian Fleming biographers agree that Fleming never really intended to write as many James Bond adventures as he did and to keep writing the novels he had to "tinker with Bond's early life" and change dates to ensure Bond was the appropriate age for the service, particularly due to a statement in Moonraker that 007 faced mandatory retirement from the 00 Section at age 45. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1°C (100.6°F), measured at Kew Gardens during the European Heat Wave of 2003. He is roughly in his late thirties. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33°C (91°F), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. With the exception of the Young Bond series of novels by Charlie Higson launched in 2005, Bond for the most part is an ageless character in both films and literature. It has regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Bond's family motto, which was adopted by James Bond during "Operation Corona" in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service is Orbis non sufficit (Latin for "The world is not enough.").

London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters. He subsequently went to live with his Aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in Kent. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early-2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile-long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [1]. James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, both of whom died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges, when Bond was 11 years old. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. The combination saw the success of Bond return to its standard stride it hadn't reached since 1979's Moonraker. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. Pierce Brosnan filled Bond's shoes with an elegant mix of Sean Connery cool and Roger Moore wit.

It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The 1990s saw a revival and renewal of the series beginning with GoldenEye in 1995. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today with extensive marshlands. Regardless, a new Bond film was scheduled for release in 1991; however, legal wrangling over ownership of the character led to a protracted delay that would keep Bond off movie screens for the next six years during which time, Dalton had moved on. Today, there are a few hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, they provide fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. and "15" in the UK. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. Licence to Kill's relative failure is usually blamed on a poor promotional campaign in the United States, Dalton's darker portrayal of Bond, and its status as the first Bond film to be rated PG-13 in the U.S.

As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. While Dalton's final outing, Licence to Kill (1989), was financially successful, it did not prove as popular as previous Bond films. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and, for many centuries, there was only a single bridge, London Bridge. The hard-edge of Timothy Dalton in the Bond films of the late 80s met a mixed response from moviegoers; some welcomed the earthier style reminiscent of Fleming's character, while others missed the light-hearted approach which characterised the Roger Moore era. The river had a major influence on the development of the city. By the 1980s, some critics had grown tired of the films, commenting that the perennial sexism and glamorous locales had become outdated, and that Bond's smooth, unruffled exterior didn't mesh with competing movies like Die Hard. London used to be identified by its port on the Thames, which is a navigable river. After the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby quit the role of Bond for this very reason even though he was offered a seven-film contract.

Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²). Since Bond's peak of popularity in 1965, with the release of Thunderball, critics have often predicted that Bond's successful run would come to an end, usually believing that Bond was out of touch with the times. The Romans may have marked the center of Londinium with the London Stone in the City. In the UK, Bond holds three of the top five top spots of the most-watched television movies. The coordinates of the center of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall) are approximately 51°30′N 0°8′W. They continue to earn substantial profits after their theatrical run via videotape, DVD, and television broadcasts. There are other definitions of "London" which cover varying areas, such as the London postal districts; the area covered by the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 orbital motorway; the Metropolitan Police District; and the London commuter belt. Every Bond film has been a box office success to a lesser or greater degree.

. agent named "Jimmy Bond." In 1956, Bob Holness provided the voice of Bond in a South African radio adaptation of Fleming's third novel, Moonraker. Nonetheless, it remains the de facto capital and, through common law, part of the UK's unwritten constitution. The first actor to play Bond was American Barry Nelson, in the 1954 CBS television production of Casino Royale in which the character became a U.S. London's status as the Capital has never been granted or confirmed officially —by statute or in written form. In many cases, the villain then dies at Bond's hands, although early Bond films often ended with the villain either escaping or being killed by someone else. It has many important buildings and iconic landmarks, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, galleries, airports, sports stadia and palaces. Inevitably, a villain tries to kill Bond with a deathtrap during which the villain reveals vital information; Bond later escapes and uses the information to thwart the evil plot.

A city where cutting-edge meets tradition, London is a major tourist destination and an international transportation hub. The cinematic Bond adventures were initially influenced by earlier spy thrillers such as North by Northwest, Saboteur, and Journey Into Fear, but later entries became formulaic dramas where Bond saves the world from apocalyptic madmen. London is the home of many global organisations, institutions and companies, and as such retains its leading role in world affairs. The films expanded on Fleming's books, adding gadgets from Q Branch, death-defying stunts, and often abandoning the original plotlines for more outlandish and cinema-friendly adventures. London is also known by other names in other languages. Instead, they established the formula of unique villains, outlandish plots, and voluptuous women who tend to fall in love with Bond at first sight — the feeling often being mutual. Over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. The original books by Fleming are usually dark – lacking fantasy or gadgets.

A resident of London is referred to as a Londoner. The James Bond novels and films have ranged from realistic spy drama to science fiction. London's population includes an extremely diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and energetic cities on earth. A new film, Casino Royale, is currently in production with an expected release in 2006. Initially a Roman town known as Londinium, nowadays London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7.5 million and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. The James Bond franchise is currently the second all-time highest grossing film franchise in history, after Star Wars^[2], and one of the longest running film series in history, spanning 20 official films, 2 unofficial films, 1 TV episode based on Casino Royale, and a cartoon television series spinoff. London is one of the world's four major global cities (along with New York City, Tokyo and Paris). Fleming claimed that while there he was cleaned out by a "chief German agent" at a table playing Chemin de Fer, however, Admiral Godfrey tells a different story, that Fleming only played Portuguese businessmen and that afterwards Ian had fantasised about them being German agents and the excitement of cleaning them out.

London is a leader in international finance, politics, communications, entertainment, fashion and the arts and has considerable influence worldwide. While there they went to the Estoril Casino in Estoril, which, due to the neutral status of Portugal had a number of spies of warring regimes present. London produces 17% of the UK's GDP, and is one of the world's major business, political and cultural centres. Most notably, and the basis for Casino Royale, was a trip to Lisbon that Fleming and the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, took during World War II en route to the United States. London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. Fleming has, however, admitted to being inspired by true or partially-true events that took place during his career at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. New Year’s Day Parade. In Casino Royale the character Vesper Lynd says of Bond, "He reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Other characteristics of Bond's look are said to be based on Fleming, such as his height, his hairstyle and his eye colour.

2000 – Millennium Dome. Although the character of Bond is not known to be based on anyone but Fleming himself, the look of James Bond, famed for being "suave and sophisticated," is based on a young Hoagy Carmichael. 1951 – Festival of Britain. how they should look and how they should dress), and have similar education and military careers both rising to the rank of Commander. 1924 – British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. drinking and smoking), share the same view on women (e.g. 1908 – Franco-British Exhibition (1908). scrambled eggs), have the same habits (e.g.

1899 – Greater Britain Exhibition (1899). Both, for the most part, went to the same schools, like the same foods (e.g. 1886 – Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886). Most researchers agree that James Bond is a highly romanticised version of Fleming himself; the author was known for his jetsetting lifestyle and reputation as a womaniser. 1871-74 – Four Annual International Exhibitions. Although some names share similarities with Bond, none have ever been confirmed by Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications or any of Ian Fleming's biographers such as Fleming's assistant and friend, John Pearson. 1862 – International Exhibition (1862). Usually these people have a background of some kind in espionage or other covert operations.

1851 – Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations — The Crystal Palace. Since the fictional James Bond's creation, hundreds of reports by various news outlets have suggested names for Ian Fleming's inspiration of Bond. Project Gotham Racing 3. Plomer liked it enough that he gave the manuscript to Jonathan Cape, who did not like it as much, but published it anyway due to the fact that Ian was the younger brother of Peter Fleming, an established travel writer who also put in a good word for Ian. Project Gotham Racing. After completing the manuscript for what would later be titled Casino Royale, Fleming allowed his friend William Plomer, a poet and later Fleming's editor, to read it. Tomb Raider 3. Of the name, Fleming once said "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting like 'Peregrine Maltravers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a neutral figure - an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department." ^[1].

Nightmare Creatures. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, owned a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye. Midtown Madness 2. The hero of Fleming's tale, James Bond, was named after an American ornithologist of the same name who was an expert on Caribbean birds and had written a definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies. Godzilla: Save The Earth. James Bond was created in February 1952 by Ian Fleming while on vacation at his Jamaican estate called Goldeneye. Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 and Grand Theft Auto: London, 1961. Afterwards, it was virtually eliminated.

The Getaway & The Getaway: Black Monday. Bond's "genius" became a running joke during Roger Moore's era. "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks (recently voted London's 'national anthem' by Time Out magazine). In Goldfinger, he is able to calculate in his head how many trucks it would take to transport all the gold in Fort Knox, and how long the gold would be radioactive after the villain's bomb explodes. "No Place like London" by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. James Bond does have a quirk of being a "know-it-all," moreso on film. "Swinging London" by London from the album Animal Games. In real life, martini bars often dub a martini made "shaken, not stirred" as a "Martini James Bond." It is notable to say that the literary Bond incarnation has a strong preference for bourbon and drinks that on more occasions.

"London Calling" by The Clash from the album London Calling. The last time Bond smoked a cigarette on film was in 1989. "London" by Pet Shop Boys. During the films starring Connery, Lazenby and Dalton Bond was a smoker, while during Moore's and Brosnan's tenure he doesn't smoke cigarettes, although he does occasionally smoke cigars. "London" by The Smiths. On film, Bond has been off and on. "Doing the Lambeth Walk", Music Hall favourite. Regardless, the literary incarnation continues to smoke through many continuation novels.

The Young Ones. He is also forced to cut back after being sent to a health farm per his superior's order. Yes Prime Minister. On average, however, Bond smokes 60 a day, although in certain novels Bond does attempt to cut back so that he can accomplish certain feats such as swimming underwater. Yes Minister. Bond is the consummate womaniser, drinker, and heavy cigarette smoker, at one point reaching 70 cigarettes a day. Ultraviolet. The 'double-O' prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties.

Spooks. As an agent of the Secret Service, Bond holds code number "007". Spaced. Under the cover name "Universal Exports" and later "Transworld Consortium", Bond's fictional British Secret Service starting in 1995 takes on the actual name of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Only Fools and Horses. Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is an agent of the international arm of the British Secret Service headquartered in London in a tall, grey building overlooking Regent's Park. Minder. .

Men Behaving Badly. In addition to novels and films, Bond is a prominent character in many computer and video games, comic strips and comic books, and has been the subject of many parodies. Man About The House. Currently, Columbia Pictures and MGM (United Artists' parent) co-distribute the series. London's Burning. Broccoli's family company, Danjaq, LLC, has co-owned the James Bond film series with United Artists Corporation since the mid-1970s, when Saltzman sold UA his share of Danjaq. Little Britain. The 21st official film, Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as Bond, is in production and is scheduled for a November 17, 2006 release.

Family Affairs. In chronological order, they are:. EastEnders. To date, five actors have portrayed Bond in the official series, and a sixth is soon to make his appearance. Doctor Who. Wilson, carried on the production duties together beginning in 1995. Bottom. His daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G.

The Bill. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced most of the official films up until 1975 when Broccoli became the sole producer. Are You Being Served?. Twenty films have been produced by EON featuring this character as well as two independently produced films and one American television adaptation of Fleming's first novel under legal licence; however, it is generally considered that only the EON films are "official." Albert R. Absolutely Fabulous. Although initially made famous through the novels, James Bond is now probably best known from the EON Productions film series. Highgate Cemetery is an interesting cemetery where many famous people are buried, for example Karl Marx and Michael Faraday. Fleming wrote numerous novels and short stories based upon the character and, after his death in 1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley Amis (pseudonym "Robert Markham"), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Charlie Higson; in addition, Christopher Wood wrote two screenplay novelisations and other authors have also written various unofficial permutations of the character.

The Avenue of Stars is a walkway based on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honouring those who have made notable achievements in the entertainments industry. James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced "double-oh seven"), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. The Millennium Dome will become an indoor sports hall, and Battersea Power Station will become a shopping and leisure facility. Bond franchise Box Office numbers [7], Casino Royale Box Office numbers (1967), Box Office numbers + Inflation. However mixed use developments centred on both buildings are due to commence in 2005. URL accessed on February 23, 2005.. Battersea Power Station and the Millennium Dome are two architecturally interesting buildings which currently stand empty. The Charlie Higson CBn Interview.

Now near the site of Marble Arch and Hyde Park. Charlie Higson interview with CommanderBond.net. Tyburn was the location for many infamous executions by hanging. ISBN 0719065410.. The Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court with famous trials but inconvenient for the unprepared tourist since personal items prohibited include bags and mobile phones. The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader, Manchester University Press. Harrods. Lindner, Christoph (2003).

Covent Garden. ISBN 0810932962.. Brick Lane Market. James Bond: The Legacy, Boxtree/Macmillan. Petticoat Lane Market. Cork, John (2002). Portobello Road Market. ISBN 1860643876..

Borough Market. Tauris. Knightsbridge. Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History Of The James Bond Films, I.B. West End. Chapman, James (1999). Westminster Abbey. ISBN 1401102840..

Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. Most Lucrative Movie Franchises. Royal Opera House. ^  James Bond the second highest grossing film franchise of all time. Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Greenwich Meridian. ISBN 0719568153.. Royal Festival Hall. James Bond: The Man and His World, John Murray.

Royal Exchange. ^ Chancellor, Henry (2005). Royal Courts of Justice. As a tribute to this, when casting his third Indiana Jones film, The Last Crusade, Lucas chose Connery for the role of Indiana's father, with his reasoning being "Who else could play Indiana Jones' father, but the guy who inspired all of this in the first place, James Bond himself!" (Sean Connery). Royal Albert Hall. George Lucas has said on multiple occasions that Connery's portrayal of the character was one of the primary inspirations for his Indiana Jones character. Palace of Westminster (Parliament and tower containing Big Ben). Sean Connery starred in the Motion Picture version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which has a 'supposed' link to the roots of James Bond's ancestry.

National Gallery, London. Five Ian Fleming titles have thus far never been used as film titles: The Property of a Lady, Quantum of Solace, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, and 007 in New York. National Portrait Gallery, London. In fact Llewelyn had been killed in a car crash shortly after the release of the previous film. Nelson's Column. In Die Another Day, Cleese becomes the new Q, the old Q having presumably retired. The Monument (to the Great Fire of London). In The World is Not Enough, John Cleese is introduced as Q's assistant, whom Bond teasingly refers to as "R." Despite Cleese receiving a credit as R, there is no hint in the dialogue that this is an official title.

Millennium Dome. Desmond Llewelyn holds a record, appearing in 17 of the James Bond films as "Q," aka Major Boothroyd, and head of Q-branch. Marble Arch. Baker shows up in later James Bond films, portraying Jack Wade, one of James Bond's allies in both Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. Lloyd's building. Joe Don Baker played Brad Whitaker, the villain in The Living Daylights. Kensington Palace. With the release of Casino Royale, Craig will become the first actor with blond hair to have portrayed Bond; although Roger Moore did sport sandy colored hair in his first few Bond films, he is not considered a blond.

Lambeth Palace. Legal wranglings over ownership of the Bond franchise, however, led to the series being put on hiatus until 1994. Hampton Court Palace. Although never officially confirmed, numerous sources have suggested the title was to be The Property of a Lady, after the short story from the collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. Dalton was originally contracted for three films, with the third film planned for release in 1991. Cleopatra's Needle. Moore was reportedly Fleming's initial first choice for the Bond role, although other sources have suggested that Fleming favored James Mason or Cary Grant.

Bank of England. James Brolin was hired in 1983 to replace Moore, and was preparing to shoot Octopussy when the producers convinced Moore to return. Alexandra Palace. Burt Reynolds was also asked by Cubby Broccoli in the early '70s to replace Connery after Diamonds Are Forever, but turned him down. Albert Memorial. John Gavin was hired in 1970 to replace Lazenby, but Connery was lured back at the eleventh hour and it was he who appeared in Diamonds Are Forever instead of Gavin. 30 St Mary Axe (Home of Swiss Re, and also known as "The Gherkin" or even the "Erotic Gherkin"). Adam West was offered the chance to appear in On Her Majesty's Secret Service when Connery chose not to return to the role, but turned down the offer.

1 Canada Square (the centrepiece of Canary Wharf). However, American actors have been hired on two occasions, and approached about playing Bond on several others. Trafalgar Square. Many people assume the Bond producers would never hire an American to portray the character in the official film series. Tower of London. Daniel Craig (announced October 2005 but yet to appear on screen). Tower Bridge. Pierce Brosnan.

Theatreland. Timothy Dalton. South Bank. Roger Moore. Piccadilly Circus. George Lazenby. Madame Tussaud's. Sean Connery.

London Zoo. London Planetarium. London Eye. London Aquarium.

The London Dungeon. Leicester Square. Horse Guards Parade. Downing Street.

Covent Garden. Chinatown. Camden Town. Buckingham Palace.