Ranking 007 - Top 10 MI6 Regulars

[@Mark-lj1dj]

I just knew Desmond had to be number one 😆 how could it be anyone else? Such a beloved presence in the Bond franchise

[@andy8017]

The Craig/Dench chemistry as M/007 is the best for me of the entire series. It started well and they built on it.

[@Lang7]

Brosnan/Dench is better IMO. They built great chemistry with much inferior source material. The initial briefing between the two in GoldenEye is miles above anything from the Craig era.

[@madhousenetwork]

Brosnan and Dench had a better chemistry

[@dancumbe]

As kid watching the Bond movies, Desmond was that bridge that helped me link all the Movies together.

[@Dustemikkel_Rev]

Gotta give a small shoutout to Caroline Bliss as Moneypenny. Shortlived and not the most memorable, she still has the ONE line from Moneypenny that REALLY made me laugh. The line where she suggests Bond come over and listen to her Barry Manilow albums. Daltons face in that moment is priceless.

[@DutchBondFan]

Exactly why she is my honorable mention in the video!

[@StormEagleCH]

So glad you gave Everything or Nothing some love. Definitely the unofficial 5th Brosnan film and one of my all time favorite games. I loved that it gave Cleese a bit more time to shine as Q

[@ParallaxDG]

A somewhat forgotten character who I wished got more to do would be Charles Robinson played by Colin Salmon. Would have loved to see him and Bond team up in an action sequence of some sort.

[@davidtatro7457]

Agreed. My ex wife and l were big immediate fans of his in the series and always wished he had been given more to do.

[@brendangkelleher2669]

Well he kind of did share an action sequence with Bond in Die Another Day ( The VR scene )

[@jamesatkinsonja]

He was brought in to replace Michael Kitchen's Tanner in 'Tomorrow Never Dies' as Kitchen wasn't free and stuck around. Apparently he was the only MI6 regular who was going to appear in the 'Jinx' spin off before that was cancelled.

[@willhemmings]

I just had great fun running through your MI6 favourites. It's a tale of three eras - Lee / Dench / Fiennes, Maxwell / Bond / Harris, Llewelyn / Cleese / Whishaw. I like them all because each brought something unique to the 007 table. I am going to let you in on a secret DutchBondFan. When I reached the age at which the spy thriller became a fun thing to watch, around 1975, Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny didn't light up the room any more than meeting visiting friends of my relatives. But now, looking back over those classic Bond moments, Lois Maxwell has it all. Trust me sir, when you reach the age of sixty two, you will agree with me

[@dugarooo]

Great rankings! I was always a fan of Michael Kitchens Tanner as well.

[@DutchBondFan]

I agree!

[@m.d.kenyon]

Jeroen this is a really lovely video - great to recognise the contribution these wonderful actors make, and often with not that much screentime. Naomi Harris is brilliant as Moneypenny and really deserves the recognition - especially as she loves the series and is a wonderful ambassador for it. Also agree that the Craig era update of Q was very smart...but something very joyful and touching seeing Desmond's scenes. Great job!

[@Aceimus1066]

Pretty much a perfect ranking. Great work mate

[@Sledgeh101]

I agree with Naomi Harris as the best Moneypenny. She was just so good in Skyfall and Specter.

[@davidtatro7457]

It's not even close. The others were all terrific, but she completely remade the role into something far greater than it had been.

[@tmmartinesq.6216]

Take the shot

[@brettsinclair8046]

I love her performance, but I would rank Lois Maxwell higher, as she set the standard for the character. For me she is as iconic as Desmond's Q.

[@EntertheDragon76]

Great ranking video, next has to be your top C.I.A regular Felix Leiter list.

[@heavygamer93]

I'm happy Rory Kinnear's Bill Tanner made the list. Also I had a feeling who the top 2 was going to be. Soon as I saw number 2, I knew who was number 1.

[@SirSneakerPimp]

Rory Kinnears’ Tanners is very well conceived.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

11:37-11:54 Agreed. Apparently Smallbone was there to set her up as the Secretary for the next Bond, but as Roger stayed on for one more film they kept Lois as Moneypenny on and when Dalton arrived they just recast the part. Lois and Roger were old friends off screen [to the extent Roger named his youngest son after Lois' son Christian] and the dynamic on screen was more 'friendly' than flirty-not helped by the writing for Moneypenny in this era not being the best but there friendship pretty much guaranteed Lois would be kept on as long as Roger was Bond. It's well known now that Lois when told she was being dropped from the films after Roger's departure, she suggested having her character being promoted to M but I can't see this working [I couldn't imagine her being M in the LTK confrontation for example].

[@henrykujawa4427]

I could almost picture Lois Maxwell being M instead of Judi Densch! (Seriously, see "Interlude In Venice". I can say no more.)

[@damienfenton3880]

Ben Whishaw's Q and Naomie Harris' Moneypenny are some of my favourite MI6 regulars but they are also in some of my least favourite Bond movies.

[@davider6884]

Now I wish to see Top 10 field allies!

[@damienfenton3880]

I just realised when Bond is bleeding after being shot by Safin and then dies on the roof in NTTD, Bond went against Q's parting advise in TWINE. "I've always tried to teach you two things. First, never let them see you bleed. Always have an escape plan"

[@henrykujawa4427]

In Daniel Craig's universe, Desmond Llewelyn didn't even exist........................ (so sad)

[@paulcharter9066]

Interesting list👍. For me a higher ranking for Rory Kinnear and a dishonorable mention for John Cleese.

[@redjohndeble9862]

I'd love the hear Moneypenny's Barry Manilow collection 😅

[@agent00asmr]

Very nice video. I'm enjoying seeing videos looking at others, and things that surrounded Bond. Some nice tributes! And I didn't realize till starting to read the books, how much Tanner showed up.

[@ajelaz8657]

Great list Next time can you do ranking of Moneypenny

[@goodwood-rc4nx]

Judi Dench was dressed like the real head of MI5 Stella Remington at the time of Goldeneye who comment later about the closeness of the dress sense

[@himankaroy3775]

Would've loved another honorable mention: Jeffery Wright as Felix Lighter

[@greatwuta]

Felix Leiter is not an MI6 employee

[@scottknode898]

Felix Leiter is CIA not a M16 agent

[@ClaudioTV2005]

@@greatwutaMaybe would be suitable as a Top 10 Bond’s American friends

[@MatadorShifter]

I loved Q's interaction with Brosnan the most. Cleverly written, witty, full of jokes, straight to the point. I can watch the meeting between Bond and Q in Tomorrow Never Dies over and over. Q also sports a badass red suit jacket in it

[@matthewganong1730]

I agree, for whatever reason he had the best chemistry with Brosnan.

[@henrykujawa4427]

There's many series where you not only have more than one actor play a character, but also, one actor playing MORE than one character. Gets confusing! Well, I do like the think that Robert Brown's "Admiral Hargreaves" was "M" in the later films. He just seems a lot more respectful of Bond's abilities. I read all the novels in the 70s (and the Gardner books as they came out in the 80s), but I think it was reading the newspaper comic-strips in the 2000s that reminded me that M and Bond had more mutual respect in the books than in the movies, where Bernard Lee always seemed to be looking down his nose at Bond (though not quite as much as Judi Densch did), but particularly in "OHMSS", which was the reverse of that book. In the movie, they had M treat Lazenby with almost non-stop disdain, and at the end, he told Bond "This office is NOT interested in your personal affairs." But in the book, M refused to accept the PM's kowtowing to Blofeld's blackmail, and-- as he'd done earlier in "For Your Eyes Only"-- told Bond he WASN'T going to just let this happen-- unofficially telling Bond to go TAKE OUT Piz Gloria. I liked that! I suppose the idea in the movie version was, not only did they meld the book's two almost-unrelated parallel plots together, but the relationship between Bond & M had deteriorated to the point where not only did Bond become more pro-active, doing most of the work on his own initiative, but it could have been to make it more believable that he WOULD then quit his job when it was all over. If you can, check out the Roger Moore SAINT episode "Interlude In Venice", for what is probably the biggest and best acting job I've ever seen Lois Maxwell have. By the way, I understand Moore & Maxwell both went to acting school together and were friends long before the Bond films started. That reminds me... Robert Brown was together with Roger Moore in 39 episodes of IVANHOE (1958-59).

[@gregmize01]

LOVE RORY KINNEAR! GLAD YOU INCLUDED HIM D.B.F.!

[@Riutanharju]

Connery ❤ Maxwell.😌

[@greatwuta]

Another great Top 10 list video. I'll be honest, I don't have a top 10 list on this particular subject but I agree with your list alot.

[@alexandremainville5139]

Great analysis ! I totally agree with your ranking.

[@guyrondel3573]

Interesting trivia concerning Lois Maxwell and Roger Moore! They knew each other long before she became Moneypenny and He, Bond! Apart from both appearing in The Saint and The Persuaders they started their careers almost together since they actually met for the time at RADA where they studied to become actors! And I totally agree with you in the fact that Desmon Llewelyn is the best Q ever and the best MI6 regular ! And of course the best line ever spoken by him was in Goldfinger when Bond says to him laughingly, “ejector seat, you’re joking” and he replies “I never joke about my work”!

[@BadeniaFilme]

Great List, great Video

[@jamesatkinsonja]

No complaints with this list-very fun video.

[@alanj.anderson2486]

1. Desmond’s Q 2. Bernard Lee’s M 3. Judi Dench’s M 4. Robert Brown’s M 5. Lois Maxwell’s Miss Moneypenny 6. Naomi Harris Miss Moneypenny 7. Ben Whishaw’s Q 8. Caroline Bliss Miss Moneypenny 9. Rory Kinear’s Tanner 10. Ralph Fiennes’ M

[@treyurbach2550]

Are you going to do a ranking of the different Actors to play Felix Leiter?

[@Yunone]

1. I figured Edward Fox's M would be the dishonorable mention given your dislike of him in the Never Say Never Again review. 2. Interesting how Samantha Bond's Moneypenny has the same surname as James. :P

[@tashrif46]

It had to be between Judi Dench's M and Desmond Llewelyn's Q. And you are right, I think I have never shed a tear in Bond movie other than the time when Judi Dench's M died in Skyfall.

[@ConnorMcavoy-8672]

Love you gave cleese a spot in your list. Sure, he is defenetly no Desmond Llewellyn, but he is ammusing for when he is on screen.

[@JeffBondOO7]

Great video I really enjoyed it! My top 10 list would be: 1. Desmond Llewelyn (Q) 2. Bernard Lee (M) 3. Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) 4. Judi Dench (M) 5. Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny) 6. Caroline Bliss (Miss Moneypenny) 7. Robert Brown (M) 8. John Cleese (Q) 9. Colin Salmon (Charles Robinson) 10. Ralph Fiennes (M) I love the Connery Bond movies the most, and I grew up with Brosnan as Bond.

[@renzozuken93]

Interesting list for sure, makes me thinking maybe I should do my own top 10 🤔

[@nathanielstove8662]

Great list mate! Couldn’t agree more :)

[@markmarshall2187]

Awesome as always

[@listerofsmeg884]

Totally agree that Naomi Harris is a stunning lady and a great MP. But comparing beauty from different time periods, with very different fashions is difficult. I'm guessing chaps of our age are naturally going to view the more modern MP as more attractive. As for Q; though I think Ben's character is great, I felt the gay thing was a little forced and on the nose in NTTD, though I did laugh at Bond's line regards his cats.😅 One more thing: I thought Dench's M was meant to be called 'Emma' in the Craig films? I'm sure the guy in Skyfall house even calls her this?

[@venkatanarasaiahsankaraset8512]

Hey... I just had this feeling and impression for a long time that Desmond has starred in Dr No too albeit in a small character...have you noticed the guy from MI6 who visits the night club where Connery was playing cards and handover the message to one of the staff members of the club to pass it to Bond...have you ever observed closely...I might be wrong though

[@DutchBondFan]

Ah yeah I see your point. Its not him though! FRWL was his first appearance!

[@scottknode898]

Desmond Llewelyn didn’t appear until From Russia With Love as Q and Peter Burton who appeared as Q or Major Boothroyd as was billed in Dr No was not available to play the character in From Russia With Love and was replaced with Desmond Llewelyn who went to appear as Q in every Bond film up to The World is Not Enough except Live And Let Die

[@leephillips2837]

loved this list

[@robertharvey2604]

I'm also a big fan of Harris. Love her. On the contrary, I'm not a big fan of the casting of John Cleese. Love his work but didn't feel he was right. And I do wish that Bliss had more time. Liked her nerdy vibe. Also a fan of Whishaw, but, of course, Desmond had to be #1.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

It more felt like John Cleese making a celebrity cameo rather than he was playing a character for my money. Agreed Bliss was wasted potential [I would have been nice to have her in the field in LTK rather than have her send for the man in his 70's to do it solo!].

[@michaelely4726]

Great list, nearly had the opportunity of meeting Desmond lewellyn. He was was doing a book signing but unfortunately I had to go. He died a little while later on my birthday 19/12/99

[@airsoft1238]

I’ll always like Bernard Lee as M over Judi Dench anyday

[@armanashfaq2298]

Jereon, before you mentioned that for Bond 26 the scobby gang of the Craig will probably be recasted but if any of them had to return then do you think it will be most likely Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris since last summer when Barbara and Micheal collected some award they were with Fiennes and Harris which was also around the time they gave the article about Bond 26 production?

[@askaspis9171]

YES!!! FINALY TOP 10!!!

[@davidtatro7457]

Great list, and l can't really argue with any of your rankings here. Also, l think Edward Fox is a fantastic actor and love him in other things, but l agree that his particular M character was poorly written.

[@JunGaGotoku]

License to Kill review? 😢 You mentioned it on Calvin's Goldeneye stream

[@DutchBondFan]

If you mean the movie reaction, that is still being edited. If you mean a review, all Recapping episodes are up on the channel, including that one!

[@JunGaGotoku]

@@DutchBondFan Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it as a new fan of the channel. I look forward to watching all the reactions in order once I finish my first time watches of the Bond films.

[@JOSH-lw2jv]

It's a shame that Bernard Lee passed away before *For Your Eyes Only* began production. Had he lived long enough, we probably could've had another mo-ment from the short story of the same title where Lee's M was emotional o'er the deaths of Sir Timothy Havelock and his wife; as well as giving 007 his un-official permission to take out Gonzalez.

[@bonghunezhou5051]

If only "Cubby" had not altered his plan and had gone ahead with FYEO right after TSWLM...

[@scottknode898]

Bernard Lee was preparing to appear as M in For Your Eyes Only but became seriously ill with stomach cancer and died during pre production and the script was changed to state M was on leave rather then have an actor come in and play M and waited until Octopussy to have Robert Brown come on board as M.

[@joonassummanen6130]

I hope Ralph Fiennes reprices he's role as M, when they make the movie. I really liked him and i would also like to see Rory Kinnear return and actually all the other staff members of the previous movies.

[@bonghunezhou5051]

📽11:53 So had Moore - and this from one who actually really likes both FYEO and 8PY (presumably, had Sir Roger exited after *Moonraker* , Madame Lois would have exited as well, voluntarily or otherwise) 🎬 📽17:45 Naw, it was arguably much more a case of _art imitating life_ (a sheila named Stella Rimington recently had been appointed head of MI6 or MI5) 🎬

[@jamesatkinsonja]

Lois and Roger were friends so she was going to be retained as long as he was there [though according to Roger he was always going to do more Bond's after Moonraker but after each film his contract needed re-negotiating].

[@bonghunezhou5051]

@@jamesatkinsonja Roger originally had a *three-picture* deal, meaning after #10 (1977) he re-upped on a per picture basis. After he retired he stated that, had he to do over again he would have QUIT AFTER #11 (1979). My point of the post is that *Jeroen* seemed to have penalized Lois M for purportedly overstaying in her role when in fact she was actually a contemporary of Roger.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

@@bonghunezhou5051His autobiography [published in 2009] describes the negotiations for his return in FYEO where he said he was worried his agent was going to lose him the gig as he did want to return but eventually the deal was done and John Glenn wanted him to return [as he didn't want to have to set up a new Bond in his directorial debut]. He did say he was 'done' with the part by the time View came along. Agreed Lois was always going to stay on as long as Roger was.

[@votekyle3000]

I have a serious problem with the what Mallory’s character motivations are in NTTD, why would the honorable man from Skyfall and Spectre push for Heracles?

[@ralphroshia9247]

Here is mine 1 Desmond Llewellyn Q 2 Judi Dench M 3 Bernard Lee M 4 Lois Maxwell Moneypenny 5 Ben Wishaw Q 6 Naomi Harris Moneypenny 7 Ray Fiennes M 8 John Cleese Q 9 Samantha Bond Moneypenny 10 Colin Sammon Charles Robinson Honorable Mentions 1 Robert Brown M 2 Geoffrey Keen Sir Frederick Gray 3 Rory Kinnear Bill Tanner 4 Michael Kitchen Bill Tanner Dishonorable Mention Edward Fox M

[@bonghunezhou5051]

3:12 1) Earlier, the narration states that NSNA is not "official Bond film" ( *every bit as OFFICIAL in the legal sense - just not EON-produced* ), but then states it is part of the series. Huh? 2) The Ralph Fiennes version of M might be "younger than" the Craig version of Bond - at least no appearance of clear age difference.

[@DutchBondFan]

Unofficial as in, not EON produced, but included because its Bond !

[@bonghunezhou5051]

@@DutchBondFan Whatever! Nice video 👍

[@jamesatkinsonja]

Assuming the characters are the age of the actors, Fiennes is 5 years older than Craig.

[@bonghunezhou5051]

@@jamesatkinsonja The reverse of the Craig-Fiennes pairing would be the Dalton-Hedison pair in LTK; regardless of what "Cubby" evidently thought, Hedison was arguably much more suitably as *M* rather than a field colleague of Dalton.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

@@bonghunezhou5051 According to John Glenn Hedison pretty much got the part back as Cubby bumped into him at a restaurant when casting! Probably would have made more sense keeping John Terry on from Living Daylights.

[@madhousenetwork]

Naomi Harris a better moneypenny than Samantha Bond?

[@mr.levelhead7167]

Remember when Q killed Bond on the steps outside the country club? 😂

[@markjackson6431]

objectively speaking Desmond’s Q should be number 1 but Dame Judi Dench’s M is my favorite

[@dtuk22]

All the regular characters will now have to be re cast. If a new re imagining of Bond is to be remotely credible. Bringing over the same actors would be ridiculous. They got away with Judi Dench (just !)....but that was a one time thing.

[@Montagne1234]

I knew Desmond would be number 1 I think we all agree he's the best

[@xxhank]

Eunice Gayson

[@benrawson007]

Dench was a great M in GE and TND but after that (blaming the writers not Dench) she was in the field and in the way, got kidnapped twice. What is an old lady, second to the Queen as being the most important person/woman in the country doing in the field? Bernard Lee did it the best, sit behind the desk and bark orders.

[@erikbihari3625]

Still, not mutch coverage of the likes of knd and other spy derivative material, with a unique spin? Sad.

[@DutchBondFan]

Hey Erik! What do you mean?

[@erikbihari3625]

@@DutchBondFan. Secret lifes of the spy dogs,secret saturdays(Indiana jones meets james bond, with a dash of Guillermo Del Torro),codename kids next door having plenty of spy elements,ect. The franchise's impact on pop culture, is nothing short of an understatement, and if someone looks at only the movies, only gonna get, half, the picture!

[@liquidgeorge]

Urgh, I cannot stand Ben Whishaw's Q, and Ralph Fiennes was such a missed opportunity to have a good M for later Craigs. Of course, Desmond Llewelyn's Q is number 1 though!

[@300kapslar]

15:00 Moneypennys back story is so stupid, have her degraded from a double-0 to a secretary is stupid.

[@madhousenetwork]

4:15 No he didn't resonate well at all. Michael Kitchen as Tanner in Golden eye and The world is not enough along with Colin Salmon as the deputy chief of arms in 3 films were better

[@EisePoep-vo3jf]

Zo zo meester toch gevonden

[@madhousenetwork]

12:12 Ben Wishaw is the worst Q

[@tmmartinesq.6216]

How the hell was Felix Leiter excluded? #Sacrilege😮

[@jamesatkinsonja]

Because he's not an MI6 employee. He's a CIA agent [or DEA in Licence to Kill]. Given so many actors played the character, he really needs his own list [8 if you include NSNA].

[@madhousenetwork]

4:15 Not true. his character was too forgettable

[@anonymanynomsen6034]

I completely agree with most of your list - except number 3... Sorry Jeroen, but Naomie Harris has got to be the WORST Moneypenny of the entire series, especially how the scripts ruined her character completely after Skyfall. It was like the scriptwriters pissed all over the beloved character of old - they tried too much to "reinvent" her character, forgetting what the point of the character is, namely to be M's secretary that has a flirt going on with Bond. That part is the POINT of the character, and if the scriptwriters do not want to acknowledge that, they shouldn't reintroduce her...

[@brendangkelleher2669]

Respect your opinion but you’ve got Harris and Dench rated way too high. You just can’t beat Maxwell and Lee. Also, I would rate Fiennes as a better M than Dench.I felt like cheering when Dench’s M bought the farm in Skyfall! Maybe it’s a generational thing.

[@jopiaspieder1184]

Ben is the worst Q of them all

[@denisonunglaub]

Naomi Harris is awesome!!! but... she shouldnt have played.... its just nonsense to change a VERY known characters ethnicity she could have been another 00, it would've been perfect also, Ben Whishaw as Q was just utterly awfull.. awfulll awfull awfull at the job

[@SirSneakerPimp]

Naomi Harris is an awful actress. Her performances are very wooden as if she studied acting via an AI bot. She needs to improve or the series should make another change.

[@jacksizzle8937]

when i first saw Q, that skinny, dorky, borderline gay I said WHY, why, but of course everything nowadays has to be catering as to not upset the masses, that scene Bond doesn't even respect him and i get it, next they'll make james bond black watch, it's coming