Bond By Numbers

In the first "What If" of its final season, BBN explores some (very) unofficial alternate endings. Led by the punishing whimsy of roulette and dice, Part 1 throws canon to the wind in presenting absurdist possibilities for reshaping thirteen of Bond's 25 official endings.

From a post 9/11 framework, some could read John Gardner's seventh Bond adventure as chilling and prophetic. In the year of its publication, however, Scorpius aimed for and hit a lot of contemporary targets. From growing world terrorism to the microchip's boom; from satanic panic to luxury golf resorts, this outing sees M throw Bond into a complex web of inter-agency activity and exceedingly heavy stakes. Scott and Josh talk through the novel as they take another look down the literary gunbarrel.

A half-century ago, Roger Moore sauntered across the screen in his first gunbarrel scene as James Bond. Live and Let Die started for him a highly successful 7-picture, 12-year run. In honour of its golden anniversary, we deemed it our duty to re-watch the 1973 film and meet to discuss its merits and maladies. What holds up like a cigar-smoking spinnaker and what deflates faster than Whisper's subterranean sofa? Join us for coffee and a light chat over Moore's inaugural outing.

It's been more than five years since all three co-hosts have been together in person. When the short-term stars align like that, shining down on a single postcode, it's definitely time to break out the celebratory fun and games. This episode shares some of that reunion. We could have gone to the cinema.... enjoyed a long dinner.... took in a concert or a ball game... but we played 007 Top Trumps instead! For better or worse, the ups and downs of our ridiculous card game are captured here in full. Good luck!

In John Gardner's sixth continuation novel, M has "cream cake" on his face and Bond is brought in to clean up the mess. Ghosts from a former operation have returned to haunt the MI6 chief as his agents are being mutilated and wiped out. Without the help of official channels, 007 must rely on his rolodex of allies to safeguard the targets and track down the hit team before it's too late. So, tune those harmonica bugs and call your gangster friends: from London to Ireland, Paris to Hong Kong, the stakes are high and set-pieces abound in this "help wanted" adventure!

Gardner's fifth Bond adventure sees 007 forced to jettison his annual leave in Europe when he's made aware of a SPECTRE contract on his head. Some of the bounty hunters hope to lure Bond in by kidnapping May and Moneypenny, two heart-shaped targets for the noble agent. Gardner diverts from his own formulaic structure in this one but still delivers the action and zaniness we've come to expect from his early adventures. Vampires and guillotines at the ready!

In the season finale, 00-Chapman brings our three-part "What If?" to an end by presenting his original idea for a Bond-related board game. Leaning cosily into the short-life starter genre, "Bonds of War" is a tabletop action card game overflowing with franchise characters and played over the swankiest desk imaginable! Competitive or collaborative, Jeff's explosive concept has something for almost every bond fan and is the only one of our ideas with expansion packs and collectable add-ons! Did somebody say, "kickstarter"?!

Our three-part tabletop extravaganza continues here with Josh's retro proposal: a Thunderball-inspired race to nuclear disarmament! Featuring all the thrills from the film but none of the water-logged drag, "BBN Games Thunderball" is 00-Taylor's loving tribute to the best of '60s adventure but with a contemporary flare. It'll strike the right chords with both Bond fans and game aficionados. Tick-tock-tick-tock... protect your Paula and get to Pinder's Warehouse before it's too late!

In this "What If?" episode (the first of three which will end our season), we introduce our fondness for table-top gaming and set the groundwork for our latest project: developing our own 007-inspired Board Games. Buy stock now! First up, "BBN: Dicefire" - a game of reckless rolling and canon-heavy confrontation!

Our exploration of John Gardner's Bond continues here as the literary gun-barrel sets its aim upon "Role of Honour" from 1984. Tech-heavy and mired in the world of computer sabotage, this title boasts more than a little ingredient inspiration for Roger Moore's swan song, "A View to a Kill", released the following year. Oh, and there's a blimp here, too! So, let loose your mooring cables and join us for a trip through this gravity-defying text as we cover surprise inheritances, Bond's Monte Carlo CPD, the lesser known "Battle of Endor" and everything in between!