Bond By Numbers

So yeah, we know... months have passed since the final chapter in Daniel Craig's 007 sweep premiered worldwide. But, like succulent lamb left to stew in its own juices before being glazed, skewered and coupled with caviar, our impressions are finally ready for serving! The long-awaited (...at least by us) follow-up to our NTTD impressions episode has arrived. It feels good to be back behind the wheel of a full-scale Bond review once more!

Inspired by Ian Fleming's 14 books and textured further by dozens of collaborators, the 25-film franchise we know and love possesses a wealth of spin-off material for the ambitious story developer. Now that Amazon holds the reins of the MGM Bond wagon, it's not unlikely that we could soon see expansion into television and short series projects. In our first "What If?" of Season 4, we brush the dust off our trusty roulette and pitch our own original treatments for 007 spin-offs!

An ousted nuclear scientist with a Braveheart complex looks for revenge in John Gardner's "Licence Renewed", the first Bond novel of the 1980s and the focus of our first episode this new season! From fixed horse races to holographic bedrooms, we portion out the narrative goods and take a fruitful look down the "literary gun barrel" at the start of Gardner's tenure with this wild whirlwind adventure. Warning, spoilers ahead!

For our final episode of the series, we combine (and recline) our forces in real-time camaraderie over 1981's "For Your Eyes Only", Sir Roger's fifth outing as 007 and 00-Chapman's selection for Watch Party #3. Together, we negotiate some of the franchise's most opulent locales and nifty scenes. Don't like biathlon or figure skating? That's alright, FYEO also offers car chases, keel-hauling, submarine conflict, rock climbing and even the pitfalls of awkward relationships! So welcome aboard the good ship BBN! Grab your cocktails and head to the cinema room where our friendly stewards will assist in synchronizing your MGM lions to ours (08:08 in). Yia mas! It's time to finish this series in style!

Happy Holidays, Bond fans! In this episode, our second seasonal soiree, we serve up more games, discussion and trivia with a festive Bond flavour. Flick on the tree lights and switch off your brains, grab some grog and come join us for fatuous fun: Christmas may only come once a year but you can replay our foolish Holiday special as much as you like!

With the release and revelations of "No Time to Die" finally in the world's rear-view mirror, talk is properly heating up about how and with whom "James Bond Will Return". Here, we prognosticate together and add our eager voices to the discussion, issuing favourites, follies and some dark-horses contenders!

At long last, the wait for Bond 25 is over! Now that they've all seen "No Time to Die", Josh, Scott and Jeff bridge the Atlantic gap with conversation and first impressions of Daniel Craig's final outing as 007. SPOILER ALERT: chat on the film's plot and features starts at 8:20.

In our second watch party of the season, we invite you to synchronize your MGM lions (@21:09) and groove casually with us through the waves and rhythms of 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me". Upheld by many as his best and most stylish outing as 007, Sir Roger's third Bond adventure was directed by YOLT helmsman, Lewis Gilbert, and contains a dynamic mix of action, humour and megalomaniacal pageantry that's bound to keep you entertained when our own commentary grows dull! No need for social distancing here so grab your refreshments from the lobby and meet us inside! For our full review of the movie, check out S1:E34 from January 2020.

The wonderful Chris Wood (@bondonvinyl) returns in this special episode to discuss the music of "The World is Not Enough", arguably David Arnold's most ambitious effort as 007 composer. So come join us as we leisurely inspect the beats and braces of this varied score. From the boisterous Thames boat chase to the burning oil fields of Baku, we've got it covered like an inflatable ski jacket!

In this episode we look down the literary gunbarrel at "Colonel Sun", written by Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis) and published four years after Ian Fleming's death. Amis's compelling adventure comes on the heels of his successful non-fiction character-piece, "The James Bond Dossier" and marks the first "official" 007 fiction of a new era. So, hop aboard the good ship BBN and brandish your shades and parasols - we're setting sail right now, straight for the Sun... Colonel Sun!