Bond By Numbers

Revered by many fans and critics alike, 1963's From Russia With Love ushered in a retinue of slick canonical tropes and features without compromising its cold-war storytelling. Sean Connery reprises his 007 role as the realities of "franchise" come into focus. Join your BBN hosts as they punch tickets and settle first-class passengers into a thorough and sometimes controversial tour through this impactful sophomore instalment. From SPECTRE island to Gypsy camp, Bucharest to Venice's Grand Canal, your comfort and enjoyment is assured. All aboard!

In this third companion episode, Scott and Josh share their thoughts on three more Fleming texts. First up, and markedly different from the film, is short story "From A View to a Kill" where Bond reminisces on becoming a man in Paris before lending his expertise in the investigation of a murdered dispatch driver. Discussion on "Thunderball" gets the central billing, highlighted by a female character written with welcome care and complexity. Intrigue and autobiography mix in "Octopussy", the final text covered before your hosts close shop with a reflection of Fleming's final days.

Wise to the last, Roger Moore couldn't leave 007 until his bond baked a quiche, stole a fire truck and hung perilously from a blimp. Enter 1985 and "A View to a Kill", EON's canonical answer to the computer and steroid action of the era. But just how much of Moore's swansong is a burgeoning vessel of hot smelly air? Can it withstand the electromagnetic pulse of the critics? Join Scott, Josh and Jeff as they negotiate the gears of the BBN machine across the terrain of this infamous instalment. From deep-dives on ski warfare and microchip crime to the implausibility of caviar-laden backpacks, your hosts have got you covered. Soft-shell crab, anyone?!

"...Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink." When Coleridge revised his Ancient Mariner in 1834 he couldn't have known he was forecasting Thunderball's controversial "production-bloat to audience-nourishment" ratio... or could he? Were the Romantic Poets the first Bond critics? Hmm, the suggestion holds more water than you might think because here we are, 185 years later, grappling with the paradox of the Thunderball experience. Is Connery's 4th outing sodden, spectacular or somewhere in between? Whatever your impression, $9 million to spend in 1965 spelled "epic" so find your flippers and sharpen your spears, we're diving in! Bond By Numbers takes on Thunderball!

The title won't be the only thing about this 007 adventure that jumps out to grab you. Running against Sean Connery's controversial remake of Thunderball, "Octopussy" offered audiences a lot of outrageous spectacle for their money. Ever want to see Q fly a hot-air balloon festooned with liquid crystal closed circuit cameras? How about a crocodile submarine infiltrate a girl-powered island of octopus cult devotees? Or maybe flicking antennas at man-crushable henchmen while straddling Beech Model-18s in mid-flight is more your thing? Whatever your fancy, chances are that EON's 13th official James Bond instalment will serve you up something palatable. So, come along! Hop in the Tuk Tuk with your hosts as they negotiate the ins and outs of Roger Moore's penultimate performance!

In this bonus ep, the second of five trips through the pages of Ian Fleming's 007, Bowman and the BFG share further selections from their review series of 2017. With little Fleming source material on show for Skyfall, The World is Not Enough or Tomorrow Never Dies, your hosts instead introduce and present healthy chunks of their literary adventures with For Your Eyes Only and The Man With the Golden Gun. So grab a cuppa and join in as they offer insight and context into the stories that made the movies.

Patricide, boat chasing, parahawks, caviar farming, oil pipelines, buzz-sawed BMWs, revenge-napping and a nuclear sub out to destroy Istanbul: is that your idea of explosive fun or a 00-plot headache? Some say the Bond producers didn't know when to stop in party-planning for Y2K with this film, Brosnan's penultimate, while others guffaw at the very notion of a bond film without excess baggage. Wherever you sit on the fence, one thing is certain: The World is Not Enough offers the BBN panel a "crude" and spectacular volume to refine! Join Scott, Josh and Jeff as they get down to business on the context, content and controversy of EON's final Bond adventure of the millennium.

Don your snowsuits and wax your skis, Bond fans, it's time to cut edges around the slopes of "For Your Eyes Only"! A new decade brings in a new director as veteran Bond craftsman John Glen is handed control and helms his inaugural adventure. In a conscious effort to return sobriety to the series after visiting outer space in "Moonraker", Glen & Co. gravitate towards some key Flemingian sources for their script. But FYEO also famously introduces us to Bibi Doll, a plot-motivating parrot and a jarring lampoon of PM Margaret Thatcher... so how successful was it really? Join the BNB panel as they crunch pistachios and brave dizzy heights to bring you the answer!

Iron out your safari suits and affix those superfluous papilla, it's time to take on "The Man With the Golden Gun"! This is the first Roger Moore film selected by the BNB roulette and your hosts leave no stone unturned in showcasing their mammoth dive into one of 007's most publicly polarizing adventures. Weighing in at nearly 4 hours, Episode 12 offers plenty of features to dine comfortably on - best served with a bottle of Phuyuk '74, of course!

What do you get when you combine a stealth ship, the world's fastest no-look typing megalomaniac, shameless product placement, endless rounds of ammo and more techno-buzz than even Q can handle in his rent-a-Hertz crimson coat? It's Tomorrow Never Dies, of course, the 18th entry in the official James Bond series! In spite of some shortcomings and egregious call-backs, this film is full of surprises and freaky connections to real-world culture and curios. Join your hosts as they deconstruct the beats, the feats and the fake news (!) of Pierce Brosnan's unabashed second outing as 007.