Licence To Queer

Beginning with a full-on fight with a man in drag, Thunderball has some curiously queer villains, including asexual Vargas, piratical Largo and the fabulous femme fatale Fiona Volpe.

Thunderball features an early example of the ‘found family’ or ‘chosen family’ we typically associate with some of the Pierce Brosnan films and definitely the latter half of the Daniel Craig era. Those in the field include regulars Felix Leiter and Q, plus local contacts Paula and Pinder.

Don't frighten the fish!

Of all the fantastical things that happen in Thunderball (and there are a lot of them), the one that strains credulity the most is Bond and Domino having sex under water.

Is James Bond - at least metaphorically - a fish? And what might make his feel like a fish OUT of water?

Paul Baker is the author of the bestselling 'CAMP! The Story of the Attitude that Conquered the World'. Not only is the book fabulously funny but it also successfully captures what camp is all about (not a mean feat!) using a plethora of brilliant examples. There's only one problem: there's no way Paul could include everyone's favourite examples and only bits of one of the most camp things of all time - James Bond - made it into the book. David and Paul meet to put Bond in the camp spotlight.

The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the most balanced Bond films, with a finely calibrated blend of all we love about Bond. But the film we ended up with went through dozens of iterations, many containing thoroughly unhinged ideas. Tom Mason and David Lowbridge-Ellis have read every screen treatment and script they can get their hands on - two years' worth! - and are now ready to share what they've found. Batten down the hatches for seal sex, crash zooms, a villain called Kronk, Anya's brother-lover, testicular torture and a very temperamental Lotus Esprit...

Kim Sherwood and David Lowbridge-Ellis talk with a live audience about all things travel and 007. How much is travel is responsible for the success of the books and films? Why do we have the urge to make pilgrimages to Bond locations? What can we learn from Bond about how to travel (and how not to)?

On the drive back from seeing the latest Mission: Impossible in the cinema (not handcuffed together), Antony and David try to not fall out with each other while discussing whether it's helpful (or not) to make comparisons with James Bond. They also talk about the queer elements, the Hitchcock influences and the really really cool bit where *spoilers*.

Coming in slightly late - a few days into July - because we've had such a busy month...

June was Pride Month so we talk about all of the Prides we've been to, including Pride in London where we represented the queer Bond fan community. David talks about the On The Tracks Nene Valley Railway event where he spent lots of time with John Glen, Kristina Wayborn and other Octopussy alumni. Watching 50th anniversary film Live and Let Die inspired Antony to make a new cocktail. David visited Ian Fleming Publications. Antony found Bond references in 1960s Marvel comics. David met up with 007GB Club friends Natasha and Fletcher at Dukes in London for a Book Club discussion of Double or Nothing (which received a new cover for the paperback, unveiled this month). Antony talks about how he's getting on with reading Diamonds Are Forever. David and Antony discuss July's upcoming Zoom event with David and Kim Sherwood focused on Bond and travelling. Along the way, Antony and David also remember to talk about David receiving an MBE in King Charles's Birthday Honours. Talk about keeping the British End Up!

Kim Sherwood's 'A Wild & True Relation' is an amazingly queer book. For Pride Month 2023, David Lowbridge-Ellis gets truthful with the Bond author about her 18th Century-set swashbuckler, examining how and why she created such a moving and rollicking tale of self-determination, freedom of sexual orientation, chosen family and defied gender expectations.