20 replies to this topic

[Blue Eyes]

Hey guys,

It's been confirmed today (the news is on the main page if you haven't read it yet). John Cleese has confirmed that in Bond 20 he will be playing the role of Q. Now that's not Major Boothroyd's Q, but his own character of Q.

So I need and want your opinion:

* How do you feel about Cleese being 'promoted' to Q?
* How do you think the character of Major Boothroyd will be dealt with (Boothroyd is Llwellyn's Q)?
* Do you think they should pay tribue to Llwellyn in some way?

Thanks guys!!

[James Page]

As Daniel pointed out, "Q" is simply the code name of whoever is in charge of that department. So promoting Cleese to the role of Q is fine, as with Dench taking over M, etc. No need for change. Alot of ppl thought Cleese played R in TWINE. This is NOT so!

As for how to write it into the script that Cleese is the new Q, that is going to be very, very difficult.

I only hope it is not done cheesily, especially if Mr Fierstein is given the job of the final re-write (ARGH!).

The best point of *any* movie I have seen that Bond thanks Q, is Brosnan's gesture in TND where is gives a slight nod when he uses Q's thumbprint reader to open the safe. As if to thank Q for making his job easier. This is done brilliantly in the original screenplay, but still comes through slightly in the movie if you are watching for it.

This in my opinion would be the most subtle way, maybe a portrait on the wall would also be a good idea.

Of course, the movie should end in "In memory of DM" - as did TND for Cubbi.

If anyone from EON is reading, give Cleese some field work and get him out of the lab!!! Most ppl rememeber TB and LTK for Q's adventures into the field. IMHO, this would secure Cleese into the role.

[Blue Eyes]

B5Erik (25 May, 2001 08:23 a.m.):
M, not the name of the character.

Actually M is unknown. In real life it's C after the first head of department and since then all heads have stuck with C as their title.

In Bond we've only seen to M's. Sir Miles Messervy and Barbara Mawdsley, so we don't know yet!

Don't be too quick to define. To the best of my knowledge they'll adopt M for all subsequent heads of MI6 regardless of name.

[White Persian]

I definitely feel a strong director needs to wind Cleese down a few notches if his take on "Q" is going to work. Cleese can play it (almost) straight - see "Silverado" for example, but falls too easily into Basil Fawlty mode. He should also be "Q", not"R".
Perhaps, though, as a mark of respect to Desmond, he could be referred to in Bond 20 as "the equipment officer" or "the Quartermaster", and quietly become "Q" in subsequent films.

[Blue Eyes]

Well I'm ready to tackle Cleese as Q. I'm just hoping he's matured a little bit since the last film. Not matured but has more sense if that means anything.

I think if they kept him stupid it may just work, Cleese's character of Fawlty wasn't fully stupid but ... well I don't know the word! But we all know what he is

[Jacques Nexus]

Let's keep things simple. Cleese should become 'Q' and yes getting him out in the field is a good idea, and no, Desmond's 'Q' should not be murdered, though perhaps getting blown-up in his lab while analysing a booby trapped piece of enemy equipment recovered by 007 could be interesting ?. All of this is probably too complicated and not feasable. Let's let him Rest In Peace. A dedication at the beginning of the movie along with an image of him would grab everyone's attention before the white dots race across the screen.

[General Orlov]

It IS complicated. Desmond Llewelyn was Q, is Q and will be Q!

I could imagine a scene similar to the one in OHMSS, when Bond cleans up his desk and comes across some stuff of his past adventures (Grant's watch from FRWL, Honey Rider's belt from DN). Couldn't a scene like that happen in Q's lab?

As for John Cleese, his character definitely has to become more serious. I could accept him as some kind of funny sidekick to DL, but now that he's the one in charge of Q-branch, he should show his professionalism. He should show that he's worth being the new Q. I wouldn't want a clumsy guy being head of Q-branch!

[The Admiral]

Jacques Nexus (27 May, 2001 01:50 p.m.):
Let's keep things simple. Cleese should become 'Q' and yes getting him out in the field is a good idea, and no, Desmond's 'Q' should not be murdered, though perhaps getting blown-up in his lab while analysing a booby trapped piece of enemy equipment recovered by 007 could be interesting ?. All of this is probably too complicated and not feasable. Let's let him Rest In Peace. A dedication at the beginning of the movie along with an image of him would grab everyone's attention before the white dots race across the screen.

I don't think that Q (Major Boothroyd) should get blown up/killed by any of his gadgets or enemy gadgets. We have known Q to be very wise, he'd know if it was a trap or something, he always seems to have lots of common sense and wit about him. He take extra special care. I would find it impossible that he could be killed by anything he made etc..

He should either retire, die of old age or something else.

I think that I can see why some people don't want Cleese to be "Q". I think that some people are worried that DL would then be forgotten as the "Q" that we have all grown to love, and if Cleese comes in as "Q", then DL will be forgotten. Some people may get confused with whether it's the same character? I don't know.

It is a difficult topic trying to get another actor to take over as Q. If it is mentioned a lot in the film about what happened to Major Boothroyd, and then introduce "R" as Q - that may work. I'm no film expert though, but I do put my turst in the producers etc to make sure it doesn't come off as a cheesy, rubbish introduction of John Cleese.

[mrmoon]

Let's get a few things straight. Firstly as Blue eyes said Q stands for Quartermaster that has always been the case. The character is based on a real friend of Flemings, named Geoffrey Boothroyd, he educated fleming on weaponary and other such paraphenalia. For this reason 'Q' is the characters title,'Geoffrey Boothroyd' is the characters name. Therefore Logically John Cleese should Inherit the Title 'Q' but he will obviously have a different name.

[R]

I think the best way to say goodbye to the old Q would be to have the first shot after the credits as a close-up on Q's gravestone. That way we could have "sorely missed" or something less icky, which would express what audience and the on-screen characters are feeling. Anything else would either be too sentimental or disrespectful to the memory of Llewellyn. Remember, his family will have to deal with whatever is up on screen, and I think the first priority (in dealing with this, anyway) should be to bear their feelings and wishes in mind.

[General Orlov]

Yes, sure, Cleese is known for that sort of thing. But wouldn't you agree that a guy like that might produce chaos and destruction in Q-branch?
Anyway, my point is that this clumsy aspect should not be over-emphasized, like it was in TWINE. Maybe Cleese's Q could be someone who is absolutely competent with computers and gadgets and so on, but when it comes to everyday-life-items (like a zipper), he has his problems. At least that wouldn't endanger Q-branch...

[Blue Eyes]

General Orlov (04 Jun, 2001 12:57 a.m.):

As for John Cleese, his character definitely has to become more serious. I could accept him as some kind of funny sidekick to DL, but now that he's the one in charge of Q-branch, he should show his professionalism. He should show that he's worth being the new Q. I wouldn't want a clumsy guy being head of Q-branch!

You've got an interesting idea there General. I coudl imagine a scene like OHMSS with Bond going through his desk finding the Q-Branch Pen from GoldenEye or something. Or the briefcase from FRWL. Something very Q-Branch orientate. Even if they just placed the briefcase in the corner as a sort of tribute to Llwellyn.

As for Cleese I think they'll keep him half-witted, bitter and a tad clumsy. Just because he's got those elements doesn't mean he can't invent awesome gadgets!! Plus you'd have to agree that he's highly known for that sort of persona.

[Blue Eyes]

freemo (25 May, 2001 12:35 p.m.):
Plus, Cleeses character has already been identifyed as 'R', it should be just left at that.

Not really Freemo. That was a gag by Bond only. He was acceditted as Q's Assistant (I think) and EON and Cleese have both confirmed the title R was a gag made by Bond. Remember Boothroyd says "I'm training his as my successor" or something along those lines and Bond says "If you're Q that would make him R". Just like R follows Q in the alphabet. That was all a gag.

[freemo]

Sorry, but I have to disargee here. I can understand logically that it makes sense, since the title 'Q' could be considered a position, but DLs character had the title for so long, in my opinion Major Boothroyd is 'Q' and the title should be 'retired out' with Desmond, like elite sportspersons 'retire out' their playing number. Plus, Cleeses character has already been identifyed as 'R', it should be just left at that.

[Blue Eyes]

mrmoon (25 May, 2001 06:57 p.m.):
Let's get a few things straight. Firstly as Blue eyes said Q stands for Quartermaster that has always been the case. The character is based on a real friend of Flemings, named Geoffrey Boothroyd, he educated fleming on weaponary and other such paraphenalia. For this reason 'Q' is the characters title,'Geoffrey Boothroyd' is the characters name. Therefore Logically John Cleese should Inherit the Title 'Q' but he will obviously have a different name.

I think MrMoon sums it up quite well there. But I can see where some others are coming from. A lot of people 'love' Llwellyn as Q and to them he is the one and only Q. Unfortunately for these people, EON has taken the real life approach.

[freemo]

I realise that, I was also thinking that perhaps 'Q' is more of a nickname or pet name rather than an offical title, since he isn't refered to as Q in FRWL. I knwo it makes more sense to have the new Head of Q Branch assume the title Q, like whats happened with the M's, but I can't help but feel its not quite right.

[B5Erik]

Honestly, I'd like to see them tie it all into the story. Have the villain (not the primary villain for the movie) kill Q/Boothroyd just prior to the opening sequence, and Bond goes after him in the pre-credits sequence. This could be somewhat like the Diamonds Are Forever pre-title sequence, only the difference being that Bond gets the right guy, and in doing so uncovers some bigger plot.
They could then fade to black for a few seconds with the words Dedicated to the memory of Desmond Lewellyn on the screen, and then go into the credits.

That would work for me.

And John Cleese SHOULD be Q. Quartermaster. He gets promoted - but he's not very happy about WHY he got promoted. Q is the title for the position, like M, not the name of the character.

[Blue Eyes]

* Do you think they should pay tribue to Llwellyn in some way?

So here's what I have to say:

It's a more professional approach to have Cleese's character promoted to Q. Q stands for Quartermaster - head of that division. In real life should the head retire the next person will take his place and be promoted to Q.

As much as I love Llwellyn's character and am deeply saddened by his death the character of Major Boothroyd lives on - unless Bond 20 dictates otherwise.,

My feelings are that they will retire Major Boothroyd. The original script for Tomorrow Never Dies, while it fully included Boothroyd, he had already retired. In The World Is Not Enough Boothroyd had the line about the Q-Boat being for his retirement. It seems obvious that Boothroyd will retire from MI-6.

As for how a good tribute could be played out? I'm not sure. Robert Browns portrait was brilliant in TWINE but I feel a portrait of Boothroyd would be out of place in Q-Branch - especially if he's only considered as retired. Most likely though, Bond 20 will be dedicated in his memory.

So there you have it!

[Blue Eyes]

I think he would be wound down. I would like to see him bumble a tad though. He can create good gadgets etc... but still stuffs himself up a little.

[Blue Eyes]

James Page (26 May, 2001 12:25 a.m.):
If anyone from EON is reading, give Cleese some field work and get him out of the lab!!! Most ppl rememeber TB and LTK for Q's adventures into the field. IMHO, this would secure Cleese into the role.

I'm still standing by my theory that Q will be seen as retired! If there's anything cheesy with Q being murdered I'll scream. Actually, what if he does pass away in the film and we see a funeral? Or a gadget finally got the better of him????? Hmmmmm

I actually think Feirstein could write quite a good script with Q's departure. He's done so brilliantly in the past.

That's a good idea with seeing Q back in the field. I like it!!

[Blue Eyes]

That's a good point R. But I don't think Major Boothroyd should be killed off. I think he should just retire. It would be great in a few years to come across him in a Bond novel!