254 replies to this topic

[007jamesbond]

Let get back on topic? Can we talk about M, Q, Miss.Moneypenny?

[terminus]

I'm sure Righty didn't mean his comments to come across as inflammatory as they did. Maybe this is a debate that should be chared for the moment whilst we talk about other stuff - we've already touched upon the idea of M being someone perhaps in their early forties, more of a beaurecratic desk-jockey, someone with very little (if any) field experience, the 'evil queen/king of numbers' that Dench was concieved of reinvented for the modern era. Possibly someone who is more concerned with quota's and numbers and figures than spending the money needed to achieve the task at hand - "by any mean necessary ... but only within the allowable budget". Okay - maybe that's hyperbole, but I think the concept comes across.

A desk jockey about ten years older than Bond (assuming Bond c. 30 yrs old), little/no field experience, definitely no military experience. Think David Milliband meets , perhaps 'played' by Ed Stoppard (he's the voice of the Defence Minister in GoldenEye '10 for a Bond connection).

[SamuelKevlar]

Much though I'd like to hear Righty describe a heterosexual lifestyle, I agree that the actual topic of the thread beckons. I like the idea of a bureaucrat in charge of MI6, though I'd caution that this sort of character can easily turn into a pen-pushing stereotype. Make Bond and M both learn from each other, understand their different perspectives to some small measure by the end of the story, rather than indulging in the rough-n-ready maverick is automatically better than penny-pinching pansy who understands nothing but his numbers and doesn't know "what it's like out there" cliché. To quote the films, there is value to an agent who "follows orders, not instincts", and even an "evil queen of numbers" has her place.

As for Moneypenny, if you have her, let her be more than a secretary. There's a lot you can do behind a desk besides fielding phone calls and operating the 'busy' light above the red door to M's office. I imagine a group like the 00s, especially Bond, leave a lot of clean-up work. Perhaps Moneypenny is a master of spin, propaganda, excuses, and - when necessary - hacking into websites and the like to make the paper trail say what they want it to.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I wouldn't want a caricature like the M from Never Say Never Again; perhaps a quiet thinker, non-military, who's not as flexible as Bond expects him to be -- but whom Bond can still rely on?

[Captain Tightpants]

Here's some ideas for other characters:

M
In this version, M is the youngest person to direct MI6 in the agency's history. He is not even 50 years old yet (he's roughly 47-49). The reason for this is that MI6 hs gone through a string of directors of late, and Downing Street wants continuity in the agency, and so they have promoted a young M in the hopes that he will stay in the position for some time. M himself is the golden child of the British Intelligence community; his ability was recognised at a young age, and he was quickly promoted. At one point or another, he has run almost every single local office that could be considered the "best" placement in MI6, and which most spies would onyl dare to dream of running one of them. In particular, this version of M made a name for himself in Moscow from 1991 to 1996, during the period of instability (the attempted coup in 1991, constiutional crisis of 1993 and economic turmoil of the mid-1990s). He is highly competent, but some people in the Ministry of Defence question his experience. His biggest challenge is proving to them that he is not just the spying world's priveliged son.

Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny was brought in by Judi Dench's M for a very specific reason: she and Bond know one another from his life before MI6. Some of Dench-M's decisions (particularly the handling of the Bolivian water crisis) were very unpopular, and so she found one Jane Moneypenny in the Ministry of Defence's human resources department and promoted her to become secretary. This resulted in settling and focusing Bond, particularly during the period of instability when MI6 went through three Ms in less than two years. She is also very popular with all of the Double-Ohs, and is considered a credit to MI6. She is quite possibly Bond's only platonic female friend.

Q
In this version, Q was a quartermaster with the British Army reserves. His day job was that of a school headmaster. He was recruited into MI6 upon his retirement from public education, and put in charge of what has become known as "Q-Branch". Q-Branch is MI6's cutting-edge technology department, and is populated by genius-level intellecutals. However, most of them have conditions in the autism spectrum disorder - they need highly-structured routines and avoid social contact. Q's previous life as an educator means he is able to offer them the stability they need in order to get the job done. He does not actually invent or build anything, but rather presents field equipment to agents as well as overseeing briefings. As a (possible) running joke, nobody in MI6 actually knows where his office is, so they have to call him up to M's office every time they need him (and to further the joke, it can take him anywhere between thirty seconds and ten minutes to get to M's office).

Felix Leiter
Felix is a CIA operative who prefers to act as a case handler after he was shot in the line of duty and now pulls a disability pension (though this is a mere formality; the bullet hit and shattered his pelvic bone, but did no lasting damage). The CIA keep him around because he has an extensive network of contacts, both outside and inside America (which few in the CIA thought of). Just about everyone he knows owes him a favour, so he is able to make things happen very quickly. It is implied he was instrumental in handling the courier that eventually led the CIA to Osama bin Laden. He may or may not be addicted to painkillers in the wake of his being shot.

[Righty007]

Here's some ideas for other characters:

Felix Leiter
It is implied he was instrumental in handling the courier that eventually led the CIA to Osama bin Laden. He may or may not be addicted to painkillers in the wake of his being shot.

Great ideas.

The painkiller addiction would make Leiter a troubled hero à la Dr. Gregory House, which I think would work with the character considering Fleming maimed the character himself. This would just take that one step further.

I wouldn't want a caricature like the M from Never Say Never Again; perhaps a quiet thinker, non-military, who's not as flexible as Bond expects him to be -- but whom Bond can still rely on?

At first I was outraged by the suggestion that M should be "non-military" but then I remembered Leon Panetta and his fabulous leadership as the head of the CIA. Good idea.

[freemo]

M - Old. Cantankerous. Curmudgeonly. Not lovably curmudgeonly, just curmudgeonly. Keeps cognac under his desk. Won't share with anyone else. Bond isn't sure if he loves or hates the man. Appears only to brief Bond at the being of the story, because (make sure your sitting down for this) Bond isn't the only Agent in MI6 and M actually has other things to do. Don't care if Bond comes back alive or not.

Miss Moneypenny - M's secretary. Nothing more. Just a bit of the furniture, like the door to M's office or the light about it. Nothing more. One line of dialogue, telling Bond that M is ready to see him now. Nothing more. Would be desirable if not for the fact that she isn't. Nothing more. Bond not the least bit interested in her. Nothing more.

Armourer - Helps Bond out on the firing range, choosing fire arms, packing his parachute and other equipment, etc. Running gag: Bond never remembers him, always convinced that they're in fact meeting for the first time.

Felix Leiter - Bond's friend. Has a convoluted, unconvincing explanation for being where Bond is. "Was working with Pinkertons then, um, the CIA recalled me". Can't whistle.

[Captain Tightpants]

So ... basically, just the characters Fleming wrote, then? As good as they were, it's a little boring in this context. Show some creativity and inject some life into them.

[007jamesbond]

Miss.Moneypenny should be in the military before, and was a personal sectutary to the MOD before leaving to Mi6 to personal assistant to M,with a more interesting job.
Tanner a former war hero, who lose a leg due to IED, but stil manage to walk fine, and a good friend of Bond
M no military experience but has a high degree of University education, an MBA, and PHD in history and political science. Knows how to confront his superiors and manage the entire service
Q like tanner, a former military man just involve in the weapon development. The creation of the Q branch/armour

I think we can start talk about the plot now? we certainly have discussed a lot about the characters

[Mr. Blofeld]

I think you're the first one to bring up Tanner; perhaps we should talk about him, for a bit?

[terminus]

I was going to suggest removing Tanner as a character - and combining him with Moneypenny - making HER the chief of staff, rather than just a secretary. Maybe Tanner could be the bosses secretary instead?

And I should say I sorta saw M being the Head of the Double-Oh Section but not necessarily the whole of MI6.

[Gri007]

I think this is a fab idea. I have always thought it would be interesting if somebody had written 'Per Fine Ounce' and that it had to be based on the snippets of information we all know ie, South Africa being the prime location, the 'cylinder' buisness and killing the pound, along side with gold bicycle chains.

[terminus]

Not that we're adapting PFO - though coco1997 and I did once write a treatment for a 'film adaptation' of it using the facts we knew at the time, but it was only ever half-finished.

[007jamesbond]

We forgotten another character Rene Mathis, a senior agent for the french intelligence service? a friend that Bond meet during his military days? What would his background be? I think this is the last main character that we havent talk much about yet, and we should be able to start the plot soon.....

[Captain Tightpants]

I don't think we should get too far ahead of ourselves with character like Mathis - do we even know if they will be in the story? That was one of the problems with CARTE BLANCHE: characters from the Flemingverse (most notably Leiter) simply showed up for no particular reason, contributed nothing to the story, and then disappeared for the rest of it. We don't want to fall into tha pithole.

Tanner a former war hero, who lose a leg due to IED, but stil manage to walk fine, and a good friend of Bond

If we go with Felix Leiter being shot on duty and subsequently pulling a disability pension, then we can't really have a Bill Tanner who is also disable. It would just be alittle redundant.

[007jamesbond]

maybe it would just be simple not including Tanner so I think we can start on the first treatment?

[coco1997]

maybe it would just be simple not including Tanner so I think we can start on the first treatment?

Start on the treatment? We haven't even begun to discuss potential plot ideas.

[007jamesbond]

maybe it would just be simple not including Tanner so I think we can start on the first treatment?

Start on the treatment? We haven't even begun to discuss potential plot ideas.

never mind the treatment, we should throw out some plot ideas start a discussion

[freemo]

Why not take advantage of the fact that the piece is going to have multiple authors? Make it an asset, rather than a liability.

Perhaps the story could a globetrotting caper or scavenger hunt, with each author assigned the chapter of a particular country (one the author lives in / knows well). Or maybe assign each author a major character and have them write from that persons point of view.

[Captain Tightpants]

never mind the treatment, we should throw out some plot ideas start a discussion

Let's jsut wait for terminus to give the all-clear first ...

[007jamesbond]

I sure we can throw up some ideas around....just some basic plot ideas would be all

[Captain Tightpants]

Just wait for terminus. He knows what he's doing.

[terminus]

We forgotten another character Rene Mathis, a senior agent for the french intelligence service? a friend that Bond meet during his military days? What would his background be? I think this is the last main character that we havent talk much about yet, and we should be able to start the plot soon.....

I don't think we should get too far ahead of ourselves with character like Mathis - do we even know if they will be in the story? That was one of the problems with CARTE BLANCHE: characters from the Flemingverse (most notably Leiter) simply showed up for no particular reason, contributed nothing to the story, and then disappeared for the rest of it. We don't want to fall into tha pithole.

Tanner a former war hero, who lose a leg due to IED, but stil manage to walk fine, and a good friend of Bond

If we go with Felix Leiter being shot on duty and subsequently pulling a disability pension, then we can't really have a Bill Tanner who is also disable. It would just be alittle redundant.

What CT said, re: Not necessarily needing Mathis - to be honest, we don't REALLY need Leiter either. The only character's we're guaranteeing will appear are Bond, M and - presumably - Moneypenny. Speaking of 'Penny, I really like the idea of her being the Chief of Staff and Tanner being M's personal assistant -

maybe it would just be simple not including Tanner so I think we can start on the first treatment?

Or we use him as I've suggested.

Why not take advantage of the fact that the piece is going to have multiple authors? Make it an asset, rather than a liability.

Perhaps the story could a globetrotting caper or scavenger hunt, with each author assigned the chapter of a particular country (one the author lives in / knows well). Or maybe assign each author a major character and have them write from that persons point of view.

An excellent idea - if we're going with a story that's being published across twelve monts, perhaps we could have approximately six locations throughout the adventure, in varius capacities, with the people contributing having some wealth of knowledge (I myself could offer Vancouver, Canada and Manchester, UK - as well as some understanding of Dubai and Kuwait) in the areas.

never mind the treatment, we should throw out some plot ideas start a discussion

Let's jsut wait for terminus to give the all-clear first ...

I sure we can throw up some ideas around....just some basic plot ideas would be all

Just wait for terminus. He knows what he's doing.

I think with the understanding we have of Bond as a character now, we should be able to have some idea of what stories we want to tell with him. So, what I am going to ask people for is the following - a maximum of two sentences to describe (without mention of the villain, the female companions or his allies) what you envisage that Bond will be going up against in the course of the novel: avoid specifying locations and action sequences (though, in two sentences, you shouldn't be able to).

So, in two sentences, pitch those involved what sort of plot you would envisage this project and BFF Bond telling.

Go!


Here's mine:


When a closeted MI6 bureaucrat* is brutally murdered in the seedy underbelly of the gay scene, Bond follows the trail left by a phone hacking scandal that could rupture the English political scene. But what secret had the phone hacking uncovered, how does the murder of the bureaucrat figure in, and how far will those concerned go to protect the secret?




* - I had this as government minister in my first draft of my plot, it could always return to that

[coco1997]

Just a quick question--What tone of Bond are we aiming for? Literary, (i.e. Fleming, Gardner, Deaver), the cinematic Bond, or somewhere in between, i.e. Benson?

[terminus]

I'd say we probably want to aim for something a bit more like Fleming/Deaver than the films (and by default Benson and Gardner). Something a bit more realistic, with just a touch of the fantastical about it - think of the gold plated limousine from Goldfinger in an otherwise realistic plot, the Disco Volante and the plot to steal the nukes in Thunderball are fantastical in the otherwise serious Thunderball.

[Mr. Blofeld]

An excellent idea - if we're going with a story that's being published across twelve monts, perhaps we could have approximately six locations throughout the adventure, in varius capacities, with the people contributing having some wealth of knowledge (I myself could offer Vancouver, Canada and Manchester, UK - as well as some understanding of Dubai and Kuwait) in the areas.

Perhaps you could write linking chapters between each one of ours', to hook each one into the main plot better, while also giving it something of an anthological feel? I've got knowledge of Quebec City, Canada and parts of the Eastern Seaboard, myself -- suddenly, I'm imagining a Spy Who Loved Me-style narrative told from Bond's point of view... but it's only a possibility.

I think with the understanding we have of Bond as a character now, we should be able to have some idea of what stories we want to tell with him. So, what I am going to ask people for is the following - a maximum of two sentences to describe (without mention of the villain, the female companions, or his allies) what you envisage that Bond will be going up against in the course of the novel: avoid specifying locations and action sequences (though, in two sentences, you shouldn't be able to).

So, in two sentences, pitch those involved what sort of plot you would envisage this project and BFF Bond telling.

Go!

Okay!

After an MI6-led raid goes horribly wrong, M sends Bond on two-weeks leave in Canada to keep out of the press. But Bond becomes embroiled in new difficulties before long, happening upon a plot that could shake the very foundations of the British Commonwealth.

[terminus]

An excellent idea - if we're going with a story that's being published across twelve monts, perhaps we could have approximately six locations throughout the adventure, in varius capacities, with the people contributing having some wealth of knowledge (I myself could offer Vancouver, Canada and Manchester, UK - as well as some understanding of Dubai and Kuwait) in the areas.

Perhaps you could write linking chapters between each one of ours', to hook each one into the main plot better, while also giving it something of an anthological feel? I've got knowledge of Quebec City, Canada and parts of the Eastern Seaboard, myself -- suddenly, I'm imagining a Spy Who Loved Me-style narrative told from Bond's point of view... but it's only a possibility.

Perhaps you misunderstood - I didn't necessarily mean an anthology in the typical sense, I intend for this to be one cohesive whole with lots of locations and a single mission with multiple parts. In some respects, I'd envisage it as something akin to The DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons - but with a more global feel - a single mission causing Bond to travel around the world and pursue clues and hints, people and objects, in order to achieve his ultimate goal.

Perhaps we should also make a list of locations that people have a working knowledge of?

Locations (and those with a working knowledge of them):

Vancouver, Canada (terminus)
Kuwait (terminus)*
Dubai, UAE (terminus)*
Manchester, UK (terminus)

* - some knowledge, but not in-depth

This does not mean the locations will be featured in the story.

[007jamesbond]

I got a idea but it not very good

When intel come in of a man that has vital information that could bring down and cripple one of the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world Al Quader once and for all. Using the information given, Bond uncover a sinister plot that could affect the entire world entirely, but there is more at stake than meet the eye.

hey terminus
I could do Vancouver as a location since I live here if we are using it are you living in Vancouver right now or before?

Edited by 007jamesbond, 27 July 2011 - 12:34 AM.

[terminus]

I lived in Vancouver in 2005 and 2006 but visit intermittently from 2001 to the present - my mum and sister still live there, and my step-dad is from there. I'm sure we could pool our knowledge to properly flesh out Vancouver as a location!

[Captain Tightpants]

Here's mine:

When a mission goes badly and James Bond is very nearly killed, M puts him on the sidelines indefinately. Sent for mandatory rehabilitation at Shrublands, James Bond begins pulling at threads that will unravel a dangerous conspiracy and the secret society behind it - one with plans to carve a new nation out of the ruins of old, a nation that could destabilise the delicate balance existing in the region to the brink of war.