For me 1983 was the year when I was properly introduced to James Bond. Before then, I had caught James Bond occasionally on ITV.

In May 1983 I saw 'James Bond The First 21 Years' on HTV West. In June I saw 'Octopussy' at the Weston super Mare Odeon. Later that year I also saw with my family 'Never Say Never Again' at the Weston Playhouse.

Since then I have seen each Bond film at the cinema - seeing both 'A View To A Kill' and 'The Living Daylights' twice.

I collected the Shredded Wheat stickers, the TV advert for that promotion was the most exciting advert I'd ever seen! I continued with the collections down the line - the Smiths crisps posters for 'A View To A Kill' and the Trio stickers for 'The Living Daylights'.

This page is my own collection and memories of James Bond from the 80's (all clippings / covers etc. are my own unless otherwise stated).

McClory had attracted Sean Connery - the two being involved in scripting, with Len Deighton. Filming was to start in February 1977, planned for New York, Japan and the Bahamas. But the project fell through after Cubby Broccoli took out an injunction to stop the production. McClory had also taken out an injunction to stop filming of 'The Spy Who Loved Me' after it was discovered it was to feature SPECTRE (which McClory was claiming he had co-created). Over six years later, 'Never Say Never Again', the second unofficial Bond picture, was produced.

It opens promisingly with a top theme song sung by Lani Hall and an original title sequence with Bond on a training exercise. It is without the planned pre-title sequence which was to have been set at a medieval pageant with knights on horseback and Bond steeplechasing an assassin through a car park. But it doesn't continue as strongly as it starts and the quality of the film can be summed up by Petachi's Ford Cortina and the presence of the M.F.I. Furniture Group in its credits.

It does feature excellent performances from a not-so-serious Sean Connery, a superb Rowan Atkinson as the British agent abroad (maaaaarvellous), Alec "lucky bloody you" McCowen as an alternative 'Q' and Klaus Maria Brandauer as 'Maximillian Largo'. The film does have its highlights including the Monte Carlo chase sequence - "don't touch him, he's mine". Ricou Browning returned to undersee underwater filming (after sterling work on 'Thunderball').

Forgettable elements? The fight at Shrublands, the 'human torpedo capsules' and Kim Basinger. The script had also caused problems, with writers continuing to work on it during production. There was also continual delays with filming - a monsoon in the Bahamas put filming back by a week, Irvin Kershner (the director) "was not the fastest guy in the world" according to Jack Schwartzman (the producer) and re-shoots were necessary by the end of the planned production date. Sean Connery was surely wondering if he should have said 'never'.

Distribution rights for 'Never Say Never Again' were acquired from Taliafilm by MGM in December 1997.

Nurse: Mr. Bond, I need a urine sample. If you could fill this beaker for me?
James Bond: From here?

(A homage to the TV series Porridge, written by Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement, uncredited script associates on 'Never Say Never Again')

Never Say Never Again

Octopussy