Bond & Beyond

In our longest Bond & Beyond review yet, we revisit Pierce Brosnan's second adventure in which a mad media mogul brings the globe to the brink of war - to, er, sell some newspapers. Arguably one of the weaker entries in the series, there's still a lot to like here and it remains James' personal favourite. Listen in as he and Alex discuss the incredible action sequences, surprisingly engaging characters and phenomenal soundtrack that hold this film together. As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

The Bond & Beyond Review turns its attention to what many consider to be the black sheep of the Classic 007 family. Timothy Dalton's second and (sadly) final outing as Ian Fleming's iconic secret agent sees him defying Queen and country to settle a personal vendetta with notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez. Is this just another generic '80s action film donning Bond's tuxedo, or the foundations for the popular Daniel Craig formula? Or is it both? And why, oh why does Q chuck that expensive and top secret broom radio into a bush? Listen in as we discuss the ever-divisive Licence To Kill. As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

This time the Bond & Beyond Review turns its eye to the highly questionable The Man With The Golden Gun. Alex and James discuss whether a truly wonderful performance by Christopher Lee - plus some great M moments - are enough to make up for the many, many, many regretful aspects of Moore's second outing. And we're not just talking about the return of Sheriff J W Pepper! As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

Bond & Beyond is back with a quick news update on Daniel Craig’s alleged departure (we still haven’t heard it from him), thoughts on the Bond In Motion exhibit and an in-depth discussion about the cars of the series. As one of the franchise’s signature elements, we discuss what makes a great Bond car, whether you can have too many gadgets, and why oh why did they make that invisible car in Die Another Day. As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

The Bond & Beyond Review moves on to the second round of films, starting with Sean Connery's return in From Russia With Love. Arguably the true beginning of the franchise, we discuss the groundwork laid by their globetrotting spy adventure, the tragic story of Kerim Bey, and even that weird video game released nearly fifty years later. As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

James and Alex are joined by a very special guest this week: James' wife, Penny. Having endured as much as she can of Old Bond, and as a massive fan of New Bond, she's here to discuss her take on the series, it's high points and low points, the appeal of Daniel Craig, her reaction to Connery's more brutal moments, and 50+ years' worth of Bond Girls. As always, our episodes can be found at bondbeyodpod.tumblr.com. You can chat to us on Twitter, @BondBeyondPod, or share you views at our new Facebook page - just search "Bond and Beyond".

Alex and James are joined by returning guest Gez to discuss Casino Royale, the debut of Daniel Craig and the beginning of the new Bond era. Ten years on, how well does this film stand-up? Does it overcome excessive product placement to become the Best Bond Film, or is it just a bloody good film?  As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

With rumours abound that Daniel Craig has hung up his tuxedo for the final time - we'll believe it when we see it - James and Alex discuss the potential contenders to be the next James Bond. They're joined by honourary Bond & Beyonder and friend of the show Gez, who chips in to help weigh up what qualities the next James Bond actor should have. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

This week's Bond & Beyond review brings us into the Pierce Brosnan era with the fifth Bond's first (and perhaps best?) outing. Alex and James discuss the long wait fans had to endure before this film arrived, the new MI6 cast, the best of the action scenes and the worst of soundtrack. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

This week, we discuss Bond's allies in the field, the informants and foreign agents that help him complete his mission. Chief among these is, of course, Felix Leiter: a character that has appeared to be both comically incompetent and unapologetically heroic - although never in the same film. We also discuss what we've lovingly come to know as the Not Felixes, ranging from Greek smugglers, Turkish agents, and the elusive other Double-Os. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

The Bond & Beyond Review tackles the first of Timothy Dalton's two movies, in which a plot to make money spans over two hours, several countries and some excellent action sequences. A personal favourite of Alex's, hear him and James discuss the film's more unappreciated features as well as its more bizarre inclusions – fat Scouse jailer, anyone? N.B. We are aware of some audio issues with this episode. We are working on sourcing better equipment and finding an alternative recording location, and we thank you for you patience. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

Our third Bond & Beyond Review marks the debut of the most divisive 007 of all: Roger Moore. Live and Let Die is an odd mix of supernatural powers, voodoo tricks, blaxploitation, racist sheriffs, crocodiles... and some genuinely great James Bond moments. We discuss the high and lows of Moore's inaugural outing as Fleming's secret agent, tackling every boat chase, train fight and unconvincing rubber snake along the way. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

Following our initial impressions of Spectre, we ponder the film's ambiguous ending and wonder what lies in store for the inevitable Bond 25 (yes, it's inevitable - Bond makes too much money for them to stop now). We look specifically at each of the characters and how we'd like to see them return, how the loose ends of Spectre could potentially be tied up, where we would like to see the series go in the years ahead and - most importantly - whether or not we expect to see Daniel Craig don the tuxedo once more. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

Bond & Beyond is back! And we return with our initial impressions on the long-awaited 24th James Bond adventure, Spectre. Has the film been worth the wait? How does the classic villainous organisation fit into the grittier world of Daniel Craig? Did you blink and miss Monica Belucci? And what do we think of THAT song? All this and more is discussed as we pick the newest Bond film apart. Note: This is not the full review, which will come later in the series. We also do not discuss the ending extensively as we will be speculating about the potential for Bond 25 in two week's time. As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

Alex Boucher and James Batchelor discuss the musical enigma that is the Bond song. With 24 official title themes, unofficial and alternative themes, additional songs and parodies, there's a wide range of music with that certain level of 'Bondness', but what is the secret behind that magic? This is the mystery that we fail to solve while ranking our favourite Bond songs of all time, lamenting the worst ones, and pondering which artists we'd like to try their hand at introducing a 007 adventure. [PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded a few days before Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall was released so we were unable to add this to our review] As always, find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us via Twitter: @BondBeyondPod.

For the second Bond & Beyond review, Alex and James discuss On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby's one and only outing as Ian Fleming's iconic secret agent. In addition to judging Lazenby's performance, they also touch on the film's pacing, its plot, its central relationship and its comparison to the original novel. Warning: Contains Lazenby puns. Also, stay tuned at the end for Six Minutes of Everything Related to Spectre Headlines (or SMERSH). We stress that at the time of recording, the Sam Smith song had not been released.

Alex and James are back with the first of potentially many episodes packed with Spectre speculation (Spectre-lation?). We discuss what little we know about the upcoming film so far, discuss what we hope it delivers and why it needs to break the dreaded Fourth Film curse. Please note: this episode was recorded a few weeks ago. We'll be addressing the latest news, such as the revelation of the title song, on a future show. You can find out all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and contact us on Twitter via @BondBeyondPod

And so we come to the first Bond & Beyond review, taking a look at the film that started it all: Dr No. We reflect on the 1962 classic, picking out the tropes that are still with us today, weighing up the film's best and worst bits, analysing the villainous Dr No himself and even pondering Honey Ryder, the first of many Bond girls. As of now we'll be on a fortnightly release schedule, so keep your eyes peeled for our Spectre speculation episode in two weeks' time. You can find all our episodes at bondbeyondpod.tumblr.com and find us on Twitter via @BondBeyondPod.

Let's get things straight from the off: there is only one James Bond. Well, since Daniel Craig turned up there's two, and he didn't have a gadget-laden Aston Martin (or at least he shouldn't have). Alex Boucher and James Batchelor debate why, and we'd love to hear your thoughts.

Welcome to Bond & Beyond. In this brief intro episode, hosts Alex Boucher and James Batchelor discuss their plans for the show, plus share their stories of how they first encountered the iconic secret agent.