Major Boothroyd appears in
Dr. No played by
Peter Burton and in the script of
From Russia with Love.
Desmond Llewelyn stated that, although he was credited as playing "Major Boothroyd" in the latter film, his name as said by
M (
Bernard Lee) was replaced with "the equipment officer", as director
Terence Young stated that Boothroyd was a different character. Beginning in
Guy Hamilton's
Goldfinger and in each film thereafter Major Boothroyd is most often referred to as Q; however, in
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) he is referred to once again as Major Boothroyd in dialogue. In most films in which Q appears, he is restricted to a "behind the scenes" involvement, either based in London or in secret bases out in the field. Two notable exceptions in which Q becomes directly involved in Bond's missions occur in
Octopussy, in which Q actually participates in field work—including the final battle against the villain Kamal Khan (
Louis Jordan)'s henchmen—and
Licence to Kill in which he joins Bond (
Timothy Dalton) in the field after 007 goes rogue.
Eon Productions Peter Burton: 1962 (as "Major Boothroyd") In the first film,
Dr. No, Boothroyd is played by Peter Burton in only one scene, in which he replaces Bond (
Sean Connery)'s .25 ACP
Beretta 418 (on-screen portrayed by a .32 Beretta 35) pistol with the signature .32
Walther PPK handgun. He is referred to by M as "the armourer," and later as Major Boothroyd. Scheduling conflicts prevented Burton from reprising the role in
From Russia with Love, although he made two later uncredited appearances in Bond films, first as an RAF officer in
Thunderball (1965) and later as a secret agent in the satirical
Casino Royale (1967).
Desmond Llewelyn: 1963–1999 portrayed Q in the Eon series between 1963 and 1999. Beginning with
From Russia with Love, Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every official film except
Live and Let Die until his death in 1999. In the 1977 film
The Spy Who Loved Me, as Q delivered the submersible
Lotus, Major
Anya Amasova / Agent XXX (
Barbara Bach) greets Q as "Major Boothroyd". Starting with
Goldfinger, the notion that Bond and Q would have an often strained relationship with each other was introduced by Guy Hamilton; it continued in the series thereafter. While briefing Bond on the gadgets that he is going to use on his mission, Q often expresses irritation and impatience at Bond's short attention span, often telling him to "pay attention, 007", and Bond's playful lack of respect for his equipment, telling the agent, "I
never joke about my work, 007". In
Thunderball, Bond can be heard muttering "Oh no" when Q joins him in the
Bahamas. A
running gag appeared in later films where Q's prized gadget would be destroyed in a mishap often caused by necessity or Bond's recklessness despite Q’s stern warnings to return them in pristine condition – examples include the
Glastron jet boat in
Moonraker when Bond (
Roger Moore) sends it over the
Iguazu Falls to escape pursuit by
Jaws (
Richard Kiel), the
Aston Martin Vantage in
The Living Daylights when Bond (
Timothy Dalton) is forced to prime its self-destruct device in order to evade the Czech police forces, and the
BMW Z8 in
The World Is Not Enough – which is cut in half by a helicopter buzz-saw. However, on occasion, Q has shown a warm and fatherly concern for 007's welfare, such as at Bond (
George Lazenby)'s wedding to
Tracy di Vicenzo (
Diana Rigg) in ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, when he assures Bond that he is available if Bond ever requires his help. Q has also assisted Bond in a more active role in his missions in Octopussy
, remaining to aid Bond in person even after another ally Vijay (Vijay Amritaj) is killed, and Licence to Kill
saw him travel to assist Bond while he is officially on leave from MI6 even after Bond has resigned from MI6 to pursue his own vendetta. He frequently refers to Bond as "007", rather than by his name. In GoldenEye, Q shares a joke with Bond (Pierce Brosnan) for the first time, and in The World Is Not Enough'' Bond is saddened at the prospect of Q's impending retirement. Q signs off with "Now pay attention, 007," and then offers some words of advice: Q: "I've always tried to teach you two things: First, never let them see you bleed." Bond: "And the second?"Q: "Always have an escape plan." – before he is lowered out of view. This was the final film appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q in the James Bond series, although he would revive the role once again as Q in a
Heineken commercial, a TV cross-promotion for
The World Is Not Enough. Llewelyn died in a car crash just weeks after the film's release. Between films he also starred as Q in various commercials for a diversity of products and companies. These included Bond collectable merchandise,
Hyundai motorcars,
LG video recorders,
Highland Superstores,
Visa credit cards, and
Reach electric toothbrushes, the latter of which featured Q briefing himself in the mirror.
Featured in Films: •
From Russia with Love (1963) •
Goldfinger (1964) •
Thunderball (1965) •
You Only Live Twice (1967) • ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (1969) •
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) •
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) •
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) •
Moonraker (1979) •
For Your Eyes Only (1981) •
Octopussy (1983) •
A View to a Kill (1985) •
The Living Daylights (1987) •
Licence to Kill (1989) •
GoldenEye (1995) •
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) •
The World Is Not Enough (1999) Video games: •
The Living Daylights (1987) (
ZX Spectrum 007 Action Pack only; on narration
tape, not in-game) •
Tomorrow Never Dies (1999) (Likeness only, voiced by
Miles Anderson) •
007: The World Is Not Enough (2000) (Likeness only,
Nintendo 64 version only, voiced by Miles Anderson) •
007 Racing (2000) (Archival footage, voiced by Miles Anderson) •
James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002) (Likeness only, voiced by
Gregg Berger) •
James Bond 007: From Russia with Love (2005) (Likeness only, voiced by
Phil Proctor) Llewelyn also portrays Q in the Eon Productions-produced 1967 TV special
Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond, as well as portraying Q in the documentary
Highly Classified: The World of 007, which is included on the
Tomorrow Never Dies Ultimate Edition DVD. Llewelyn's likeness was also used to portray the Q character in 2005's video game
James Bond 007: From Russia with Love, though the voice of Q was portrayed by
Phil Proctor. Llewelyn has appeared in more Bond films — seventeen — than any other actor to date.
John Cleese: 1999 (as "R"), 2002 (as Q) portrayed "R" in
The World Is Not Enough, who then became coded "Q" in the subsequent film
Die Another Day. In
The World Is Not Enough an assistant to Q was introduced, played by
John Cleese. His real name was never revealed, but he was initially credited as "R" in
The World Is Not Enough, stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q, "If you're Q, does that make him R?" Between films, Cleese was still referred to as "R" in the
video games 007: The World is Not Enough (2000),
007 Racing (2000) and
Agent Under Fire (2001). He was officially referred to as "Q" in
Die Another Day (2002) following Llewelyn's death in 1999. In 2004, Cleese was featured as Q in the video game
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. Much like his predecessor, R is a consummate professional who is frequently annoyed by Bond's cavalier attitude. In
Die Another Day, Bond at first refers to R as "Quartermaster" but, silently impressed by the gadgets he is given, calls him "Q" at the end of their meeting. (The
Die Another Day DVD reveals that Bond initially saw R as an 'interloper', only awarding the proper title of 'Q' after R has proven himself.) According to an interview on the
Die Another Day DVD, Pierce Brosnan was very glad to rename Cleese's character 'Q', rather than 'R', because his native Irish accent made it difficult to pronounce 'R' with a convincing English accent. In the 007 video game,
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, Cleese's Q has an assistant, Miss Nagai, portrayed by
Misaki Ito.
Featured in Films: •
The World Is Not Enough (1999) (as R) •
Die Another Day (2002) (as Q) Video games; •
007: The World Is Not Enough (2000) (as R) •
007 Racing (2000) (as R) •
Agent Under Fire (2001) (as R) •
Everything or Nothing (2004) •
007 Scene It (board game)
Ben Whishaw: 2012–present , the incumbent actor in the role, in
Skyfall|alt= The character of Q did not appear in 2006's
Casino Royale or its sequel,
Quantum of Solace (2008).
Bond actor
Daniel Craig expressed concern over the character's absence, and expressed his hope that Q would return in
Skyfall. In November 2011, it was announced that British actor
Ben Whishaw had been cast in the role. Bond first meets Q in front of the painting
The Fighting Temeraire at the
National Gallery in
London, where he at first expresses disbelief at the relative youth of his new quartermaster, but the two quickly earn each other's respect. In
Skyfall, Q's gadgets were comparatively simple, consisting of a miniaturized radio and a gun coded to Bond's palmprint so only Bond can fire it. When Bond appears disappointed, Q says, "Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go in for that anymore," in reference to a miniature grenade featured in
GoldenEye. Q is demonstrated to be highly knowledgeable on the subject of computer security to the point where he designed some of the most sophisticated security protocols in existence. As with Llewelyn's Q, he also gets frustrated with Bond's knack for damaging or destroying the gadgets at the end of
Skyfall his canonical
Aston Martin DB5 is burned out in the final showdown with
Raoul Silva (
Javier Bardem). In
Spectre, Q injects Bond with "smart blood" which will allow MI6 to track him at all times. He then shows off an
Aston Martin DB10 to Bond only to disappoint him by revealing it was reassigned to 009. He provides Bond with a new watch, while hinting the alarm is "rather loud" (eventually revealed to be explosive in the film's climax). He also oversees the restoration of Bond's Aston Martin DB5 after the events of
Skyfall. Bond asks Q to help him disappear during his downtime; despite initial reluctance, Q agrees and helps Bond. Bond later steals (and ultimately destroys) the DB10, much to Q's dismay, although he still covers for him when M (
Ralph Fiennes) asks Q where Bond has gone. Similar to Q's assistance to Bond in 1989's
Licence to Kill, Q travels to Austria to help him in the field independent of MI6. While there, he outruns
SPECTRE agents after a ring he eventually decodes, revealing the organisation's existence. Q returns to London to assist
Eve Moneypenny (
Naomie Harris) and M in foiling corrupt MI6 bureaucrat Max Denbeigh (
Andrew Scott)'s launch of the
Nine Eyes intelligence network. At the end he provides Bond with his remodeled Aston Martin DB5. In
No Time to Die, it is implied that Q is
gay when Bond and Moneypenny interrupt him preparing a romantic dinner for another man. He provides Bond and
00 agent Nomi (
Lashana Lynch) with a watch that generates an electromagnetic pulse and a portable radar mapping device, and instructs them on how to operate the "stealthy bird", a small submersible jet aircraft, before they infiltrate villain Lyutsifer Safin (
Rami Malek)'s hideout. Q keeps in contact with Bond during the mission, and patches him through to his love interest
Madeleine Swann (
Léa Seydoux) after he decides to sacrifice his life to keep Swann and their daughter Mathilde safe. Q later joins M, Moneypenny, Nomi, and
Bill Tanner (
Rory Kinnear) in a toast to Bond's memory at the end of the film.
Featured in •
Skyfall (2012) •
Spectre (2015) •
No Time to Die (2021)
Non-Eon films Geoffrey Bayldon: 1967 In the 1967 version of
Casino Royale, Q is portrayed by
Geoffrey Bayldon, but instead of outfitting James Bond, he provides gadgets for
Evelyn Tremble (who is portrayed by
Peter Sellers). In the film, Q is assisted by Fordyce (
John Wells). The sequence parodies the regular series' outfitting, and features Q presenting Tremble with an elaborate
bullet-proof vest, laden with preposterous features ("a
Beretta in the buttonhole, and a cute little mini-gun in the gusset").
Featured in •
Casino Royale (1967)
Alec McCowen: 1983 In the 1983 film
Never Say Never Again, Bond received his gadgets from a man (played by
Alec McCowen) he referred to as Algernon and Algy. His opening line is "Nice to know old Q can still surprise you 00s". In sharp contrast to the personality of Q in Eon film series, Algy hopes to hear about "lots of sex and violence" from James Bond following his mission. In the closing credits, he is named as "Q" Algy. Q Branch itself is depicted as underfunded and ramshackle compared to the high-tech surroundings of the Eon films.
Featured in •
Never Say Never Again (1983) ==Legacy==