Bond, James Bond

　　Callum:  Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment.

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　　This week sees the release of the 21  Bond film, Casino Royale and it's the

　　first film to star actor Daniel Craig as the British Secret Service spy 007.

　　James Bond was the creation of author Ian Fleming who wrote 13 Bond novels

　　as well as a number of short stories featuring Bond between 1953 and 1964, the

　　year in which he died. Fleming had worked in intelligence during the Second

　　World War and this was the background and experience he called upon in his

　　books.

　　Ian Fleming was also a keen ornithologist 1, an ornithologist is someone whose

　　hobby is watching birds, and he wrote most of his books in his house in the

　　West Indian island of Jamaica. He took the name of the character James Bond,

　　from the real name of a writer of a book called 'Birds of the West Indies'.

　　It's one of the many pieces of Bond trivia that in the film Die Another Day the

　　actor Pierce Brosnan, playing Bond, is seen holding a copy of the book while

　　pretending to be an ornithologist.

　　Pierce Brosnan was the fifth actor to play the role of the super spy and as the

　　actors have had to change over the years, so have the plot lines and stories.

　　The world is a very different place to what is was in 1962 when the first Bond

　　film Dr. No was released and the films have reflected that and evolved and

　　reflected contemporary events. Here's writer and critic Kim Newman. How

　　does he describe the way the Bond movies have dealt with issues from the real

　　world?

　　Kim Newman

　　Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

　　inflated 2, exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing 3 with

　　communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological 4 maniacs 5 and

　　we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers 6, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

　　villains 7 and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

　　terrorists.

　　Callum:  He said that the issues of the real world have been dealt with in a slightly

　　inflated and exaggerated way. An inflated and exaggerated way which means

　　larger than life, more dramatic than reality. A few of the things mentioned are

　　communism, technological maniacs – people with advanced technology who

　　have mad plans to take over the world, technological maniacs. There have also

　　been attempts in the films to deal with more realistic issues such as drug

　　dealers, arms dealers, people who sell weapons and mercenaries. A mercenary

　　is a soldier who works not for a country but for whoever pays him, a hired

　　soldier – a mercenary. He says that now Bond will have to face the threat of

　　terrorism. He will have to 'go up against' terrorists. To 'go up against' is a

　　multi-word verb which means to confront, to challenge and fight, to go up

　　against. Listen again

　　Kim Newman

　　Over the years Bond's dealt with whatever we've dealt with in the real world but in a slightly

　　inflated, exaggerated way. I'm going back into the books in the 50s, they start dealing with

　　communism, that's the big trouble. In the 1960s it's out of control technological maniacs and

　　we've had a few attempts to do mercenaries, drug dealers, arms dealers, sort of more realistic

　　villains and now I suppose we're going to have to look forward to Bond going up against

　　terrorists.

　　Callum:  Over the years Bond has covered the cold war, the space race, nuclear threats

　　and dangers connected with the rise of information technology. The films have

　　become well-known for special effects and special gadgets 8 – gadgets, tools and

　　devices that Bond uses like the watch with a laser built in, the invisible car and

　　exploding toothpaste.

　　What about the new Bond and the new film? Well I don't know, I haven't had

　　the chance to see it yet, but from what I've heard it's tougher, more realistic and

　　there are fewer gadgets. I'm certainly looking forward to catching 9 it and

　　hearing a new actor say the immortal 10 line, the name's Bond, James Bond.