I’ve written a several pieces on James Bond over the years. I’ll keep adding to this if and when there are others.
Mondo / Birth.Movies.Death James Bond Special
Three features for a special Birth.Movies.Death print magazine published and designed by Mondo to mark the release of No Time to Die. Delayed by Covid, as was the film, and was eventually rushed out just as BMD collapsed. I think it eventually reached people in April 2021. My articles were a ranking of the Roger Moore films, a comparison of Thunderball and its unofficial remake Never Say Never Again, and a thing about the actors who have ‘played’ Bond for audiobooks (there are quick interviews with Ian Ogilvy and David Rintoul in that one).
James Bond: From Page to Screen
A long Empire feature detailing the significant differences between James Bond’s adventures on film and as originally written by Ian Fleming.
James Bond’s Literary Afterlife
An Empire feature on all the James Bond novels written and published after the death of Ian Fleming. It was designed to coincide with the publication of Jeffery Deaver’s modern-day Bond thriller Carte Blanche, and includes an interview with Deaver. It was updated a couple of years later to include William Boyd’s Solo and Anthony Horowitz’s Trigger Mortis.
The Spy Who Loved Me: The Novelisation
The film of The Spy Who Loved Me pretty much shares only its title with the Ian Fleming novel. This is a piece about the other novel with that title, and what it reveals about the screenwriter and author Christopher Wood’s personal vision for Bond. I’ll get around to Moonraker at some point.
Drinking like James Bond: Casino Royale
This was supposed to be the first of a definitive series about everything Bond drinks in the Ian Fleming novels (and possibly the films too), with Bond research by me and drinking expertise from Andy Hamilton and Paul Fishman. Sadly, after much talk and excitement and a positive reception for part one, Andy and Paul could never quite get their arses in gear to do any more.
A History of James Bond Video Games
For the September 2021 issue of Wireframe magazine. Later recycled online when Wireframe became Whynow Gaming.
With the news that Radiohead would not, as had been rumoured, be providing the Spectre theme – Sam Smith having won the gig – this is a feature about other Bond themes that didn’t get as far as the opening titles. Alice Cooper’s The Man With The Golden Gun, Blondie’s For Your Eyes Only, Johnny Cash’sThunderball, Ace of Base’s GoldenEye and Saint Etienne’s Tomorrow Never Dies all get an airing.
A rundown of all the Bond themes up to and including Adele’s godawful Skyfall.
When the first pictures of Javier Bardem’s Skyfall baddie Silva were revealed, I was asked to write this piece on the previous Bond villains. It was supposed to be sartorially angled. I’ve only ever dressed like Evan Dando since about 1992 so I was arguably not the man for that job… but I think I just about got away with it.
A feature about actresses whose careers weren’t subsequently defined by their having been a ‘Bond girl’, or who managed to escape that tag. This one was sparked by the release of David Fincher’s Gone Girl, in which Rosamund Pike has the female lead.
A thing about variant international Bond posters. This would have been a lot better if we’d been allowed to use all the images we wanted. But Dorling Kindersley, whose book we were drawing from, would only release eight.
Everything You Need to Know About Spectre
A pre-release clickbait Empire feature on Daniel Craig’s fourth Bond. One of those things written when nobody really knows very much at all but you’re trying to catch Google searches.
Owen Williams 