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Bill Tanner | |
---|---|
James Bond character | |
Created by | Ian Fleming |
Portrayed by | Michael Goodliffe (1974) James Villiers (1981) Michael Kitchen (1995–1999) Rory Kinnear (2008–2021) |
In-universe information | |
Full name | William Tanner |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Chief of Staff |
Affiliation | MI6 |
Nationality | British |
Classification | Ally |
William Tanner is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel series. Tanner is an employee of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) who acts as M's chief of staff.
In Ian Fleming's novels, Bill Tanner is MI6's chief of staff. He appears infrequently in the novels, but is a regular character in the later continuation series by John Gardner.
Described as a brisk, dark-haired man, and a former officer in the "Sappers" (Royal Engineers) (at "nearly their maximum height of 5'6"), Tanner appears to be one of Bond's only close friends in MI6; they lunch together occasionally, and he is generally sympathetic when Bond has been dressed down by M.
In 1965, Kingsley Amis wrote The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007, a tongue-in-cheek manual for prospective secret agents, illustrated with examples from Fleming's novels. For this work, Amis used the pseudonym "Lt. Colonel William ('Bill') Tanner".
Film | Year | Portrayed by |
---|---|---|
The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 | Michael Goodliffe (uncredited) [1] |
For Your Eyes Only | 1981 | James Villiers |
GoldenEye | 1995 | Michael Kitchen |
The World Is Not Enough | 1999 | |
Quantum of Solace | 2008 | Rory Kinnear |
Skyfall | 2012 | |
Spectre | 2015 | |
No Time to Die | 2021 |
In The Man with the Golden Gun , Bill Tanner is only seen briefly in the film and is not mentioned by name until the end credits. He appears in M's office with M and Colthorpe, discussing Francisco Scaramanga, who has sent a bullet to MI6 printed with Bond's ID number. He explains Scaramanga's fingerprints on the bullet were verified by the CIA, and that Scaramanga is attempting to provoke a battle with MI6. This leads to Bond being sent to find Scaramanga.
In For Your Eyes Only , Bill Tanner (now played by James Villiers due to Michael Goodliffe's death in 1976) is given a bigger role, as Bernard Lee, who played M, had died. [2] Tanner is shown wearing an Old Wykehamist tie. He gives Bond his assignment (along with Sir Fredrick Gray), which sends him to find Hector Gonzales. Bond is unable to get information from Gonzales later on because Melina Havelock kills him after Bond is captured. Tanner then gets upset at Bond for not getting any information and letting Melina murder Gonzales. Tanner is last seen at the end of the film, when he connects the Prime Minister and Bond by phone. Unknown to Tanner and the Prime Minister, Bond is not there and it is merely a talking parrot that ends up "flirting" with the Prime Minister. In Octopussy , the role of M was recast with Robert Brown, so Tanner did not appear. [2]
In GoldenEye , Tanner is only briefly seen in the Situation Room when the GoldenEye weapon is set off. Tanner calls the new M "the Evil Queen of Numbers," unaware that she is right behind him. As Michael Kitchen was unable to reprise his role for Tomorrow Never Dies , the character of Charles Robinson was created in his stead. [2]
In The World Is Not Enough , Tanner is seen at the Scotland MI6 building debriefing the agents on the murder of Sir Robert King, father of Elektra King. When Bond comes to the conclusion that the terrorist Renard is behind the murder, Tanner is seen talking about what Renard can do or is planning to do. He is only seen again twice, when Elektra, the true mastermind of her father's murder, contacts M to draw her in to be kidnapped, and finally at the end of the film as R is attempting to find Bond.
Tanner had never been considered a regular cinematic character until 2008's Quantum of Solace where he was first played by Rory Kinnear who reprised the role of Tanner in Skyfall , Spectre , and No Time to Die . [3] Kinnear also voices Tanner and provides his likeness for the 2010 remake of the GoldenEye game and the original games James Bond 007: Blood Stone and 007 Legends .
Q is a character in the James Bond films and novelisations. Q is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service charged with oversight of top secret field technologies.
The World Is Not Enough is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an original story and screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Bruce Feirstein. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. The title is the translation of the motto on the Bond family coat of arms, first seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
M is a codename held by a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series; the character is the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service for the agency known as MI6. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-four films. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by four actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, the incumbent; in the two independent productions, M was played by John Huston, David Niven and Edward Fox.
The Man with the Golden Gun is the twelfth and final novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series and thirteenth Bond book overall. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the UK on 1 April 1965, eight months after the author's death. The novel was not as detailed or polished as the others in the series, leading to poor but polite reviews. Despite that, the book was a best-seller.
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a first-person shooter video game in the James Bond franchise, developed by EA Los Angeles and published by Electronic Arts. The player takes the role of an ex-MI6 agent, who is recruited by Auric Goldfinger to assassinate his rival Dr. No. Several other characters from the Bond franchise make appearances throughout the game, including Pussy Galore, Oddjob, Xenia Onatopp and Francisco Scaramanga.
The World Is Not Enough is a first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and based on the 1999 James Bond film of the same name. It was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Nintendo 64 on October 17, 2000, shortly before the release of its PlayStation counterpart. The game features a single-player campaign in which players assume the role of secret agent James Bond as he fights to stop a terrorist from triggering a nuclear meltdown in the waters of Istanbul. It includes a split-screen multiplayer mode where up to four players can compete in different types of deathmatch and objective-based games.
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond novel and film version of The Man with the Golden Gun. Scaramanga is an assassin who kills with his signature weapon, a pistol made of solid gold. In the novel, the character is nicknamed "Pistols" Scaramanga and is also called "Paco". In the film, the character was played by Christopher Lee.
Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character portraying the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game GoldenEye 007.
The Man with the Golden Gun is a 1974 spy film and the ninth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's posthumously published 1965 novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a breakthrough technological solution to contemporary energy shortages, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.
For Your Eyes Only is a 1981 spy film directed by John Glen and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. The film stars Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, and co-stars Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson and Julian Glover.
The Book of Bond or, Every Man His Own 007 is a book by Kingsley Amis which was first published by Jonathan Cape in 1965. For this work, Amis used the pseudonym Lt.-Col. William ("Bill") Tanner. In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, Bill Tanner is M's chief of staff and a recurring character throughout the series.
Rory Michael Kinnear is an English actor. He won two Olivier Awards, both at the National Theatre, in 2008 for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode, and for playing the William Shakespeare villain Iago in Othello in 2014.
007: Quantum of Solace is a 2008 shooter video game published by Activision. Based on the James Bond films Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008), it was developed by Treyarch for PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360 and by Beenox for Microsoft Windows and Wii, and is mostly played as a first-person shooter, with occasional switches to third-person. Eurocom developed a similar version for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), played solely as a third-person shooter, while Vicarious Visions developed an entirely different version for the Nintendo DS, which is also played from a third-person perspective.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii, with a handheld version for Nintendo DS developed by n-Space. It is a modern reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye as well as a remake of the 1997 video game of the same name, developed for the earlier Nintendo 64 console. The game was officially announced by Nintendo at their E3 2010 conference presentation. The game was released on 2 November 2010 in tandem with another James Bond game, Blood Stone, which was also released for the DS, but not the Wii. Nintendo, the publisher of the Nintendo 64 game, published the Wii version in Japan the following summer, where it remains Wii-exclusive. It was the fifth James Bond game developed by Eurocom and their second under Activision, after the PlayStation 2 version of 007: Quantum of Solace two years prior.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a 2010 third-person shooter video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the 24th game in the James Bond series and is the first game since James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing to have an original story, set between Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012). The game was confirmed by Activision on 16 July 2010 and was released on 2 November 2010 in North America and released on 5 November 2010 in Europe. Activision's remake of GoldenEye 007 was released on the same day respectively in each region. Blood Stone features the voices and likenesses of Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Joss Stone.
007 Legends is a first-person shooter video game featuring the character of British secret agent James Bond. It was developed by Eurocom and first released by Activision in October 2012 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with Microsoft Windows and Wii U versions releasing later that year. The Wii U release of the game was cancelled in Australia and the game was removed from all digital storefronts in January 2013.