Kim Sherwood's A Spy Like Me had its official launch on Saturday 27th April at Dukes Hotel in London. The event was a collaboration between 007GB - The British James Bond Fan Club, Ian Fleming Publications Limited and Harper Collins. It was my pleasure to be not only an organiser but also the emcee for the evening. The centrepiece of the event was a conversation between Kim and me with a follow-up Q&A. This is a recording of that. I hope you enjoy it. More about the book A Spy Like...

On their most recent trip to Tokyo, David and Antony really didn’t expect to find themselves in a lesbian bar themed around James Bond. Nor could they quite believe it when the owner herself was up for being interviewed about her Bond fandom and how ‘women only’ carries a different meaning in Japanese culture. This interview was originally included in a podcast covering our whole trip to Japan, which you can find here: https://www.licencetoqueer.com/blog/welcome-to-japan

Well, they can't all be winners, eh? Antony and David dive into the second Warren Ellis/Jason Masters' "caper" Eidolon, which deals with dirty money and even dirtier duties as James and Tanner, er, torture a suspect by removing his skin (?!) to prevent the rise of a neo-SPECTRE. Listen to what the couple thought, along with thoughts from LTQ listener, on 2016's Eidolon from Dynamite Entertainment.

This episode is also available as a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T0oz1O9yjU Award-winning Bond author Kim Sherwood and Licence to Queer's David Lowbridge-Ellis sit down to watch together the Bond film appearances of Kim's grandfather, George Baker - the man who Fleming wanted to play Bond. More than a decade after his passing, George remains a household name in the UK, immediately familiar to generations of film and TV viewers - especially Bond fans. Although his screen time in...

Utilising the Licence to Queer queer view system (Bond, Allies, Girls, Villains, Camp), Antony and David tackle the first in Dynamite Entertainment's long line of James Bond comic books: Vargr by Warren Ellis and Jason Masters from late 2015.

We're launching a new mini-series on the Licence to Queer podcast feed and one which is going to be led by Antony Lowbridge-Ellis, David's (better) half. In this introductory episode, Antony, a life-long fan of the medium of comic books (see his X-Men podcast X-Nation) gives a bit of background on this new Licence to Queer project where Antony and David will review each arc, in order, of the James Bond comic books being published by Dynamite Entertainment. Before we get to Episode 001...

Antony and David debate the merits of the various Bond comic books published by Dynamite Entertainment, including the new run by Garth Ennis. As usual for the 'Our Month' series, they look back on the many ways Bond has intersected with their daily lives and the special events they've been involved with, including Jim Fanning Friday: Live and Let's Bow Tie and a Goldfinger celebration in a bank vault. They also get everyone up to speed with the events to come: Sir Hilary Bray Day and the...

Is this the most niche Bond podcast of all time? We hope so! And we guarantee you'll find it interesting! Artist Rosie Sherwood and me tackle the topic of tweed in Bond and find there's much more to it than just snazzy looking garments. Rosie is the grandaughter of Bond actor George Baker and costume designer Julia Squire, who worked with John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean and many others. And if the name Sherwood sounds familiar, that's because Rosie is the sister of Bond author Kim...

Antony and David take on the treasure-hunt experience across London with their friend Natasha Stone (aka The Red Vesper). What did they make of it? Join them before, during and after the adventure. (No spoilers)

With a drought on the Bond film front, why is everyone not quenching their thirst with the Bond books? Perhaps it's because, with more than 50 continuation stories published in the sixty years since Fleming's death, it can be hard knowing where to start. Setting each other the mission of proving the case that there's a Bond book for every mood and every taste, Licence to Queer's David Lowbridge-Ellis and Mark Edlitz, author of James Bond After Fleming, have each curated a list of seven 007...

Stephen Bourne saw Goldfinger in the cinema in 1964 as an ‘impressionable little gay boy’. Author of one of the first (if not the first) books to see Bond films queerly, Stephen reveals how his thinking about the ‘offensive’ characters in Bond has become more nuanced since he wrote the book - and urges everyone to keep a more open mind. Stephen is the author of Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema, published in 1996. To my knowledge, this is one of very first (if not the...

In the last two years, the Licence to Queer community raised almost £4,000 for charity. This year we’re raising money to support the vital work of a charity whose mission is close to our hearts: PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide. Very few people will not have been affected by suicide. One of my motivations for starting Licence to Queer was to do whatever I could to shatter the stigma surrounding suicide. Not only have I experienced suicidal thoughts for prolonged periods of my own life but...

Antony and David review a fully stocked 2023. Rather than retread things they've already talked about in detail on episodes of Our Month in Bond they instead choose one highlight from each month to elaborate on, sharing hitherto unheard stories. Their selections include book launches, film screenings, events, trips to Bond locations at home and abroad, charity fundraisers, awards and - most thrillingly of all - making new Bond friends. The episode ends by bringing the Our Month in Bond...

In the latest instalment of their popular series uncovering how Bond films developed through the scripting process, Tom Mason and David Lowbridge-Ellis set their gunbarrel sights on The World Is Not Enough. Early versions of the script reveal significantly different locations, different action sequences, different characters and different versions of the infamous gag which brings the film to its memorable climax! Previous episodes (available on YouTube and wherever you find podcasts) have...

Your hosts recount their trip to Buckingham Palace to pick up David's MBE, the climactic 007GB event of 2023 and their experience of David Arnold's intimate live gig. After making a Doctor Who-themed Martini, they run through Christmas gift ideas for Bond fans, the release of Mark Edlitz's new book and finish with a discussion of Bond-tangential media they have enjoyed, including the film Saltburn and a 'shaken not stirred' Super Mario video game. Your hosts will return before the end of the...

While Antony and David really enjoyed 007: Road to a Million and are looking forward to the next series, they both choose three things which they think could make the show even better for all audiences, including the hardcore James Bond fans. Contains spoilers for the whole series.

What did David and Antony think of the new game show on Amazon Prime? *Contains spoilers for the first two episodes* #007RoadtoaMillion

Antony and David reflect on another busy month which included David introducing a special screening of Casino Royale and interviewing six Bond authors at Pinewood Studios for Bondstars. They also discuss the Doctor Who connections with Bond (Doctor Who is celebrating its 60th anniversary), Halloween-related articles on the LTQ website, the Roger Moore auction and David receiving a very special item that once belonged to Roger Moore.

A bumper double episode, bringing you two months in one. We've both been so busy being 'problem eliminators' with our day jobs we didn't have chance to record at the end of August, so we saved it for now. We look back at the brilliant 007GB Club Belfry event in Birmingham, new editions of Bond novels for Global James Bond day, the excellent new Bond video game Cypher 007, our holiday plans to a classic Bond location and what's hot on the Licence to Queer website including new cocktail - the...

Benson’s Bond books updated 007's world for their period and were even ahead of their time in key ways. On the eve of the re-release of Zero Minus Ten, Raymond and I chat in detail about not just Bond but also other mutual passions, including Hitchcock, Hong Kong cinema and listening to The Beatles without earmuffs. As well as being a novelist, Raymond has been a theatre director, music composer, computer game creator and film historian. Although he’s now written over 40 books, 1997’s Zero...

What's up with Largo ordering champagne as his plot crashes and burns?! What's 'camp' about camp collars? A Dr Who reference?! Red rubber, really James? And are those mermaids in love???

With more girls than ever before, none of whom are in the mood for 'settling down' with anyone, Thunderball takes aim at heteronormativity.

Beginning with a full-on fight with a man in drag, Thunderball has some curiously queer villains, including asexual Vargas, piratical Largo and the fabulous femme fatale Fiona Volpe.

Thunderball features an early example of the ‘found family’ or ‘chosen family’ we typically associate with some of the Pierce Brosnan films and definitely the latter half of the Daniel Craig era. Those in the field include regulars Felix Leiter and Q, plus local contacts Paula and Pinder.