Quantum Of Friendship

Richard and Jonathan briefly react to Trump's election and distract themselves by naming people involved in Bond movies who they've met. They then get stuck into 1987's The Living Daylights which sees Timothy Dalton play 007 for the first time. With his gallant allies in the Taliban, he'll get the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan and beneficent Allah shall honour his-- Wait... Yes, this does appear to be a Bond movie where he teams up with the Mujahideen. What could be more timely than a film depicting the West and Islam working together?

One Moore Time for Roger Moore as James Bond and for Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. A View To A Kill marks the end of the Moore Era and also features. Christopher. Walken. As a Bond. Villain. His manic, machine-gunning, blimp-flying villainy is bemusing to Richard. Meanwhile Jonathan becomes far more amused by actresses with funny names, marking a new low point in his immaturity. Together, they (hopefully) bring an end to the recurring segment "Is It Rape or Not?" as the 1980s is possibly a more enlightened, feminist place for 007.

This may be our hilariously worst episode but fittingly it's about the worst Bond film that isn't technically a Bond film. Sean Connery's final outing as 007 sees him team up with producer Kevin McClory to remake Thunderball. You know what this means. Patricia Fearing is back. Jonathan concludes our segment "Is It Rape Or Not?" needs a broader definition to cover all sexual assault. Meanwhile Richard gets tired of 80s Bond movies but learns new things about the female vagina.

Is Imogen Poots a secret agent or has she undeservedly attracted the scorn of Anton Yelchin Truthers? Could Kubrick have directed the Beatles in Lord of the Rings? OR Richard's concept for "Space Pussy" where dogs battle moooooon cats? These and other questions relating to the James Bond series are explored in a special look at EON Production's documentary "Everything or Nothing". Jonathan takes us through a history of the production of Bond movies while Richard considers the life of the troubled man behind all of this; Ian Fleming.

The name's Pussy. Octopussy. The game's a nuclear bomb spelling catastrophe. The villain is explaining every detail of his plan to James Bond. Plane Fight! Wait a minute, a lot feels familiar in this sorta remake of Goldfinger. Yet Richard struggles to get a grasp of the plot while Jonathan discovers a new fetish for sitar-playing women. Together they face their most agonising installment of "Is It Rape Or Not?" yet. They also talk about Hitler for a bit.

Swinging 80s here we come with our milestone 20th episode taking an in-depth look at For Your Eyes Only. For your ears only, everything gets explored from the Fearing Effect to the Kuleshov Effect but thankfully not a teenage ice-skater's body. Our special edition of "Is It Rape or Not?" concludes that Bond does have a line he won't cross; the world of espionage is murky enough as it is without paedophilic entanglements. Jonathan is less than happy with the appearance of Lady Thatcher while Richard has even more complex feelings about how they wrap up Blofeld, not mentioned by name for copyright reasons. Seriously. Now that this is all typed out, this movie does sound strange.

A brief minisode on the current state of the 007 franchise. Jonathan ponders whether or not Craig will return for the next Bond film or if they will announce a new actor soon. Richard talks about a bigger problem; what studio will take over the rights to James Bond?

In a very special episode of our James Bond podcast, hear Richard and Jonathan react to the insanity of Moonraker in real time. Highlights of our live records usually fit into larger episodes but the clips here stand on their own, especially if you know the visuals they're seeing. Richard steers us clear of jokes already made by James Bonding while Jonathan concludes Jaws is better with women than Bond will ever be.

This is the movie where James Bond goes into space. No, really. This is a film that exists. Jonathan finds the stratospheric heights of this insane masterpiece surprisingly endearing. Richard finds the film's events on Earth to be no more grounded than the lazer-battle in space. This is crazier than all the previous films put together.

Swinging 70s here we come, with Roger Moore returning for The Spy Who Loved Me. Recorded during one of Ireland's most extreme heatwaves, Richard and Jonathan discuss one of the best-regarded Bond films. Jonathan reveals how Stanley Kubrick came in to light one of the sets some Sunday morning. Another set for the MI6 office shocks Richard for being the dumbest and most culturally-insensitive yet. And in this episode's very special edition "Is It Rape Or Not?" they explore whether Vin Diesel's Bond girl xXx had her way with Bond when she slipped him a roofie.

The classic J.W. Pepper film The Man With The Golden Gun sees Roger Moore return as James Bond. He may not be able to swing a threesome but he sure can deliver the most gloriously painful puns ever committed to cinema. The only match for the insane poshness of MI6 is a brilliant Bond villain turn from the late but ever-awesome Christopher Lee. For Richard, there's very little distinction between Bond parodies and entries to the actual canon such as this. Nevertheless, Jonathan considers this a favourite of his and explains why.

It's time for Moore Bond with Roger Moore's first appearance as Bond in the J.W. Pepper film Live And Let Die. To see a chap in the hood is a joyful concept but the execution of it leaves Jonathan a bit disappointed. Richard is more concerned with whether or not the magic of tarot psychics, racial hiveminds and invincible immortal cackling skeleton-men are now considered to be part of the Bond universe even if this is the only 007 film which hints at the supernatural.

We were somewhere outside Dublin, on the edge of the city, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember going through the plot of Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery's return to the Bond franchise. And suddenly there was a terrible roar, and a black woman turned into a gorilla and frightened small children without advancing the plot in Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming, "Holy Jesus! What is this goddamn movie?" Richard defends this film's incarnation of Blofeld from an under-impressed Jonathan, too preoccupied with allusions to Hunter S Thompson, imagining his red convertible speeding past Bond down the Nevada highway, making laboured similes as he goes like a flaming kebab warrior.

Richard and Jonathan enter a new phase in their journey through Bond films by looking at the Lazenby Era. All of it. In George Lazenby's only film as 007, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Richard talks us through the circumstances around replacing Sean Connery for one film and replacing Blofeld in every film. Jonathan is tantalised by the casting prospect of Fleming's original choice for Bond; George Baker. His portrayal of the swagga genealogist Sir Hilary Bray has to be cinema's greatest badass, providing an hour of George Lazenby's dubbing with captivating results.

You only post twice in one day. A swift successor to Thunderball sees Richard discuss why You Only Live Twice is his favourite Bond film. In an adjacent hot-tub, Jonathan ponders why Kissy Suzuki doesn't get her own Revenant-style movie because she clearly spent a long time walking and swimming through wilderness.

Trigger Warnings for rape and victim-blaming on this very special 10th episode which should really come with every Bond film. The imperialist psychopath James Bond is now inflicted upon the Bahamas; a necessary evil to avoid nuclear terrorist attacks? Richard weighs up the moral greyness of the situation while promoting the work of the Fearing Trust. The Fearing Effect itself, coined for infamous nurse Patricia Fearing, is considered by Jonathan who has some serious issues to work through on this episode.

Goldfinger. He may not be the first German to gas people in specially-designed rooms but he does stand out as one of the most iconic Bond villains. Jonathan fails to see why as the actor just seems schlubby, weird and unable to speak English, in spite of an interesting life story. Richard meanwhile considers this film even more sexually problematic than the Ian Fleming source material, in what has to be the most clear-cut edition of "Is It Rape Or Not"? yet. The strangeness continues to escalate in another classic Bond film.

Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond novels on which the 007 films are based, was a deeply flawed man. Of his era? Or deeply, deeply flawed? Richard and Jonathan explore whether this is an SJW hindsight issue or a "don't EVER use the words 'obedient child' in a sex scene" issue. They take turns reading directly from the original Fleming novels From Russia With Love and Goldfinger, accompanied by music from Yuval Ron, Sheila Chandra and NASA's Voyager Golden Record. Fleming's personal campness along with Christopher Hitchens' suggestion that he was a closet homosexual, make his homophobia, misogyny and racism all the more fascinating. Yet we have him to thank for the Bond franchise the world loves so well. That doesn't mean you won't want to wash out your ears after listening to this. Listener Discretion Advised.

The 7th episode of this 007 podcast looks at the 1963 hit "From Russia With Love". Reputedly the last film JFK saw before the brain containing the memory of it was splattered across the streets of Dallas. Jonathan takes us through some of the 'callbacks' to the Craig Era while Richard highlights why this is one of the best Bond films of all time.

It's back to the very beginning on this very special episode of Quantum of Friendship, discussing race, rape and radiation in "Dr. No". This is the first feature film in the James Bond canon, the first to star Sean Connery and the first to establish iconic Bond music, tropes and obnoxiousness towards anyone who isn't a white man. Yet this was shot when "Bond films" weren't a thing yet so some of the strange quieter moments are suggestive to Jonathan of a darker reading for the series. Richard takes us through the background of this first film and the recurring segment "Is It Rape Or Not?" returns to discuss how to treat a lady.