Mr 7000+ said:
Boothroyd wasn't Q. He didn't even work in Q branch. All he did was hand over a walther ppk as opposed to Bond using the Berreta.
Hmmm, I was always under the impression that Major Boothroyd was Q, seems I'm not the only person to think so:-
http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/allies/q.php3 :-
'
Q - Major Boothroyd (Desmond Llewelyn)
Profile
Character: Q (Major Boothroyd)
Actor: Desmond Llewelyn
Movie: From Russia With Love -> Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun -> The World Is Not Enough.
Age: Late 60's, Early 70's
Appearence: White Hair, medium complexion, medium build, is often wearing a white lab coat, but seems to be against wearing stylish suits
Status: Retired
Most memorable quotes:
Bond: Have I ever let you down?
Q: On numerous occasions.
"Oh, grow up, 007..."
"Don't touch that! That's my lunch."
Personality
Q would fit the description of a mad inventor, he has a rather short temper towards James Bond's juvenile and cavalier attitude towards his gadgets. He has a poor sense in fashion, and often prefers to wear his white lab coat, he also appears to have no interests in women, as was displayed during the Octopussy mission when he was being crowded over with women, he seemed to have no time for their games. Q appears to have a very limited sense of humour apart from the odd remark or practical joke. His only interest seems to be working and inventing gadgets for MI6, he is a very loyal ally to Her Majesty The Queen.
Involvement
Q has been fitting out 00 agents with bizarre and often very useful gadgets ever since the first mission - Dr No. Several times Q has been sent out on the field, on the Thunderball mission he was sent to the Bahamas, he also personally delivered Little Nellie to Bond in Japan. On one rare occasion has Q actually had fun on a field assignment to Las Vegas, where he used a gadget to give himself instant pay outs on the slot machines. On three occasions Q has set up a makeshift laboratory during The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and Octopussy. '
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond) :-
'
Major Boothroyd
The ancestry of the Q character is rather complicated. In the Fleming novels there are frequent references to 'Q Branch', with a reference to "Q's craftsmen" in
From Russia with Love. In the sixth novel,
Dr. No, the service
armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, a firearms expert who lived in
Glasgow, Scotland. He had written to him suggesting that Bond was not using the best firearms available. Boothroyd is also referenced occasionally in the Bond novels of
John Gardner, but the author preferred instead to focus on a new character (see "Other Qs", below).
In the films, Major Boothroyd first appears in
Dr. No and later in
From Russia with Love, although played by different actors. Beginning in
Goldfinger and in each film thereafter Major Boothroyd is most often referred to as Q, however, in
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) he is referred once again as Major Boothroyd in dialogue. Some sources, most notably the 1980s James Bond 007
role-playing game suggested that Boothroyd's first name was Geoffrey (the real Boothroyd's given name), although no first name was ever mentioned in the novels or on screen. In the non-canonical
James Bond Jr. cartoon series, Boothroyd's grandson was Horace Boothroyd III, suggesting that Major Boothroyd was also named Horace.
Desmond Llewelyn as Major Boothroyd
Q (a.k.a. Major Boothroyd)
GenderMaleRoleAllyAffiliationMI6Current statusRetired
Portrayed byDesmond Llewelyn
Due to scheduling conflicts, Peter Burton was unavailable to reprise his role as Boothroyd in
From Russia with Love (1963) and was replaced by
Desmond Llewelyn, who would continue to play the role, with the exception of
Live and Let Die (which did not feature the character at all), in every James Bond film until his death in 1999.
In the series, Boothroyd was preparing to retire during the events of
The World Is Not Enough (1999) and has clearly retired by the time of
Die Another Day (2002), but it was not indicated on screen whether the character has since died. In the
Playstation game
007 Racing (2000), the character R (voiced by John Cleese) specifically says:
Q could drive better than that, and he's dead!.
In the James Bond films, the relationship between Q and Bond is one of fatherly exasperation (
"Oh, do grow up, 007!") met with adolescent indifference. The exception is during
From Russia with Love, Llewelyn's Bond debut, in which he simply introduces the gadgets, then makes sure Bond knows how to work the booby-trapped briefcase catches. The relationship was established by director
Guy Hamilton in
Goldfinger, when he explained to Llewelyn that he didn't want Q to actually
like Bond, since the agent tended to abuse and destroy Q's gadgets when in the field.
The gadgets supplied by Q are almost invariably destroyed as a result of Bond's use of them, and Q is constantly exhorting Bond to take better care of them and to occasionally read the instruction manual. Before introducing any new gadgets, Q is nearly always quoted as saying: "
Now pay attention, 007." Bond usually responds by displaying an instant mastery of whatever device Q hands to him.
In addition to the tech laboratories, Q occasionally meets Bond in the field to deliver some equipment or to personally handle some specialized devices to assist Bond. This goes so far as in
Octopussy, where Q aids him getting onto the cult's island and gives some help in the final battle, and in
Licence to Kill (1989), where Q sides with Bond, supplying him with gadgetry and even helping him operationally despite Bond's having resigned from the British Secret Service.'
From 'Secret Service FAQ'
http://www.mjnewton.demon.co.uk/bond/jbssfaq.htm
' Q is the designation given to the Armourer of the Secret Service in the movies. This is based on the term "Quartermaster", the head of an army department controlling the supply of equipment. This is confirmed in Die Another Day when Bond refers to the new Q in this way. In The Spy Who Loved Me, Desmond Llewelyn's Q is named as Major Boothroyd, the name of the Armourer in Fleming's novels. His successor, played by John Cleese, has not yet been named. '
James Bond Multimedia - http://www.jamesbondmm.co.uk/mi6-officials/peter-burton.php:-
'Peter Burton playing Major Boothroyd
Born in Bromley, England on 4th May 1921
Starred In Dr No (1962)
film information
Major Boothroyd played by Peter Burton only appears in Dr No. Whilst giving Bond his briefing, M asks Miss Moneypenny to send in the armourer. Boothroyd tells Bond that he should use the new Walther PPK from now on rather than his usual Beretta as the PPK has much greater stopping power.
character information
In Dr No Major Boothroyd is a formal, serious character that grills Bond on the ineffectiveness of the Beretta, and praises the new Walther PPK. Due to the limited screen time of the character, little else is learnt.
other information
Peter Burton would only appear in Dr No, as when Burton was unavailable for From Russia With Love, the legendary Desmond Llewelyn would take the role of Major Boothroyd, alias Q'.
So, maybe you know something that we don't?...........
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