From Russia with Warmest Regards
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Wonder if there’s a crossover looming with His Dark Materials…
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Memorandum sent 25/6/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
Dear colleagues,
Death is a given in this life. In MI6 it is an eventuality that we prepare our field agents for, as best we are able. Out there, in foreign theatres, we operate with the understanding that, despite all our precautions, things may go wrong. What we don’t expect is Death’s scythe to swing in our own back yard.
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to M. As you will know by now, M passed away last week, a heart attack, in his local Greggs. The absurdist nature of his final moments would have appealed to him. I remember his first words to me when I joined Q Branch more than two decades ago, sat behind his desk, smoking his customary pipe. ‘There are two kinds of operatives here, Q. Those who stay in the shadows and those who cast them. Guess which one you are?’ M was a tyrant, a father confessor, and one of the finest men I have ever known. We shall miss him.
So, what now? I am told that the new M will be in post within the week. In the meantime it is business as usual. Later this week we will be testing the Penetrator, our laser-guided titanium crossbow. As you know, I am not entirely convinced as to the field-utility of this particular weapon, but it was a project close to M’s heart and so we shall continue as planned. No doubt the likes of 007 will find some use for it. I just don’t want to be in the vicinity when he does.
Finally, congratulations to DAVID N. for correctly ascertaining the answer to the puzzle in my previous memo, and for being fortunate enough to be picked at random from all the correct entries. The answer, of course, was WALTHER PPK, the name of the gun that I gave James Bond before his Dr. No mission. Below you will find this edition’s puzzle. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Major Boothroyd
Head of Q Branch
P.S. Here is this edition’s puzzle. One ‘winner’ shall be picked at random from all correct entries and will be mentioned in my following memo. MI6 Archives shall rustle up a book to send to you* Pot luck, I’m afraid! Fill in this form to enter… This month’s puzzle is as follows:
Who was the first actor to play M in the James Bond films?
*UK entrants only, alas!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLU5tc3R4Ze/
Book teaser.
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This is becoming most eccentric.
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Memorandum sent 18/7/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
Dear colleagues,
With the new M now firmly in place, it is back to business as usual here at Q Branch. Many of you will have noticed the arrival this week of half a dozen assorted robots, varying from vaguely humanoid in form to distinctly canine. Creative naming is already underway with early offerings including Mrs Thatcher, Bono and Lassie. Our unusual guests are, of course, part of a new programme of testing, to determine the threat level posed by the advent of so-called ‘social robots’.
Social robots are already active in many theatres. Tens of thousands have been deployed in school settings, in care homes and in military environments. Increasingly, humankind is moving past its fear of a ‘Terminator Armageddon’, the idea that we might all be slaughtered in our beds by robots that resemble Austrian bodybuilders in stolen leather jackets and bad haircuts.
But the truth is that there is much to fear. Robots are, essentially, a mass of circuitry powered by artificial intelligence. They can be hacked. They can be re-tasked to perform nefarious acts. And then there is the ultimate horror scenario. The word ‘robot’ comes from the Czech word robata meaning forced servitude. How long until intelligent robots decide they’ve have enough of serving their ‘meat-sack’ human masters, inferior in almost every respect? And what will we do about it when that time comes? A question that it is now our job to answer. After all, as 007 pointed out to me just yesterday, you cannot incapacitate a robot by ‘kicking it in the bollocks’.
Finally, congratulations to ANDREW W.for correctly ascertaining the answer to the puzzle in my previous memo, and for being fortunate enough to be picked at random from all the correct entries. The answer, of course, was BERNARD LEE. Below you will find this edition’s puzzle. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Major Boothroyd
Head of Q Branch
P.S. Here is this edition’s puzzle. One ‘winner’ shall be picked at random from all correct entries and will be mentioned in my following memo. MI6 Archives shall rustle up a book to send to you* Pot luck, I’m afraid! Fill in this form to enter… This month’s puzzle is as follows:
In the 1951 science fiction film, The Day The Earth Stood Still*, an alien visitor named Klaatu has a robot companion. What was its name?*
*UK entrants only, alas!
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I sense a Magnus, Rob007-Fighter spinoff…
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And I am old enough to get that reference. I used to collect Gold Key Tarzan and Magnus: Robot Fighter comic books in my elementary school days.
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Totally the hoot. And of course we know the proper method to incapacitate a robot is to karate-chop its neck…
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I do feel unaimed at by all this.
Perhaps that’s fair enough.
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Same here. Not only do I feel unaimed at, I also struggle to think of a possible target audience. Young adults? Old kids? Very old completists? Dentist waiting room walk-ins?
These days the market researchers and business consultants from E&Y and similar tribes tend to use Venn diagrams to get across their point to the very dim. But for this Q-thingy that diagram must look more like a guinea fowl run over by a lorry. There are overlapping areas - but mainly blood and innards…
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There is no target audience. This is all and only about securing IP. It’s an investment into the future. If they print a few thousands of these, they’re able to pay the costs from petty cash if they don’t sell. The main thing is the copyright and the IP, should the Bezoes come up with the idea of a Q spinoff series. Their old pals from Eon – who were always so unwilling to go for this kind of stuff – are gone now. But now, there’s a much bigger cow to milk, and those guys are yearning for content. And this one is going to come with a pedigree. “Ian Fleming’s Q”, “Ian Fleming’s Double-O Section”, Ian Fleming’s Moneypenny" etc.
Can’t wait for the first season of “Ian Flemming’s May – Confessions of a Secret Agent’s Housekeeper”. Hope it’s going to have an R rating (at least). 
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Waiting on Amazon to launch the crime drama Ian Fleming Presents The Spang Brothers to compete with HBO’s The Penguin followed shortly by a series featuring Mr. Sanguinetti and the exploits at his hotel.
Might as well. Amazon, like any successful company, moves with the trends. And the trend right now is Bond without Bond.
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“Ian Fleming’s Fawcett Files – Road to a Morris Minor”
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I’d be down for some May action, bout time she was brought back in. 
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We need May in the films!!
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Most of all, we need to reveal her secret daughter May Day and how the two of them kept undermining SIS operations for decades…
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News. After a fashion…
Memorandum sent 30/7/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
To our agents in the field,
This just in from the Chief of Staff: apparently we have an issue with agents not making use of their full PTO allowance. Really, I know that we’re all dedicated to our various roles here at HQ, and it can be hard to ‘unplug’ when the fate of one’s country hangs in the balance, but experience shows us that the most effective agents are those that are well-rested – not overworked! Everyone needs a trip to Shrublands once in a while.
Please do make sure to book in some time away from your desks to recharge this summer, and might I suggest a rejuvenating trip to the country? I’ve just had the pleasure of a jaunt over to Hampshire, where I called in at Mottisfont – the National Trust-run former home of Maud Russell, friend of Ian Fleming. The house and grounds are truly stunning, and they currently have an exhibition that celebrates 60 years of Fleming’s classic children’s adventure Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with original artwork from John Burningham, Steve Antony and Thomas Gilbert.
A reminder that the full eBook of The Hook and the Eye is out now, and a beautiful paperback edition is coming in October. Want to know more? Agent Raymond Benson was recently interviewed by the Ian Fleming Publications team, and you can read their conversation here. Benson has also been releasing a video series called Hooked on Leiter which deep dives into his story, and shares behind-the-scenes information about his research and writing process.
Looking ahead to the autumn, tickets are now available for the following events that our agents will be involved in:
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September 26th – Charlie Higson at Barnes Bookfest
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October 7th – Vaseem Khan at Henley Literary Festival
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October 23rd – Charlie Higson at Frinton Literary Festival
I’ve been using one of the new Ian Fleming Notebooks to keep track of my upcoming engagements – they’re now available in a number of cover finishes: Black, Burgundy or Navy Leather, and Orange, Bottle Green or Gunmetal Grey Heritage Buckram.
Finally, if you’re quick you can secure a 25% discount on pre-ordering Quantum of Menace from Waterstones, by using the code SUMMER25 at the checkout. Be aware that this offer ends tomorrow.
Happy holidays,
Miss Moneypenny
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A fascinating locution. Thank you Jim.
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News, again…
Memorandum sent 15/8/2025
Classification: Gold level (For Your Eyes Only)
Dear colleagues,
Transportation is a vital part of any field operation and at Q Branch we pride ourselves on provisioning our Double Os with the appropriate vehicles for the task at hand. Of course, the definition of the word ‘appropriate’ tends to vary between agents. 007, in particular, seems to believe a mission-oriented vehicle equates to anything that can move him from A to B while wreaking unbridled carnage upon the intervening landscape.
We will shortly be receiving a selection of new vehicles, each of which will require specific modifications. One is reminded of the veritable fleet of Bentleys that 007 has retired over the years, kitted out with machine guns, tyre slashers, smoke dispensers and, in one memorable instance, a water jet that fired, for a reason that now escapes me, orange paint. (Personally, I have always been rather fond of the Caterham Seven.) It goes without saying that any such modifications requested by our agents will require approval from myself.
I am further reminded of a joint MI6-CIA mission from the 1950s: Operation Stopwatch. The op was intended to intercept Soviet communications at their army HQ in Berlin, the Russians at the time being considered somewhat bellicose. (As compared to the pussycats they are now.) As part of the mission MI6 purchased a Mercedes-Benz 170S Cabriolet for their man in Berlin: agent Howard Greville. Greville pottered about the city in said vehicle gathering intelligence. And that’s it. No explosions. No high-speed car chases. How I long for the modern field agent to demonstrate a similar pragmatism!
Finally, congratulations to JAMIE A. for correctly ascertaining the answer to the puzzle in my previous memo, and for being fortunate enough to be picked at random from all the correct entries. The answer, of course, was GORT. Below you will find this edition’s puzzle. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Major Boothroyd
Head of Q Branch
P.S. Here is this edition’s puzzle. One ‘winner’ shall be picked at random from all correct entries and will be mentioned in my following memo. MI6 Archives shall rustle up a book to send to you* Pot luck, I’m afraid! Fill in this formto enter… This month’s puzzle is as follows:
Which car from a famous film am I referring to below? Tell us the make of the car!)
A white-haired wizard conquers time,
Deploying a four-wheeled chariot of grand design,
On a young apprentice he does rely,
To travel to past and future, where skateboards fly.
*UK entrants only, alas
One is reminded of the veritable fleet of Bentleys that 007 has retired over the years, kitted out with machine guns, tyre slashers, smoke dispensers…
One wonders when exactly it was Earth fell through a wormhole into a distant dimension where Bond’s Bentleys were decked out with all of the Eon film paraphernalia? Or why Major Boothroyd - any Major Boothroyd - would slip with such a fact…
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I feel lost.
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