In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite.
According to World War II historian Damien Lewis in his book Churchill's Secret Warriors, agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) were given a "0" prefix when they became "zero-rated" upon completion of training in how to kill.
As part of his role as assistant to the head of naval intelligence, Rear Admiral John Godfrey (himself the inspiration for M), Fleming acted as liaison[1] to the SOE.
Another theory holds that Fleming, who at one time owned a house in St Margarets Bay outside Dover, was inspired by the local 007 bus route which ran between Canterbury and the Kent coast.
The 007 route still exists to this day, operated by National Express as a coach service between London Victoria train station and Dover.
In the first novel, Casino Royale, and the 2006 film adaptation, the 00 concept is introduced and, in Bond's words, means "that you've had to kill a chap in cold blood in the course of some assignment".
In the films, the 00 section is a discrete area of MI6, whose agents report directly to M, and tend to be sent on special assignments and troubleshooting missions, often involving rogue agents (from Britain or other countries) or situations where an "ordinary" intelligence operation uncovers or reveals terrorist or criminal activity too sensitive to be dealt with using ordinary procedural or legal measures, and where the aforementioned discretionary "licence to kill" is deemed necessary or useful in rectifying the situation.
As of 2021, Trevelyan and Nomi are the only 00 agents other than Bond to play a major role in an EON Productions film, with all other appearances either being brief or dialogue references only.
In the Sebastian Faulks novel Devil May Care, Bond girl Scarlett Papava is unveiled as 004,[5] replacing the previous agent who was killed in Berlin.
In Anthony Horowitz's continuation novel, set before the events of Casino Royale, an unnamed agent 007 is murdered, which leads to James Bond taking over the code-number in Forever and A Day,[5] thus marking his first ever assignment as a 00-agent.