M (James Bond)
After Fleming's death, Godfrey complained "He turned me into that unsavoury character, M."[1] Other possible inspirations include Lieutenant Colonel Sir Claude Dansey, the deputy head of MI6 and head of the wartime Z network, who achieved different interpretations of his character from those who knew him: Malcolm Muggeridge thought him "the only professional in MI6",[2] while Hugh Trevor-Roper considered Dansey to be "an utter shit, corrupt, incompetent, but with a certain low cunning".
While Fleming was young, his mother was certainly one of the few people he was frightened of, and her sternness toward him, her unexplained demands, and her remorseless insistence on success find a curious and constant echo in the way M handles that hard-ridden, hard-killing agent, 007.
[10] Over the course of twelve novels and two collections of short stories, Fleming provided a number of details relating to M's background and character.
[12] Although his pay is good for the 1950s and 1960s, it is never explained how M received or can afford his membership at Blades, an upscale private club for gentlemen he frequents in London to gamble and dine.
[16] The later continuation books, written by John Gardner, retain Sir Miles Messervy as M, who protects Bond from the new, less aggressive climate in the Secret Service, saying that at some point Britain will need "a blunt instrument".
[26] Out of respect, no new actor was hired to assume the role and, instead, the script was re-written so that the character is said to be on leave, with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or the Minister of Defence, Sir Frederick Gray.
[35] In No Time to Die (2021), Brown's M is briefly seen in a portrait at the office of the incumbent M (Ralph Fiennes) opposite a portrait of Judi Dench's M.[36] Appearances in: After the long period between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the producers brought in Dame Judi Dench to take over as the new M replacing Robert Brown.
"[39] Tanner, her Chief of Staff, refers to her during the film as "the Evil Queen of Numbers", given her reputation at that stage for relying on statistics and analysis rather than impulse and initiative.
Her ability to run MI6 has been questioned more than once; in Casino Royale, she is the subject of a review when Bond is caught shooting an unarmed prisoner and blowing up a foreign embassy on camera; in Quantum of Solace, the Foreign Secretary orders her to personally withdraw Bond from the field in Bolivia and to stop any investigations into Dominic Greene's eco-terrorist organisation; and in Skyfall, she is the subject of a public inquiry when MI6 loses a computer hard drive containing the identities of undercover agents around the world.
[citation needed] An inscribed box following her death in Skyfall reveals her name to be Olivia Mansfield, at least for the duration of the Craig era.
After the death of Dame Judi Dench's M at the end of Skyfall, she is succeeded by Gareth Mallory, played by Ralph Fiennes.
[53] He served in Northern Ireland (with the Special Air Service) during the Troubles, where he had been held hostage by the Irish Republican Army for three months.
Project Heracles is stolen by Spectre and falls into the hands of Lyutsifer Safin, eventually leading to the death of Bond as he sacrifices his life in order for the weapon to be completely destroyed.
The first quarter of the film depicts Bond's subsequent visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M's remains recovered after the attack—his bright red toupée.
The media historian James Chapman notes that while M considers Bond to be an out-dated relic, the Foreign Secretary orders the 00 section to be re-activated.
The first, later revealed to be James Moriarty, created and directed the eponymous League in 1898 to win a gang war against Fu Manchu.
