The use of letters as pseudonyms for senior officers in the British Secret Service was started by its first director, Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming (1859–1923), who signed himself with a C written in green ink.

[1] Q has appeared in 22 of the 25 Eon Productions James Bond films, the exceptions being Live and Let Die (1973), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).

Charles Fraser-Smith is widely credited as the inspiration for Q[3] due to the spy gadgets he built for the Special Operations Executive.

Scheduling conflicts prevented Burton from reprising the role in From Russia with Love, although he made two later uncredited appearances in Bond films, first as an RAF officer in Thunderball (1965) and later as a secret agent in the satirical Casino Royale (1967).

[8] Beginning with From Russia with Love, Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every official film except Live and Let Die until his death in 1999.

A running gag appeared in later films where Q's prized gadget would be destroyed in a mishap often caused by necessity or Bond's recklessness – examples include the Glastron jet boat in Moonraker (Bond sends it over the Iguazu Falls to escape pursuit by Jaws), the Aston Martin Vantage in The Living Daylights (Bond is forced to prime its self-destruct device in order to evade the Czech police forces), and the BMW Z8 in The World Is Not Enough – which is cut in half by a helicopter buzz-saw.

– before he is lowered out of view.This was the final film appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q in the James Bond series, although he would revive the role once again as Q in a Heineken commercial, a TV cross-promotion for The World Is Not Enough.

These included Bond collectable merchandise, Hyundai motorcars, LG video recorders, Highland Superstores, Visa credit cards, and Reach electric toothbrushes, the latter of which featured Q briefing himself in the mirror.

Featured in Films: Video games: Llewelyn also portrays Q in the Eon Productions-produced 1967 TV special Welcome to Japan, Mr.

Bond, as well as portraying Q in the documentary Highly Classified: The World of 007, which is included on the Tomorrow Never Dies Ultimate Edition DVD.

His real name was never revealed, but he was initially credited as "R" in The World Is Not Enough, stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q, "If you're Q, does that make him R?"

Featured in Films: Video games; The character of Q did not appear in 2006's Casino Royale or its sequel, Quantum of Solace (2008).

[11] Bond first meets Q in front of the painting The Fighting Temeraire at the National Gallery in London, where he at first expresses disbelief at the relative youth of his new quartermaster, but the two quickly earn each other's respect.

As with Llewelyn's Q, he also gets frustrated with Bond's knack for damaging or destroying the gadgets – at the end of Skyfall the Aston Martin DB5 is burned out in the final showdown with Silva.

Q returns to London to assist Miss Moneypenny and M in foiling corrupt MI6 bureaucrat Max Denbeigh's launch of the Nine Eyes intelligence network.

[12][13] He provides Bond and 00 agent Nomi with a watch that generates an electromagnetic pulse and a portable radar mapping device, and instructs them on how to operate the "stealthy bird", a small submersible jet aircraft, before they infiltrate villain Lyutsifer Safin's hideout.

Featured in In the 1983 film Never Say Never Again, Bond received his gadgets from a man (played by Alec McCowen) he referred as Algernon and Algy.

In sharp contrast to the personality of Q in EON film series, Algy hopes to hear about "Lots of sex and violence" from James Bond following his mission.

Featured in The real MI6's head of technology is one of the agency's four directors-general, reporting directly to Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service.