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Today's episode looks at Ian Fleming's final years and the transformation of the novels into films. From casting of Connery to filming Dr. No in Jamaica, (Fleming turns up with friends, and is shouted at by the director for nearly ruining an iconic shot of unknown Swedish actress Ursula Andress on the beach with Connery). And where, as Broccoli had learnt, ‘the success and failure of a film often hangs on a question of timing.’ World events at the time conspired almost to imitate Bond.

Alex Jennings reads.

Abridger - Rowan Routh
Producer - Pauline Harris

Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture, but Fleming was only a thriller writer in his last twelve years. Fleming's personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical movements in world history, whilst providing rich inspiration for his fiction. Exceptionally well connected, and widely travelled, from the US and Soviet Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Ian had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of profound change. Nicholas Shakespeare's fascinating biography, with unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers, uncovers new material and throws new light on an extraordinary man. Ian Fleming would strive all his life to throw off the shadows of his gifted older brother, and be a complete man, but ultimately was then overshadowed by his own famous creation.