Talk:Q (James Bond)

Untitled
couldn't Q stand for quiet, like in *Q-ship or *Q-car ? 213.220.214.176 21:08, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

While it is possible that Q is an abbreviation for Quartermaster, it is certainly not proven. The other branches of the Secret Service, (M for operations, H for signals) don't have letters abbreviated from their names. Whatever the case Q is certainly not an initial. DJ Clayworth 16:18, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes it is. Several Fleming and Gardner novels, as well as Die Another Day, directly indicate that Q stands for Quartermaster, although Die Another Day was the first Bond film to do so. 23skidoo 20:23, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Can we not find a picture of Desmond Llewellyn ? DJ Clayworth 14:27, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * Sorry, I've yet to really figure out or look into how to upload pictures so I used the John Cleese one someone had previously uploaded. Also while to many of us Q is Desmond Llewellyn, the current Q is John Cleese. Perhaps, both should be displayed since they are two different people. K1Bond007 15:40, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * Added pic of Desmond Llewelyn from Tomorrow Never Dies K1Bond007 19:19, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I noted that there was an article on "R" which was duplicated almost word for word from the main Q article, so I have turned that page into a redirect to this one.23skidoo 20:23, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

John Cleese Section
Do we really need to say 'jokingly known as R' in the title? It should be mentioned, but not in the title of the section (or the table of information) MadJaxter 19:54, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

It's more complicated
If you read my comments above you will find that there is an explanation. DJ Clayworth 16:34, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) Oops, didn't read the reply. I'll let it stand. DJ Clayworth 16:35, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Major Boothroyd
The article presently reads: In the sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Isn't this the only time Major Boothroyd ever appears in a Fleming novel? He is referred to in the novel as "Armourer", and not "Q". Is this character called Q in the film of Dr No? If not, then as far as I can make out the first identification of the head of Q Branch with Major Boothroyd is in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, when Barbara Bach addresses Desmond Llewellyn as such. 62.25.106.209 17:37, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Based on my reading of the Ian Flemming novels, it seems that Q and Major Boothroyd were two separate characters. Casino Royale and From Russia With Love implied that Q and Bond already knew each other, but in Dr. No, it seems that Bond met Boothroyd for the first time. The only alternative would be that Q was replaced between FRWL and Dr. No.. Emperor001 00:00, 25 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Never Mind, even though my theory about them being separate characters is possible, it is also possible that Bond didn't know Q was a firearms expert. The only way to know for sure whether Q and Boothroyd were intended to be the same or separate characters would be to ask Fleming himself which is kind of impossible unless you, yourself are dead and went to the same place he did.  Emperor001 14:51, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

1) In 'From Russia With Love' Desmond Llewellen recalled that the original script was meant to call him 'Major Boothroyd' but Terence Young said 'no, he's someone different' and was called 'Armourer' though he was credited in the end titles as Major Boothroyd. 2) Desmond Llewellyn has said in several interviews that Terence Young initially wanted him to play his character with a strong Welsh accent that he refused to do. It would contrast with Peter Burton's delivery in Young's 'Dr. No'. 3)One of the books on the making of 'Goldfinger' said that in an original draft of the screenplay (most probably when Terence Young was still attached to the project) that both Boothroyd and Q appeared as different characters. 4)Terence Young had worked with Peter Burton in previous films as he worked with Desmond Llewelyn so may have wantd him back, like Young's idea of Sylvia Trench in a recurring role as Bond's English girlfriendFoofbun (talk) 22:49, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I've begun to wonder whether Q and Major Boothroyd were meant to be two different characters.

Q Branch or?
There seems to be a 'style' conflict throughout this article (and others) in regards to Q Branch. I've seen it appear as "Q-Branch", "Q Branch", and "Q branch". Which one is correct? From what I've seen there are two uses of it on this article. At the very least we should have a uniform 'style' here. K1Bond007 08:31, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Still need an update on this K1Bond007 05:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, I guess. I'm gonna go with Q Branch per Gardner. K1Bond007 23:05, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Removing Q-like characters
Can't we just work the essence of this section into the intro or something? I fail to see how most of these mentioned are really relevant to this character. He's iconic, I get that, but this section doesn't add anything to the article. It'd be one thing if there weren't that many within fiction, but there are probably hundreds if not thousands of this type of character. Just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. K1Bond007 05:37, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Q in Casino Royale? Really a prequel?
It has been suggested that Casino Royale was the be a prequel to the existing film series, and that as a result, since Q was not in the novel, he would not be in the film.

There appear to be some problems with this. First of all, if this was to be a prequel, it appears that it is to be a direct prequel to Dr. No, by having Craig emerge as the hardened Bond that Connery played--though it established an earlier meeting between Bond and Felix Leiter. It also uses Judi Dench as M again. This suggests that the film is being re-written to take place after the established film. Also, IMDB reports that John Cleese will be in it, another sign that it appears to use the later continuity of the series. &mdash;The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kenobifan (talk • contribs).
 * It's not a prequel. It's a reboot. They're essentially going back to when Bond got into the 00 section, except their keeping Dench as M and most likely in the future Cleese as Q. If you think of it in terms of that then it makes sense. If you try to claim it as a prequel then it won't make much sense at all. Cleese is not in Casino Royale. I assure you. IMDb is wrong. K1Bond007 23:23, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Cleese is now gone from IMDb. --GunnarRene 19:30, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Live and Let Die
Why wasn't Q in the film Live and Let Die? Emperor001 (talk) 21:58, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Desmond Llewelyn had other commitments during the filming of Live and Let Die. cocoapropo (talk) 00:27, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Title of article
On 5 August 2008 User:Cocoapropo moved this article from Q (James Bond) to Q ("James Bond" character), with the justification that "This page describes the character, not Bond". "X (James Bond)" is at present the standard format for characters which require a disambiguating suffix, e.g. Aki (James Bond), Mister Big (James Bond), Camille (James Bond), M (James Bond), Renard (James Bond), etc. I don't think anyone would mistake Q or any of these others for an article on James Bond; the Wikipedia article "James Bond" isn't even an article on the character, but on the franchise in general. I would regard Q (James Bond character) as acceptable but those ugly and unnecessary quotation marks definitely need to go. Any other opinions? Opera hat (talk) 16:25, 6 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree with the quotation marks, they need to go Highfields (talk) (contribs) 18:57, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I was trying to put "James Bond" in italics, but the move screen didn't accept the formatting, hence the quotation marks. I figured that the quotation marks were the next easiest way to distinguish, as it refers to the franchise, not the man (Bond). But I wouldn't object to the quotation marks being removed, because I do agree with you, but that's the best way I could think of to distinguish, especially for those who aren't very familiar with the James Bond franchise. cocoapropo (talk) 19:38, 6 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Because Cocoapropo has editted both "Q (James Bond)" and "Q (James Bond character)" after moving the article, you will now need an admin to delete the edit histories of those pages so this can be moved there. Disambiguation convention is that only the franchise name is in the brackets ie "(James Bond)", and at the least these quote marks need to be ditched, especially as this breaks consistency with all other James Bond articles, which use "(James Bond)" if disambiguation brackets are necessary. Post a message at WP:RM, or ask any admins you might know of. -- Sabre (talk) 14:01, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Eon/non Eon vs Official/Unofficial
The more accurate (and correct) terminology for the productions outwith the Eon stable is 'non-Eon', not 'unofficial', as this meaning is unclear. The non-Eon films were 'official' in the sense they were copyright-owned by their producers.--62.239.159.5 (talk) 15:27, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

"Official" refers to the Eon-produced James Bond film series, and, often at the first instance in an article, wherever it refers to the "official series", that mention is coded as a link to this page. The only ambiguation in referring to it as the "official series", then, can be alleviated by clicking on the link to the James Bond (film series) article. Any question as to what constitutes the "official series", therefore, becomes moot. cocoapropo (talk) 23:28, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

More confusion or fun regarding the change from books to movies
In the early scenes of Dr. No, M calls for the 'armourer' to replace Bond's sidearm.

In the novels, Bond had heretofore carried a '.25 Beretta', described as having a 'safety catch' and a 'sawn barrel'. Fleming never fully identifies the pistol. The main article on this page has identified the pistol as a model 418 Beretta. This is as close as possible; the model 418 does have a safety catch, but sawing off the barrel is not practical. There is a barrel, and it can be 'sawn'in the sense most items made of ferrous alloy can be worked, but it is already so short that sawing off the barrel will not make the pistol any smaller.

In the novel, Armourer - identified only as 'Major Boothroyd' replaces Bond's trusted Beretta with a Walther PPk in caliber .32 ACP. A .32 ACP pistol was not a very powerful defensive pistol even in the 1960s. It is a step up from .25 ACP of the model 418 Beretta, but not much of a step.

However, in the movie scene depicting this, Bond does not offer up a Beretta 418, but a Beretta 1934 or 1935 model pistol. The two pistols are difficult to differentiate on screen; the only difference being the caliber of the pistol and the finish.

The Beretta 1934 pistol was a commercially made pistol in caliber .380 ACP - or in Italian, 9mm Corto. As a commercial pistol, it was nicely finished and polished and blued or nickle plated. The 1934 was pressed into wartime service and wartime made guns were not as well finished as the commercial models.

The Beretta 1935 pistol was a contract pistol for the Italian Air Force in the early days of what would be World War II; it was not as finely finished as the commercial 1934 pistol and was made only in caliber .32 ACP. The caliber was specified by the Italian Air Force.

In the novel and the movie, armourer suggested a Smith & Wesson Centennial revolver in caliber .38 Special in the event Bond needed something 'heavier'. In the novel, armourer gave an option for a Colt Detective Special, also in caliber .38 Special; I don't recall that in the movie.

Also mentioned in the books, but ignored in the movies, Bond drove a Bentley automobile in the early books of the series. Expressly for use from the car, he had a 'long barreled Colt .45' hidden in the Bentley. I always assumed that was a Single Action Army Revolver in caliber .45 Colt. However, it could have just as easily been a Colt New Service in caliber .45 Colt, or a Colt model 1917 in .45 ACP. It could have been a Colt Government Model in .45 ACP, but the descriptor 'long barreled' somewhat rules that pistol out.

Writing fiction must be liberating at times. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OldManMontgomery (talk • contribs) 04:17, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Erm, are you trying to make a particular point related to this article? Mezigue (talk) 10:54, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Main image
I've reverted the change to the image back to the one with Alec McCowen. This ensures we have four pictures of people playing Q, not 3 pictures of Q and one of an actor out of character. If possible the aim should be to have one with him from a screenshot – preferably added to a montage of all six Qs. - SchroCat ( ^  •  @ ) 20:23, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
 * I have no problem with your view here, I agree that having an image of Whishaw out of character is perhaps unfavorable, but I figured it was better than (only one) unofficial portrayal of Q. Let's wait until an image of him as Q emerges — FoxCE (talk | contribs) 20:51, 20 February 2012 (UTC)
 * I agree with waiting for the "right" image of Wishaw as Q. There should, however, be both actors from the non-Eon films alongside the Eon actors: why discriminate against the two non-Eon ones? - SchroCat ( ^  •  @ ) 20:53, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Should Wishaw be added to the main image?
I think he should, while McCowen should get his own image in the unofficial films section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MaxOfTheDead (talk • contribs) 15:57, 25 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Any reason in particular? Both have played the role of Q in a film. Please also note there is no such thing as "official", just Eon and non-Eon. - SchroCat ( ^  •  @ ) 16:13, 25 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I actually think a more preferable way of doing it would be to follow the layout of the M (James Bond) article and have no image in the infobox, but instead have separate images next to the relevant sections. - SchroCat ( ^  •  @ ) 12:05, 29 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I'll leave SchroCat to do it. - Fanthrillers (talk) 21:18, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

Desmond Llewelyn - most recurring appearances as a character in a movie franchise?
I heard on the radio the other day that Desmond Llewelyn holds a record for the most recurring appearances as the same character in any film franchise, not just Bond. Can't find a reference though, and there may well be other contenders - possibly in oriental cinema? David (talk) 20:26, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

2 novels sections
There are 2 sections for q in the novels. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.14.65.231 (talk) 20:12, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Major Giffard LeQuesne Martel, aka 'Q'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffard_LeQuesne_Martel It would be a strange coincidence if someone with Fleming's particular wartime experience had not come across the inventor of battlefield gadgets like the bridging and mine-clearing tanks, given that it was part of his job to evaluate (and propose) similarly unconventional solutions to military problems. Robocon1 (talk) 14:57, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Main image
There are two composite images to use, which have been swapped over recently. Both are scheduled for deletion because of non-existent licence info. One contains four Qs and is a rectangle. One contains five Qs and is a horrible mess. Any bright ideas on resolving the question? Personally I'd plump for one of Llewellyn and leave it at that, but any other sensible suggestions? – SchroCat (talk) 14:54, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

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An additional reference added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ZanetaStepanova (talk • contribs) 23:31, 15 November 2018 (UTC)

James Bond, Jr.’s IQ
In terms of corroborating that Q’s surname is Boothroyd, is it worth including a mention here that in James Bond, Jr. (1991) Q’s grandson is named Horace Boothroyd (AKA “IQ”)? Felicity4711 (talk) 19:04, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

Which painting is this? For that matter, which museum? Looks like a Turner.

kencf0618 (talk) 14:58, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

Nightfire
I would just like to point out that Nightfire is listed as using Llewelyn's likeness, but this is not true. In the few cutscenes Q is in, an original likeness is used. I bring this up because I don't know where in the article would be best to mention Nightfire after taking it off the Llewelyn list. MrBelpitsLegs (talk) 02:07, 12 June 2021 (UTC)

Novelisations?
It seems odd to say that Q is a character from the "films and novelisations", unless he was absent from the original Fleming novels. It's a long time since I read any. 92.19.60.133 (talk) 12:16, 18 June 2024 (UTC)