British writer John Le Carré arguably had as much impact on the perception of spying as Fleming, but with a depiction of it that was quieter and closer to the bone. One British author tilted the image of espionage in this moodier direction more than any other.

– The rebel spy who's the anti-James Bond On the other, it is something far less alluring a grittier yet bureaucratic world found in novels by the likes of Graham Greene and Len Deighton, films like Anthony Asquith's Orders to Kill (1958), and television series such as James Mitchell's Callan (1967-72) and Ian Mackintosh's The Sandbaggers (1978-80). On the one hand, it's seen as a glamorous, adventurous spectacle, a vision emerging largely from author Ian Fleming and his most famous creation, James Bond, who first appeared in the 1953 novel Casino Royale.

No Time To Die contrasts this with a poignant portrayal of Bond’s last moments - a deed made perhaps even more surprising by the fact that the only 'real' Bond death prior took place in a parody.Espionage has a split personality in British culture. It typifies the parody genre by abruptly killing a character that in canon seems immortal, then almost immediately rolling credits. Casino Royale (1967) marks Bond’s first on-screen death. In Casino Royale (1967), and now No Time To Die, obituaries are, however, wholly necessary. Obituaries are written about Bond in both Skyfalland You Only Live Twice, with both soon realized to be premature. Bond evading death is a pattern so entrenched in the Eon Productions franchise that viewers will always anticipate it, no matter how endangered he becomes. The concept of James Bond’s death is unexpected in canon: the character is consistently in situations of considerable mortal risk, but his unimaginable survival is usually the very essence of the films. Related: No Time To Die Makes A 1960s Era Bond Movie More Likely

JAMES BOND CASINO ROYALE 1967