Q is a character in the James Bond films and novelisations. Q is the head of Q Branch (later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service charged with oversight of top secret field technologies. Q (standing for quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. 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. 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). Q also featured in both non-Eon Bond films, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). Between 1963 and 1999, Q was portrayed in the Eon films by Desmond Llewelyn until his death in late 1999. His successor, initially given the joking nickname of "R" by Bond, was played by John Cleese. In the Daniel Craig films, which rebooted the continuity to some extent, Q was played by Ben Whishaw, but it is unclear whether he is meant to be Major Boothroyd or a new character.
Novels The character Q never appears in the novels by the author Ian Fleming, where Q and the Q Branch are only mentioned; however, Q does appear in the novelisations by Christopher Wood as well as the later novels by John Gardner and Raymond Benson, who adopted Eon's decision to combine the character with Major Boothroyd, the armourer from Dr. No. In John Gardner's novels, the post of Q is taken over by Ann Reilly (called Q'ute by her colleagues). She also forms a relationship with James Bond. It is supposed that she held the post for a short while only, because Raymond Benson's novels return Boothroyd to the post without explanation. Jeffrey Deaver's Carte Blanche introduces the character Sanu Hirani, who is referred to as 'Q' in that novel. Charles Fraser-Smith is widely credited as the inspiration for Q due to the spy gadgets he built for the Special Operations Executive. These were called Q-devices, after the Royal Navy's World War I Q-ships. In the Fleming novels there are frequent references to Q and Q Branch with phrases like "see Q for any equipment you need" (Casino Royale) and "Q Branch would handle all of that" (Diamonds Are Forever), with a reference to "Q's craftsmen" in From Russia, with Love.
Major Boothroyd In the sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, a firearms expert who lived in Glasgow, who had written to the novelist suggesting that Bond was not using the best firearms available.
Ann Reilly Boothroyd is also referenced occasionally in the Bond novels of John Gardner, but the author preferred instead to focus on a new character, Ann Reilly, who is introduced in the first Gardner novel, Licence Renewed, and promptly dubbed "Q'ute" by Bond.
Kim Sherwood novels Q is a quantum computer in the Double 00 Trilogy by Kim Sherwood, originally developed by Major Boothroyd and maintained by a team of Q Branch technicians.
The Q Mysteries
Films & video games Major Boothroyd appears in Dr. No played by Peter Burton and in the script of From Russia with Love. Desmond Llewelyn stated that, although he was credited as playing "Major Boothroyd" in the latter film, his name as said by M (Bernard Lee) was replaced with "the equipment officer", as director Terence Young stated that Boothroyd was a different character. Beginning in Guy Hamilton's Goldfinger and in each film thereafter Major Boothroyd is most often referred to as Q; however, in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) he is referred to once again as Major Boothroyd in dialogue. In most films in which Q appears, he is restricted to a "behind the scenes" involvement, either based in London or in secret bases out in the field. Two notable exceptions in which Q becomes directly involved in Bond's missions occur in Octopussy, in which Q actually participates in field work—including the final battle against the villain Kamal Khan (Louis Jordan)'s henchmen—and Licence to Kill in which he joins Bond (Timothy Dalton) in the field after 007 goes rogue.
Eon Productions
Peter Burton: 1962 (as "Major Boothroyd") In the first film, Dr. No, Boothroyd is played by Peter Burton in only one scene, in which he replaces Bond (Sean Connery)'s .25 ACP Beretta 418 (on-screen portrayed by a .32 Beretta 35) pistol with the signature .32 Walther PPK handgun. He is referred to by M as "the armourer," and later as Major Boothroyd. 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).
Desmond Llewelyn: 1963–1999
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