| Q | |
|---|---|
| James Bond character | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Desmond_Llewelyn_01.jpg) Desmond Llewelyn portrayed Q in the Eon series between 1963 and 1999. | |
| Portrayed by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Major Boothroyd |
| Occupation | Quartermaster |
| Affiliation | MI6 |
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.[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). 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. He was played in subsequent films first by John Cleese and then by Ben Whishaw.
- ^ Judd, Alan, The Quest for C: Mansfield Cumming and the founding of the British Secret Service