Dr. No pre-review / Major Boothroyd thoughts

James Bond Retrospective Bonus

So I was writing up my next Bond book review for Dr. No, and I ended up doing this intro piece about the character of Major Boothroyd. I was originally just going to include this as an extended segment above the main part of the book review, but it eventually got lengthy enough that I decided to split it off into a separate post.

Dr. No features the first appearance of Major Boothroyd, aka. Q (which stands for Quartermaster), the armourer who gives Bond his new weapon. In this book alone, he’s not all that distinct of a character. In fact, in the original Fleming novels, this is his only appearance. And even here, his dynamic with Bond is different from the much funnier and snarkier dynamic they would develop in the film series.

But it’s precisely because of how distinct and memorable he becomes in the film universe that I bring him up. I love Q. He’s one of the highlight, staple characters of the films, and his witty dynamic with Bond, along with all of his unique and creative gadgets, makes for one of the best parts of the entire Bond saga. Desmond Llewelyn went on to play the role in a whopping 17 films, making him the single most recurring actor in the franchise.

And so, even if Major Boothroyd doesn’t seem too noteworthy in the original Dr. No novel, his single scene still stands out to me for being the origin of one of the most iconic fixtures of the Bond universe. It’s neat to see where the character started out and what he would become.

In Diamonds Are Forever, I expressed that I’ve sometimes wished some of the Bond films were more faithful adaptations. But then again, there is one very good thing that came out of all the deviations, and that’s Q himself. If the film series had been overall more faithful to the books, then I don’t think Q as we know him would exist.

The reason I think this is because of the adaptation order. While all of the Ian Fleming novels were adapted to film (even if some of them rather loosely), they were adapted out of order. As just a few examples…
– Live and Let Die, the 2^nd novel, became the 8^th film.
– Moonraker, the 3^rd novel, became the 11^th film.
– From Russia with Love, the 5^th novel, became the 2^nd film.
– Casino Royale, the 1^st novel, which didn’t see a proper adaptation by Eon for a very long time, finally coming out 53 years after the novel.

And then we have Dr. No, the 6^th novel which became the very 1^st film. Yet because this novel featured Major Boothroyd/Q, he was thus adapted into the very beginning of the film series when he otherwise didn’t appear until the 6^th installment. Here he is played by Peter Burton and still doesn’t really have all that distinct of a role.

But then for the From Russia with Love film, Boothroyd shows up again despite not appearing in the respective novel, now played by the iconic Desmond Llewelyn. Boothroyd/Q appears again in the next film, Goldfinger, despite again being absent form the source novel. This was where his dynamic with Bond had grown snarkier and more distinct, and from there on his presence and role in the film series was truly cemented.

There is still a part of me that would have loved to see the Bond novels adapted into the same order for the films. But on the other hand, if they had been, then I don’t think Q’s character would’ve really cemented the same way. He might’ve still appeared in the Dr. No film at least, but I don’t think he would’ve become a series mainstay after that. Or even if he had, it probably wouldn’t have been to the same extent.

So here’s to our favourite Quartermaster, whose masterful inventions have saved Bond’s life time and time again. Nobody does it better.