Anybody for Q Branch?

EDOG51

Hey guys, I keep goin on about this but with all this recent talk of DC wanting to go down the route of introducing Moneypenny and Q in the latest Bond installment I feel that Moneypenny would be a great addition (Saffron Burrows would be amazing in my oppinion) but from reading alot of the books there is no character called 'Q' it is infact Q branch, which is the equiptment branch of MI6. I personally would like to see them introduce it as a branch, maybe with a joke from M saying something about it being funded by tax payers money! )

scottmu65

In the films it has nearly always been referred to as 'Q Branch' aswell as 'Q' being a character, he is actually called Major Boothroyd, who was in the books.

Number24

Speaking of Q branch - do you have any ideas of how Bond smugles his guns through customs?

You could argue that he gets waved through, but then the autoreties knows about him. Not allways practical! Perhaps he gets it in the diplomatic pouch, but again unpractical and public.

My guess is that he hides it inside an oridinary object that also hides it from the scanning machine at the airport.

Any thoughts?

Thunderpussy

I'm sure Q Branch have come up with some hidden pocket in a case that when x-rayed would show some harmless object like a hairdryer or sum such thing.As for Q I don't really mind if he never appears again as IMHO the gadgets work best when they haven't been set up, so come as a suprise to the viewers.But He could still appear from time to time to explain some tech babble.

Number24

Thanks for the idea, Thunderpussy. Would Bond have a hairdryer?
I was thinking of him hiding it inside a book lined with led or something that shields it from the scanners. The problem is of course, the books would be easily compromised if someone picked it up and tried to open it ....

Thunderpussy

I remember in one book Bond took his gun apart and hid it inside the workings of an old manual typewriter.As for Bond not needing a hairdryer,are you trying to say DC is heading the way of SC and will need a collection of Hair pieces ) On another post Bond's personal hygene is under question for not changing clothes from Haiti to the opera house.;)

Number24

Well, personally I have never owned a hairdryer (and I think I have more hair than Craig)
I must honestly ask: how common is it for men to own and use a hairdryer? I have never really thought about it before!

The typewriter idea was probably good in the 50's and 60's.

Thunderpussy

I don't own a hairdryer either number24,I was just thinking of its shape in an x-ray machine but I'm sure there would be all kinds of hidden compartments to hide weapons etc.Scaramanga had the best idea just carry it on you at al times as every day objects. {[]

Alec 006

Number24 wrote:

Speaking of Q branch - do you have any ideas of how Bond smugles his guns through customs?

You could argue that he gets waved through, but then the autoreties knows about him. Not allways practical! Perhaps he gets it in the diplomatic pouch, but again unpractical and public.

My guess is that he hides it inside an oridinary object that also hides it from the scanning machine at the airport.

Any thoughts?

He doesn't take it through customs.
First stop in any "new" country would be a safe house or contact where he'll get the gun and ammo he may need. Unregistered of course.

Number24

In many cases that would make sense. But If you remember GE, Bond pulls a gun on Wade right outside St. Petersburg airport. He must have brought it on the plane. you could argue that someone gave it to him after he got through customs, but that wouldn't make sense because Wade was his contact in st. Petersburg.

Number24

Perhaps the gun (and suppressor and extra mags) could be consield inside a laptop computer? Imagine å hardisk and battery that's smaller and more effective than the standard one. teh spare space could be used for smuggeling the gun.
After all, the battery and harddisk would only have to be large enough to convince the security personell that it's a working computer.
they often ask you to turn on the computer and start an application. After all, computers have batteries and a clocks. Just add explosives and you have a bomb!

scottmu65

Simple answer, he hides it in his Atachi case!

Number24

scottmu65 wrote:

Simple answer, he hides it in his Atachi case!

What is an "Atachi case"?
I googled it, and no joy ... ?:)

Alec 006

Number24 wrote:

scottmu65 wrote:

Simple answer, he hides it in his Atachi case!

What is an "Atachi case"?
I googled it, and no joy ... ?:)

I think he simply means attache case.
It is a slimline briefcase, such as the aluminium Zero Halliburton ones seen in many Bond films.

Number24

Ahh .... I see. The case would need a double bottom for the gun to be completely hidden. Just putting it in the case isn't enough in 2009.
The double bottom would be fairly conspicious to anyone who bothered to open the case and have a quick search, something customs officers tend to do. I don't buy it!

Alec 006

I agree a gun in a case with a false bottom is no good through a modern major airport customs.
I get your point about JB having a gun outside the airport in GE, but a contact "inside" the new country is still the most likely way to arm Bond. I am sure there are agency "officers" available to deliver packages to arriving colleagues.

Number24

Getting the gun from a local contact seems practical to me, and I suspect that's how real-world secret agents usually do it.
But Bond allways carries a gun on his missions (unlike allmost all real-world agents) and travels between countries almost constantly. He also gets the most sensetive and secret missions. In my opinion he would often prefer that no-one in the country he's in knows he is there, and local MI6 agents are more often than not known to the oppostion and are being tailed.
This is also Bond, and I would like a few new gadgets that makes sense. But still - very good point!

thesecretagent

In reality Bond is a member of MI6 therefore would be travelling under the guise of the Foriegn & Commonwealth Office. He would therefore have diplomatic immunity and have access to the "diplomatic bag". This is reserved for documents and other sensitive items and not subject to customs searches. The bag goes from embassy to embassy. In otherwords, Walther, mags, ammunition and supressor go in to an attache sized case and nobody is allowed to take a look. That is, if you are travelling to a country where you hold diplomatic relations and have embassy facilities.

Number24

I disagree. Bond is under the MI6 equeilant of what the CIA calls non official cover (NOC). Intelligence officers working out of the embasy are out in the open and not under cover.

thesecretagent

There are some weapons constructed of polymer and ceramics, but barrels, pins, springs and of course bullets all show up on x-ray or detectors. In this era devoid of high-tech gadgets maybe it would be better to show Bond linking up with local contacts to get kitted out, making it more realistic.

Number24

I believe you are wrong. Inteligence officers at embasies have diplomatic imunity are not undercover or secret agents. Their job is out in the open and official. Bond is the british equivalent of what the CIA calls non-official cover agents (NOC).
They work in secret and they have no ties to the embasies. They very few and have very different jobs from the inteligence officers at the embasies.

Number24

thesecretagent wrote:

There are some weapons constructed of polymer and ceramics, but barrels, pins, springs and of course bullets all show up on x-ray or detectors. In this era devoid of high-tech gadgets maybe it would be better to show Bond linking up with local contacts to get kitted out, making it more realistic.

First, sorry about the two answers to the "dilpomatic" idea. My first post just didn't show up on my screen.
On teh topic of airportm scanner proof ceramics/polymer gun I once read about a gun CIA made were all the parts, including bullets, were made of ceramics. But that's beside the point, 'cause Bond uses standard PKK's and P99's. The search for the perfect smugeling method goes on ...

walther p99

I suspect Bond gets it grom EON's prop department and after hes done shooting it gives it right back

Harry Palmer

I think Q branch is already back (but in an understated version). Early in QoS a nerdy guy (unnamed in the film) joins M in the corridor on the way to her office, is cut short and then gives M a very nerdy report on a batch of tagged Pound notes. A fair amount of unnecessary gadgetry is involved in the explanation.

Doesn't the scene fit the bill for Q-branch? And doen't the guy look like a very plausible Q?

Number24

walther p99 wrote:

I suspect Bond gets it grom EON's prop department and after hes done shooting it gives it right back

Yes - but how does EON smuggle the guns through customs when they are filming on location?

Mister White

Harry Palmer wrote:

I think Q branch is already back (but in an understated version). Early in QoS a nerdy guy (unnamed in the film) joins M in the corridor on the way to her office, is cut short and then gives M a very nerdy report on a batch of tagged Pound notes. A fair amount of unnecessary gadgetry is involved in the explanation.

Doesn't the scene fit the bill for Q-branch? And doen't the guy look like a very plausible Q?

What about the guy that puts the GPS chip in Bond's arm in Casino Royale?

Same thing.

Loeffelholz

Great points, guys {[] Both roles are similar to the armourer in DN, or even Desmond's debut in FRWL...

If they're going to introduce a character for personality's (or humour's) sake, I'd just as soon it was May---Bond's Scottish Treasure of a housekeeper. Have Catherine Tate play her :v

Barbel

Loeffelholz wrote:

If they're going to introduce a character for personality's (or humour's) sake, I'd just as soon it was May---Bond's Scottish Treasure of a housekeeper. Have Catherine Tate play her :v

May, yes. Tate, NO!!!

Edit: IMHO, the ideal actress for May would have been the late Molly Weir. Maybe the wonderful Julie Walters would be willing to give it a go?

Loeffelholz

Barbel wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

If they're going to introduce a character for personality's (or humour's) sake, I'd just as soon it was May---Bond's Scottish Treasure of a housekeeper. Have Catherine Tate play her :v

May, yes. Tate, NO!!!

Edit: IMHO, the ideal actress for May would have been the late Molly Weir. Maybe the wonderful Julie Walters would be willing to give it a go?

Somebody along those lines...

The notion of Bond having a housekeeper really puts some people off---including Ms. Broccoli, I've heard ---but I'm convinced that it would depend upon how its handled...could be a scene stealer of a part for the right gal B-)

Barbel

Yup, that's how I see it too. A single man in 007's position wouldn't be doing the household chores, and would employ an older lady to take care of them for him. It was true in Fleming's day, and is only slightly less so these days.

Alec 006

He'd have a cleaner from time to time at the very least. Single guy, away a lot.
Mind you how that would work from a security angle is not simple.