M

In his Bond novels, Raymond Benson gives M the name of Barbara Mawdsley.  That COULD be the name Bond discovers in CR; otherwise, I think it's supposed to be unknown to us all.

I think M's called Miles by Gogol in one of the films- Spy Who Loved Me? I think that's right. So it's a fair assumption that he's Miles Messervy in the films too.
And obviously there's the theory that Robert Brown's M could be Admiral Hargreaves- the character he played in Spy Who Loved Me!

Otherwise Dench's M could be anybody: Barbara Mawdsley's as good a name as any. I suppose she could even have played two different Ms so far- the one in CR does seem a bit different in character (and dress sense!).
I like to think that whatever the M stands for is simply a very embarrassing name that she doesn't want Bond to say, not for any reason of national security, but because she hates hearing it! Maureen, perhaps? Mildred Mold?

Last edited by emtiem (12th Jan 2008 15:39)

Yup; that probably makes more sense- I'm inclined to agree with you. Some people think he's Hargreaves, and there's nothing onscreen which disagrees with that. Not sure how likely it is you'd have two Admirals in a row in charge of MI6 (and who like the same paintings in their office!) but I wouldn't argue with anyone who thinks he's Hargreaves.

That is quite interesting, but I do get the feeling that serving in the armed forces isn't a standard move for one who will be involved in the security services.