For 70 years, Her Majesty was the only consistent recurring 'character' across the different versions of Bond, serving as a an inspiration for many, including women and those men who had to keep their sexuality secret.

I was asked to deliver a talk about Licence To Queer at Conway Hall in Central London. In this 10 minute presentation I speak about why I created an online space for queer Bond fans at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns and how it has grown into a true community.

Shaking up the Fleming formula, Sherwood serves up an intensely refreshing cocktail of all of our favourite ingredients with plenty of surprises. From the first sip to the last, Sherwood thrills us, sates our thirst for new Bond stories and makes us crave whatever comes next.

With the first book in her new trilogy, Kim Sherwood has blown the world of Bond wide open - and then some! In this far-ranging conversation we discuss diversifying MI6, seeing 007 from different angles, setting up MCU-like threads for the next instalment and much more.

Do Bond stories belong in the romance genre? I weigh up the evidence with Manish Mathur on his It Pod To Be You podcast. I was asked on to talk about On Her Majesty’s Secret Service but we naturally deviated, bringing in many other stories, especially Casino Royale and No Time To Die, I.E. the ones that end badly! Ultimately we ask: doesn’t everyone, even 007, deserve a happy ending?

It was a sheer delight to interview actor Götz Otto, best known to Bond fans as henchman Mr Stamper in Tomorrow Never Dies. He’s even more entertaining in real life!

A new cocktail to commemorate 60 Years of Bond. Named for the Dr. No music cue by Monty Norman.

Despite me being British, sport has always bored me to tears. So imagine my surprise when I found myself bawling my eyes out with pride in our sportspeople twice in one day! Perhaps their Bond-like approach to overcoming adversity had something to do with it?

Running probably saved my life. It’s saved Bond’s more than a few times as well. Here, I look back at his running career - which was not exactly impressive until Daniel Craig brought more metrosexual physicality to the character - and compare it with my own, which started soon after I my first viewing of Casino Royale.

Inspired by the forthcoming novel from Kim Sherwood, this new cocktail features two kinds of gin. Don’t blame me if you start seeing double.

More than shifting his gender or sexual orientation, surely the boldest way to reinvent Bond would be to make him care for something other than himself. A cat, perhaps? After looking back over 70 years of books and films, I’m convinced the idea has legs (four of them).