OHMSS RADIO PLAY DETAILS EMERGE

Following the BondMisc exclusive where Ian Fleming's niece Lucy Fleming had revealed to us the radio dramatisation of On Her Majesty's Secret Service would be aired on 3 May 2014, at 2:30pm, - OHMSS RADIO PLAY COMING IN MAY - an article has surfaced on the Radio Times website confirming the details given to us by Ms. Fleming, and also confirming some other interesting details.

The article published online on 18.03.2014. reads as follows:

---

JOANNA LUMLEY & HER BOND GIRLS KNEEL BEFORE TOBY STEPHENS AS 007 
THE LATEST ACTOR TO PLAY IAN FLEMING'S SECRET AGENT IS NO STRANGER TO BOND AFTER PLAYING VILLAIN GUSTAV GRAVES  IN 2002'S DIE ANOTHE DAY...

There are many perks to playing James Bond  – expensive suits, cool gadgets, Martinis on tap and, if you're Toby Stephens, the attentions of Joanna Lumley...

The pair are starring together in a new Radio 4 adaptation of Ian Fleming's eleventh Bond novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and, by the looks of it, they're having plenty of fun during recording... 

Stephens  is reprising his role as 007 as 007 (having played the leading man in previous audio dramatisations of Dr No, Goldfinger and From Russia With Love) while Lumley is voicing wicked henchwoman Irma Bunt.

The fourth instalment sees Bond sent to prevent villainous Blofeld from sterilising the world's food supply using an army of beautiful women. The 1969 film of the same name – which featured George Lazenby's sole appearance as 007 – also starred a then-unknown Lumley in her first major role. Stephens is no stranger to the movie franchise either, having begun his association with Bond playing evil British entrepreneur Gustav Graves opposite Pierce Brosnan in 2002's Die Another Day.

Also starring Alfred Molina and Joanna Cassidy, On Her Majesty's Secret Service,will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 2:30pm on Saturday 3 May.

---

This is great news for the following reasons:

• Although I'm a big fan of Joanna Lumley I did think that she might sound a bit too old to play 007's love interest and future wife Tracey. This is not meant as an insult to Ms. Lumley - but Toby Stephens does sound incredibly young - so I didn't know if it might sound like 007 had been snagged by a Cougar! Knowing that she is going to play Irma Bunt puts an end to this concern - but it does make me wonder what this most English sounding of actresses wll be like playing an evil German henchwoman.
  


• This is the first time, to the best of my knowledge, that Alfred Molina has been mentioned as starring in the adaptation. This is great as I am not only a fan of his work in big-budget films such Spiderman 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code but also I think he's great alongside Dawn French in TV's Roger & Val Have Just Got In. Although the Radio Times article doesn't mention what role he will be playing I hope that it will be Blofeld - as I think he will provide a sinister tone for 007's arch nemisis without sounding like a pantomime villain.
  


• Finally I'm glad that the information in the Radio Times article confirms what I wrote previously - I'd like to think of that was the first BondMisc exclusive article - but hopefully it'll not be the last.