Licence to thrill: 007’s London
21 Sep 2018
Travelling in the footsteps of author and spy Ian Fleming gives new meaning to London’s Bond Street. An action movie buff traces the world’s most famous spy’s trail through the UK capital.
Visiting Central London can be like walking onto a movie set. From such classics as Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper, through to television milestones like Doctor Who, Minder and The Avengers, London is a firm favourite with movie-makers, movie-goers and movie tourists.
The seed of the world’s favourite spy was germinated by the author, Ian Fleming, who has himself been the subject of a swashbuckling BBC America mini-series, Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond.
Set in WWII London, the young, high-living agent devises a clandestine service for His Majesty’s Government while indulging himself with parties and an expensive lifestyle that he cannot maintain. The 50-year movie cavalcade circles the globe, but always returns to the epicentre of British counter-espionage: London, the home of MI-6.
The headquarters that exploded in Skyfall are located at 85 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall. No, you can’t have a tour, but the £152m, 25-year-old building with 100mm thick windows will be pointed out on any of the sightseeing rides.
On the edge of St James Park are the Churchill War Rooms, part of the Imperial War Museum. Located in the basement of the Treasury building in Whitehall, they were constructed in 1938. Clearly, somebody knew something. Tour the restored subterranean corridors of power for an eerie recollection of the horrors of the Blitz.
Back in Trafalgar Square, Skyfall’s Bond meets the new, youthful gadget geek, Q, on the steps of the National Gallery. Trafalgar Square is one of the most significant sites in London and recalls VE Day. Fleming was there, I’m sure, wondering where Bond’s next adventure might be now that the Nazi scourge was defeated.
Dine as Fleming did in classic style at Scott’s, where our hero would enjoy the best seafood with his close friend in the service, chief of staff Bill Tanner. Originally in Coventry Street, Scott’s is now in Mount Street.
Breakfast in London means sitting down to The Times, with two large cups of “very strong coffee, from De Bry in New Oxford Street” brewed in a Chemex coffee maker. Wholewheat toast, Jersey butter and Norwegian honey from Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly follows.
No one knows his tailor, although John Pearson, Fleming’s biographer, claims he bought his suits “off row” from Benson, Perry & Whitley on Cork Street, and would wear them “until they were in threads.”
Bond, however, upped his game and wandered around the block to Savile Row and the century-old establishment of Anderson & Sheppard (at 32 Old Burlington Street), where Count Lippe from Thunderball also shopped.
To experience some adrenaline-charged excitement, jump aboard The Ultimate MI6 Spy Experience (thamesribexperience.com). This high-speed waterborne thrill ride emulates, after a fashion, the wild boat chase along the Thames from 1999’s The World is Not Enough.
While we may be charged up from rocket-propelled boats, jet fighters or motorcycles, Bond is known for his cars. Really fancy cars. Right in the heart of Covent Garden is the London Film Museum, and on display since 2015 is Bond in Motion, the official exhibition of James Bond vehicles. Each one of the 24 official movies made since 1962 has featured signature vehicles that have propelled our heroic super-agent in pursuit of villains.
For Bond, though, all roads lead right back to London. Despite a briefcase full of passports and the freedom to travel anywhere on Her Majesty’s Secret Service, James always puts his feet up in his flat off the King’s Road in Chelsea.
Bond’s 24th film, Spectre, revisited many popular locations in London. The 25th is due for release in 2019, with Daniel Craig again confirmed in the lead role. The plot is unclear, but chances are London will make another appearance. Gentlemen, place your bets.
London: Key facts
Area: 1,737.9 sq km
Population: 9,787,426
Population density: 5,631 people per sq km
London is the first city to host the Olympics three times: in 1908, 1948 and 2012
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