AS SEEN ON TV: Q 4 TUESDAY

For the "Two for Tuesday" segment, we could have combined any of the James Bonds. However, there was a recastaway in the movies which translated to the television universe as well......

Q

(Major Boothroyd)

AS SEEN IN:

VISA Commercial

PORTRAYED BY:

Desmond Llewelyn

Q

(Formerly R. Real name unknown)

AS SEEN IN:

HEINEKEN Commercial

(Maybe a SCHWEPPES commercial as well)

PORTRAYED BY:

John Cleese

TV STATUS:

Recastaways

(The "Q" designation is a work-related title. No Zonk involved.)

TV DIMENSION:

Earth Prime-Time

From Wikipedia:

Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch (or later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. The character never appears in Fleming's novels though Fleming's first two novels do refer to him; in subsequent Fleming novels, we read only of "Q Branch". The character "Q" appears in the Bond film series and the novelizations of Christopher Wood, John Gardner and Raymond Benson.

In the novels, Q is first mentioned by a name in "Dr. No". He is referred as Major Boothroyd. Boothroyd was at the post of Q for all the novels by Ian Fleming.

DESMOND LLEWELYN AS Q
Beginning with "From Russia with Love", Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every official film except "Live and Let Die" until his death in 1999. In the 1977 film "The Spy Who Loved Me", as Q was delivering the underwater Lotus, Major Anya Amasova/Agent XXX (Barbara Bach) greets Q as "Major Boothroyd".

The scenes in the films where Q briefs Bond on the gadgets that he is going to use on his mission would include dialogue of antagonism between the two, with Q often annoyed by Bond's wandering attention span, often telling him "Now pay attention, 007," and Bond's seemingly playful lack of respect for the equipment he and his branch develop and famously telling the agent, "I never joke about my work, 007" (a line referenced by his successor in "Die Another Day"). In "Thunderball", Bond can be heard muttering "Oh no" when Q joins him in the Bahamas.

However, on occasion, Q has shown a warm and fatherly concern for 007's welfare, such as at Bond's wedding in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", when he assures Bond that he is available if Bond ever requires his help despite Bond planning to leave MI6, and when, at the behest of Miss Moneypenny, he secretly sneaks gadgets out of MI6 to help Bond survive his vendetta against the drug tyrant Sanchez in "Licence to Kill". 

JOHN CLEESE AS R, THEN Q (R2Q?)

In "The World Is Not Enough" an assistant to Q was introduced, played by John Cleese. His real name has yet to be revealed, but he is initially credited as R in "The World Is Not Enough", stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q: "If you're Q, does that make him R?"

Q&R
Their only shot together in the movie.
(Sorry for the quality.....)

He was officially referred to as "Q" in "Die Another Day" (2002) following actor Llewelyn's death in 1999.

Initially portrayed as rather clumsy, R then became more self-assured and more in the style of his predecessor. They both shared the same attitude towards their professional work, requesting that Bond be more careful in the testing laboratories and return his equipment intact. 

In "Die Another Day", Bond at first refers to R as "Quartermaster" but, silently impressed by the gadgets he is given, calls him "Q" at the end of their meeting. (The "Die Another Day" DVD reveals that Bond initially saw R as an 'interloper', only awarding the proper title of 'Q' after R has proven himself.)

It's possible that Q-R was a serlinguist and he is the man we see in the following Schweppes commercial:

If so, his comments about the James Bond movies are an expression over his concerns about the work done by "UNreel".

Or it could just be John Cleese, schilling yet again.....

"If it hadn't been for Q Branch, you'd have been dead long ago."

Q

BCnU, Q!