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MI6 looks back at the Secret Service outposts that
have crossed paths with Agent 007 in the 21 movies
to date...
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MI6 Around the Globe - Foreign Offices
25th July 2007
As Britain’s first line of defense, the Secret Service
have eyes and agents all across the globe. MI6 pulls the international
resources together to plot a few of the foreign offices that
James Bond has run into over his 45 year film history.
Station C – Dr.
No
Filmgoers are introduced to the first of several overseas
stations in “Dr. No”,
when 007 investigates the mysterious disappearance of
its
Caribbean staff.
Station C is based in the bustling city
of Kingston, Jamaica and manned by Commander Strangways
and his lovely secretary, Mary Trueblood.
The MI6 officer
was investigating the operations of the
mysterious Chinaman Dr. No when station was
infiltrated by
a pack
of hired and cut off the air in the midst of a daily
report. |
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Above: James Bond makes
builds new alliances with Quarrel and Felix Leiter
of the CIA |
Station C was regarded as a quiet corner of the world and
Strangways took the job as MI6’s foreign agent, on the
hope of retiring peacefully in the sun. Station C worked frequently
with Cayman
Islander Quarrel who proves a very capable ally for 007’s
mission to Jamaica.
NB: The Jamaican outpost is referred to
as Station C by Fleming, but this letter-based title is never
mentioned in the film despite the importance to the Dr. No plot.
Above: Bond and Kerim
assassinate a Russian spy in Istanbul |
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Station T –
From Russia With Love
MI6’s eyes and ears in Turkey is Kerim
Bey. Head of the MI6 section, Kerim is an unconventional
spy – but a brilliant and resourceful operative
none the less. On the “From
Russia With Love” mission the tension between
the Eastern and Western powers is more than evident
and
you can never tell who to trust. Kerim employs his
many sons to run the section – the best security
is blood, he tells Bond.
On 007's arrival in the hub
of Station T in Istanbul, Kerim must call in a few favours
to assist Bond's investigations and locate the Russian
cipher clerk Bond is
supposed to be meeting. Station T is on regular business
terms with a local pack of gypsies who give the spies
food and shelter when on their
mission. Kerim sadly meets his demise at the hands of SPECTRE assassin Red
Grant on the Orient Express.
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Station Y – From Russia With Love
Onboard the Orient Express bound for safety, 007 makes contact
with Station Y in Yugoslavia. The rendezvous point is the
train
station at Zagreb, but the over-enthusiastic Captain Nash is
brutally murdered in the train station bathroom and the
villainous Red Grant takes his place.
Station C –
Thunderball
During the crisis in the Thunderball case,
00-Agents from across the globe assemble in the MI6
conference room.
After the briefing, M, assigns each of his top agents
to a global area.
Bond is originally assigned to Station
C, in Canada, but protests at M’s choice, insisting
on following up on several leads pointing to the Bahamas.
His gambit pays off and with the help
of the MI6 team in Nassau – the lovely and resourceful Paula Caplin and later
gadget-man Q – Bond tracks the missing nuclear weapons and
the criminal mastermind who is holding them.
Right:
Paula Caplin, MI6's "man-in-Nassu", proves
a competent ally who meets a tragic fate when she
swallows a cyanide pill rather risk talking during
interrogation by Largo.
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Station VH – Moonraker
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is home to section VH. Representing
the station on Bond’s mission to Rio is Manuela.
The lovely girl proves a capable guide to the cities sights
- and
more specifically, the Drax Corporation.
With the help of the Rio outpost, Bond breaks into the villainous
Drax’s operation, in the hope of finding exactly what
he’s exporting from his Venetian lab. Rio is a sunny
spot and a generally quiet part of the world
– but with 007, trouble is always just around the corner.
Above: 007 watches on as Q has 'problems
keeping it up' in Station I |
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Station I – Octopussy
Tucked away in a small corner of the bustling Udaipur
market, Station I in India is headed up by the friendly
and helpful Sadruddin. His second in command is a young
field agent, Vijay – with
a passion for tennis and fast driving. Thanks to
Q-branch, The Indian outpost is well equipped with
the latest gadgets
and weapons.
On the Octopussy mission,
007 is aided by Vijay and his modified
Tuk-Tuk taxi - capable of high-speed escape and
traveling at times on just two wheels. The whole team
at Station
I prove a useful ally for James Bond's mission to India.
Vijay is killed whilst on
lookout duty for Bond’s visit to the Octopussy
palace. Vijay was murdered by hired assassins, meant
for Bond.
Station V – The
Living Daylights
Manned by the capable yet “by-the-book”Agent
Saunders, Station V in Vienna, Austria proves another haven for 007 whilst
on "The Living Daylights" mission.
007 is tasked to assassinate a KGB sniper,
but breaks M’s
orders and does not shoot to kill. From here a rivalry
with Saunders is developed, and while he still does Bond’s
bidding, Saunders battles with 007’s unorthodox
way of working.
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While Saunders deals to the pleasantries of
Opera tickets and ball gowns for 007, he also gets more than
he bargained for when he makes a rendezvous at a cafe... Saunders
proves more than an adequate ally and even warms towards 007
before meeting his sticky end.
Although 45 years of
007’s
missions take him to many other locations and foreign offices,
their exact
locations and stations titles remain unspecified and their personnel
left unrecorded or highly classified. Only those which are clearly
identified have been included in this article.
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