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See the British capital, 007 style. Let MI6 be your guide to exploring locations from the Bond films...
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007's London (Part 2)
10th May 2011
Whilst he may travel the globe to protect Great Britain, we all know that it's London that is home to the World's greatest secret agent. 007 Risks his life to protect Queen and country, and if the Queen is England's head, London surely is its beating heart. Continuing from Part I...
Man on a Mission:
Where 007 is on the Job in the Country's Capital
Sometimes Bond finds himself working outside of MI6's remit to protect Britain's interests on foreign soil, and never more so than in "The World Is Not Enough". Here Bond chases the Cigar Girl (Maria Grazia Cucinotta), who has made an attack on Mi6 headquarters, down the Thames in Q's prototype jet boat. During this less than leisurely cruise, we take in several London docks and waterways, including:
The Glengall Bridge - Millwall Inner Dock, London. E14
This bridge lowers during the chase. The Cigar Girl's boat only just clears it and Bond is forced to dive the Q-boat underneath, memorably straightening his tie underwater as he does.
The Royal Victoria Dock - East Ham, Greater London. E16
Bond takes out the Cigar Girl's heavy machine gun by launching his jet boat out of the water, rolling it through the air and knocking the gun off its tripod.
Tobacco Dock - Ornamental Canal, Wapping Lane, London.
Bond zips the jet boat around the corner of this canal (soaking two hapless traffic wardens in the process) before jumping up the stepped canals and launching through the London Canoe Club boathouse. |
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Above: The Cigar Girl makes her escape in the climax to the central London pre-titles chase.
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The O2 Arena - Peterboat Close, Greenwich, London SE10.
At the time this was known as the Millennium Dome, and was quite controversial. Many people weren't sure what to do with it, although the obvious answer is to drop Bond onto it from a great height.
Above: Bond borrows Q's fishing boat.
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Bond also visits a few London locations whilst on the job in "Die Another Day".
Buckingham Palace - 13 Buckingham Palace Rd, Westminster, London SW1Bond spies on Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) as he drops in to pick up his knighthood.
Westminster Bridge - Lambeth, London. SE1.
Whilst at the aforementioned Blades, Bond is given a mysterious old key. This opens the door to Vauxhall Cross station, located on the south side of Westminster Bridge. This door actually leads into a very small and rather unremarkable room, but in the film it runs down to the abandoned station, supposedly beneath the MI6 building. Whilst the station itself doesn't actually exist, it is based loosely on the disused tube station of Aldwych on the Piccadilly Line. (Out of interest, also on the south side of the bridge is where George Lazenby posed for possibly his most memorable publicity photograph for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".)
Above: Westmister bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
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Beckton Gasworks - Beckton, London. E6.
The pre-title sequence to "For Your Eyes Only" sees Bond dispose of his arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, whilst flying over the disused gasworks in Beckton. Famously used as a location in "Full Metal Jacket", standing in for a war ravaged Hue, Beckton Gasworks now no longer exists as it did, with much redevelopment making the site almost unrecognisable.
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The College of Arms - 130 Queen Victoria St. London. EC4.
Whilst on the subject of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", this is another film where Bond does some work on home soil, this time visiting the College of Arms. Here Bond learns of Blofeld's claim to the title of Comte De Bleuchamp and assumes the alias of Sir Hillary Bray, a Herald of the college. Unfortunately, the college is not open to the public.
Sotherby's - 34-35 New Bond Street, London. W1A 2AA.
Bond shows off his slight of hand at Sotherby's, the famous auctioneers, by switching a Fabergé egg with a reproduction, in order to get closer to the villainous Kamal Khan in the film "Octopussy".
Left: Gates to the College of Arms and Sotherby's exterior. |
The Water Gardens - Edgware Road, Paddington, London. W2.
In "Quantum of Solace", James Bond discusses Quantum with M whilst in her bodyguard-turned-traitor Mitchell's London flat.
Article by Ben Williams.
Stay tuned to MI6 for the third and final part of 007's guide to London...
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