Sandro Monetti
Host
Martin Kove
Guest
Daz Crawford
Guest
Ruth McCartney
Guest
Harry Van Gorkum
Guest
Emma Pyne
Guest
ABOUT THE EPISODE
It’s an argument which has divided 007 fans for decades…Who’s The Best James Bond? Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig all have their supporters. Getting shaken and stirred while trying to settle the argument once and for all are Sandro Monetti’s guests in our latest episode. Among the experts making a case are The World is Not Enough bad guy Daz Crawford, Karate Kid villain Martin Kove and an actor who auditioned to be Bond but narrowly missed out to Pierce Brosnan; Harry Van Gorkum. Find out who was revealed to be best of the Bonds according to our public vote, announced at the end of the show.
DON’T LAUGH – TIMOTHY DALTON WAS THE BEST BOND
by Sandro Monetti, host, Who’s the Best Podcast
It’s time to reconsider the contribution of Timothy Dalton to the James Bond franchise.
Although he’s largely dismissed and often forgotten, I’d argue Dalton was actually the greatest 007, and I will go to my grave believing that.
Actually, it might take until we’re all long gone for this hugely talented actor to be fully appreciated.
Genius often takes its time to be acknowledged. Vincent Van Gogh, for example, only sold one painting in his lifetime. Now, he’s widely considered the greatest artist ever to pick up a paintbrush.
As I point out in this latest episode of Who’s the Best, Timothy Dalton is the Vincent Van Gogh of James Bonds.
A fabulous actor who brought nuance, stoicism and brains as well as brawn to the part, Dalton made his 007 the closest to the character in the Ian Fleming books: a killing machine only concerned with getting the job done. It was all about the mission rather the Martini’s. The gun over the girls. Justice over joyrides.
Yes it was a decidedly different take on Britain’s top secret agent – his Bond even treated women decently – and Dalton’s portrayal was not to many people’s liking at the time. Especially after the campy fun of Roger Moore’s era.
But his two Bond films, 1987’s The Living Daylights and 1989’s Licence to Kill, still hold up largely thanks to the depths he brought to the character. They are also great revenge romps, featuring an unstoppable, unbeatable hero.
Will Dalton be beaten in the public vote for the best James Bond? Well, you’ll have to listen to the end of the podcast to find out.
As well as debating the double-O’s with my guests, it was fascinating to hear one of them, British actor Harry Van Gorkum, detail how he once auditioned to be Timothy Dalton’s successor as James Bond.
It turns out the audition involved the walk and draw of the gun from the opening titles, a few flirty lines with Miss Moneypenny and saying the immortal line “Bond…James Bond.”
Harry was ultimately unsuccessful, missing out to Pierce Brosnan – but at least he got the wonderful consolation prize of appearing on Who’s the Best!
Also on this episode is Daz Crawford, who played a tough guy, who memorably tangled with Pierce Brosnan in The World Is Not Enough. What a great story he has to tell of how Brosnan put him in hospital with an accidental elbow to the nose during their big fight scene.
It will soon be time for the next James Bond film with Daniel Craig back in the role, apparently for the last time, set to be released in April 2020 titled No Time to Die. Craig gets a lot of praise for playing the part as a no nonsense, tough and merciless Bond. You know who else also did that? That’s right. Timothy Dalton.
Let the haters bag on his Bond all they like. To my mind, nobody does it better.
