UNDER THE QUEEN’S PEACE: Allow me to explain it.
Just like an evil Bond villain, explaining their nasty plans for world domination!
1: GENESIS:
- I performed a skit online about a year ago. In which, Timothy Dalton, bored of acting, takes up flower arranging. The Internet BELIEVED me. Such that Tim’s fan sites now list flower craft among his hobbies and Google images now has Mr Dalton always, it seems, surrounded by..um..flowers. No doubt he sees the funny side?!
- Anyway, among the viewers/listeners of said sketch was a young man who makes Bond and Dr Who videos. A very talented chap. Subscribe to his channel! He asked if I could record some Dalton lines on a Brosnan GOLDENEYE script. I went one better and so was born, a mini movie prequel audio play.
2: PURPOSE:
- Above all? It is a fan tribute to 007 lore. Not for profit! Though possibly for educational purposes and attracting website hits which in turn, yes, can be useful. No need for cease and desist!
- I am a fan of both Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan as actors and rate their 007 interpretations with equal respect. I had the honour and privilege of meting Dalton once. A thorough gentleman, he answered all of my (then) 8 year old, precocious yet innocently curious questions on the acting trade. I had just seen him perform TOUCH OF THE POET on stage. Wonderful man. Wonderful memory. And yes, I can do his voice, on cue.
- Timothy left the Bond role with unfinished business. GOLDENEYE was written with him in mind, clearly. If one watches it in sequence, the movie feels like a close to a trilogy, with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and LICENCE TO KILL as chapters 1 and 2.
IE: Brosnan’s Bond is NOT a full on reboot of the character. They even have him evaluated at the start of his first adventure; there are 1980s flashbacks in the pre-titles and several characters could be played, easily, by Dalton era counterparts. Our audio-play bridges the gap and cements the idea of a continuity in the Timothy/Pierce takes on 007.
3: IN JOKES /REFERENCES:
- UNDER THE QUEEN’S PEACE sounds very ‘Flemingian’. As in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but not being lazy with something like ‘Queen and Country’ or ‘Royal Command’ etc.
- The term is taken from English statute law. As in: if James Bond, or indeed, anyone, were to commit murder, outside of war or professional / official remit, then they are, prima facie, just that: a murderer. There would be consequences and trial /jail/etc.
- So, after going on a revenge binge in LICENCE TO KILL? Bond would have faced the legal ramifications and an evaluation to match, even if Mi6 wanted him back in the field. They know he has loved and lost before and suffers PTSD. But he’s the best and the world needs him back.
- Bond is interrogated by Phillip Masters. That character is taken from the short story, QUANTUM OF SOLACE. I deliberately play Masters with a softer voice to Bond’s. He has an authority, nonetheless, which begins to unfold and soften as the interrogation progresses. He warms to Bond, perhaps?
- Bond refers to a Russian coup (one was attempted just after the fall of the USSR). The newspaper ‘Tomorrow’ is mentioned (thereby making TOMORROW NEVER DIES also joint Dalton-Brosnan era canon).
- RHODA MASTERS sort of features. Ian Fleming wrote her as a kind of Bond girl who never was. 007 never seduces her, just meets her without even knowing it. She is the hostess at a party.
- And as an Ambassador sits him down and recounts Rhoda’s backstory, Bond is relieved that he did not marry (again?), as combat against baddies is far less scary than watching a marriage breakdown in intimacy.
- Rhoda started out as an Air Hostess, before marrying Phillip and precipitating his nervous breakdown through his inability to satisfy her. But neither she nor he are villains per se so much as human casualties of love.
- Phillip ends up back in the African colonies. Hence I have him called to South Africa, post apartheid, as a ‘Good Man in Africa‘ (itself the name of a Sean Connery film).
- Five time Bond director John Glen did tell me that a deleted sub plot in LICENCE TO KILL saw Rhoda help Bond escape America via the Embassy. So I have indicated that did indeed happen, in canon. To bring her to life, here? I present my good friend and occasional collaborator on all things film music related: ELIZABETH ERTEL!
- I will be covering the next exciting phase in Ms Ertel’s career with great interest. Songs, modelling work, performance, radio. The works! A star. Meantime, here she is in full Bond girl pose, glory. The idea is that Rhoda should be a citizen of the world. Ageless. Timeless. And possibly, able to teach Bond a thing or two in all sorts of places. Bit like Lucia in SPECTRE? IE: Elizabeth = perfect Rhoda fan casting!!
And that. Dear Reader..is a wrap?! Thanks to all involved.
JAMES BOND WILL RETURN. HAVE A GREAT WEEK. TRANSMISSION ENDS X
