Smash hit

The franchise had its biggest box office hit during his tenure with Thunderball, which took $63.6m, equivalent to $427.1m today. And its greatest critical success with From Russia With Love and the fabulous Goldfinger.

GEORGE LAZENBY (1969)

When Connery stepped down the first time after You Only Live Twice, Roger Moore had already been lined up for the role. But because the start of filming was delayed, Moore had already moved on to other commitments and 29-year old George Lazenby was brought in instead.

The Australian model quit after just one outing, the 1969 On Her Majesty's Secret Service

The 007 underdog, Lazenby is generally dismissed as the weakest link in the Bond chain. In a memorable moment in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby wears a kilt, allowing a beautiful woman to write her room number in lipstick on his thigh. His co-star Diana Rigg was said to find him so unattractive that she chewed garlic before each kissing scene.

ROGER MOORE (1973-1985)

Throughout the 70s and 80s, Roger Moore took Bond in a different direction. So far the longest-serving 007, he brought a lightness to the role that bordered on the camp.

Connery’s sharp suits gave way to tan safari jackets, ski-suits and kaftans, his classy Aston Martin replaced by a flashy Lotus Esprit cum mini-submarine.

Though Moore turned Bond into a sometime comic figure, he managed to reinvent 007 in his own image and challenge Connery’s hold on the part.

He also made the films extremely entertaining and profitable: Live And Let Die (1973) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) were the third and fifth most successful at the box office.

Moore himself has said his Bond differed from Connery’s in his cowardice: “Being a coward, I hated guns and would far rather have tried to disarm an opponent with a flippant remark, whereas Sean would knock them out cold. That was the difference in our characters.”

In 1985 Moore realised he was a bit past it and decided A View to a Kill would be his final mission.

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