HOWZAT

Die Another Day drew decidedly average reviews, but Halle Berry rejuvenated interest in Bond girls when she pulled herself from the ocean in an orange bikini and knife belt, in an overt homage to Honey Ryder.

Jinx proves an excellent partner for Bond, lending her numerous skills to the mission at hand. The film’s climactic fight sequence sees Jinx brawling alongside Bond. We are left to wonder, could 007 have saved the day this time round without his Bond girl?

7. Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova ‘Triple X’ (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977)

Playing with the audience’s preconceptions of gender we are introduced to Russia’s top spy in an intimate bedroom scene. As the scene unfolds it emerges that Triple X is the woman of the equation, not the man.

Being Bond

Sick of being jealous of 007's good looks, strong physique and pout, Hugo Rifkind is on a mission to beat Bond at his own game

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As deadly as she is beautiful, Roger Moore’s Bond is unable to resist the Russian spy. “When this mission is over I will kill you,” declares Amasova early in the film. Inevitably, he seduces her, but Triple X remains primarily Bond’s accomplice rather than merely his conquest.

6. Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore (Goldfinger, 1964)

Blackman was brilliantly cast as the Bond girl with the most memorable and overtly sexual name in the harem of 007. Bond's attempts to foil Goldfinger's plot are all in vain until he meets and seduces Pussy Galore.

The seduction itself is frankly violent with Bond and Galore trading blows as well as kisses before succumbing to one another's brutal advances. While audiences at the time may have been familiar with this particular brand of tough cinematic loving, the scene today looks something of a period piece.

Even though Galore helps Bond and the CIA foil Goldfinger’s plot, she doesn’t leave her evil lover. Ever the independent spirit, or subjugated by the various males in her life? The debate lives on.

5. Diana Rigg as Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969)

The only girl ever to marry Bond is a fascinating, multifaceted character from a film that tends to polarise the Bond community. George Lazenby’s sole outing as Bond has been both lauded and pilloried, with its darker than usual take on the British secret agent.

Diana Rigg described her character Tracy as “a bit of a mixed up lady”, who seems to be suffering from the ill-effects of a privileged upbringing. “I gave her too much, it brought her nothing” her father says.