The original 3.7

Part One

I was a fan of The Professionals before I was a Bond fan. In fact it is probably the fast-paced action of CI5 back in my schoolboy days that lured me into the world of the cinema's least secret agent.

I never quite believed Roger Moore was Bond and always wanted to adapt Fleming's novels in my own imagination. I was unaware of casting agents and always simply imagined Bodie being promoted and getting a better haircut.To me Lewis had the right sardonic air, the casual charm, the physical presence and the skill with the all-important one-liners. I simply couldn't imagine anyone better as Bond back in the 70's.

EON productions thought so too.They spoke to Lewis frequently and often about the role. Lewis was a Bond fan anyway and - let's be honest - which man would pass up the chance to be the character that "all women want and all men want to be".

The press always thought that Bodie was Bondian too. In the early 80's The Sun newspaper ran a headline that posed the question that we were all dying to ask IS BODIE THE NEXT BOND?. Unfortunately Bodie was on holiday in the States at the time but his father confirmed that the Bond producers were very interested." I know that Lew will be upset that I've told you this" he said "it's supposed to be top secret".When interviewing Lewis in a London pub during the filming of Who Dares Wins a female journalist spent a page drooling over Collins in his ruthlessly smart military uniform. "If he's the next Bond" she remarked "I want to be Pussy Galore".

The general public and the press alike all believed Lewis to be the heir apparent to Roger Moore. Lewis apparently thought so too. He told journalist Douglas Fairey "Bond - that is Ian Fleming's Bond - is not overly tall and not overly handsome" and spoke at length about the way in which the character could be made to resemble the spy of the novels once more.

In Weekend in 1983 stuntman Rocky Taylor sold a story entitled NEXT 007? - BET ON LEWIS COLLINS. What a cover! Inside the magazine Rocky put money on the fact that Collins would soon be given a licence to kill. "Face it" he said "what other British character has the looks, the humour and the macho presence to be Bond?. There is simply no-one else around who could do it." The magazine rang Lewis who seemed confident enough to talk about it. He stated that his initial reaction would be to turn the part down because his predecessors were such a tough act to follow. Thinking about it however he realised that any new Bond actor would need at least two or three movies to establish his own personality in the role and be accepted by the audience. (There speaks a fan.The three movies theory is one of the most oft-quoted truisms in Bond fandom.) In which case Lewis rewasoned he would love nothing better to embrace the challenge of playing Bond. Not that Cubby Broccoli had asked him of course. And with that last phrase all his fans grinned and said of course not!

14. April 2000 - more >