Post by moriarty on Nov 16, 2006 18:37:50 GMT
Bond not real, agents tell Radio 1 Wednesday November 15, 02:32 PM
Two MI6 officers have given a rare interview to tell the public: James Bond isn't real.
The secret intelligence service duo were authorised to give an interview in which they described 007's licence to kill as "a complete myth".
But they revealed there is a real-life Q testing spy gadgets. And they insisted the spying business can be dangerous but "quite glamorous". The unnamed male and female officer spoke to Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray for Wednesday night's show.
It is believed to be the first time two serving officers have granted an interview. Murray asked them: "Is there such a thing as a licence to kill?"
The male officer replied: "No, it's a complete myth. It's good to be able to say that. The job of the service is to obtain intelligence to inform British government policy and help prevent, for example, terrorist attacks and in doing that we work under UK law.
"The work of the service is overseen both politically and legally so there's absolutely no room in that for killing people."
The female officer was then asked how an average month in the life of an MI6 officer compares to the world of James Bond. "There is certainly action, there is a lot of adventure and it's also quite glamorous - depending on what you mean by that exactly," she said.
"For me, glamour has to do with contrast: one situation you might find yourself in and then being transported into something else."
The male officer described it as "a job less ordinary". On the subject of M - the spy boss played in the Bond films by Dame Judi Dench - he claimed: "We don't have an M but we do have a C. He is C and that's what the chief of the service has been called since it was established in 1909.
"We also have a Q figure whose team is responsible for innovative technology and gimmicks and gadgets and things like that."
Two MI6 officers have given a rare interview to tell the public: James Bond isn't real.
The secret intelligence service duo were authorised to give an interview in which they described 007's licence to kill as "a complete myth".
But they revealed there is a real-life Q testing spy gadgets. And they insisted the spying business can be dangerous but "quite glamorous". The unnamed male and female officer spoke to Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray for Wednesday night's show.
It is believed to be the first time two serving officers have granted an interview. Murray asked them: "Is there such a thing as a licence to kill?"
The male officer replied: "No, it's a complete myth. It's good to be able to say that. The job of the service is to obtain intelligence to inform British government policy and help prevent, for example, terrorist attacks and in doing that we work under UK law.
"The work of the service is overseen both politically and legally so there's absolutely no room in that for killing people."
The female officer was then asked how an average month in the life of an MI6 officer compares to the world of James Bond. "There is certainly action, there is a lot of adventure and it's also quite glamorous - depending on what you mean by that exactly," she said.
"For me, glamour has to do with contrast: one situation you might find yourself in and then being transported into something else."
The male officer described it as "a job less ordinary". On the subject of M - the spy boss played in the Bond films by Dame Judi Dench - he claimed: "We don't have an M but we do have a C. He is C and that's what the chief of the service has been called since it was established in 1909.
"We also have a Q figure whose team is responsible for innovative technology and gimmicks and gadgets and things like that."
