20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Living Daylights (1987)

19. “Stuff My Orders!”

The Living Daylights Timothy Dalton
MGM/UA

Intending to have a significantly younger James Bond, screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson originally wrote The Living Daylights as a prequel to Dr. No (1962).

A much younger, unrefined James Bond would have fought Chinese warlord, Kwang alongside the-then Double-0 Seven, Burton Trevor, who died aiding Bond's escape. After killing Kwang, Bond became the new Double-0 Seven and the closing scene was his briefing for Dr. No.

“We decided that it might be interesting to have a story about James Bond’s first mission and how he became the great Double-0 Seven," Maibaum recounted. “....However, [Cubby] Broccoli, who has an uncanny appreciation of what audiences want, among his other great talents, liked it but he said the audience wasn’t interested in Bond as an amateur - as a man learning his trade... There was a lot of stuff in it that we regretted losing - the whole business about James Bond as a young naval officer, a wild one that couldn’t be disciplined, who was reminded by his grandfather that the family motto is ‘The World Is Not Enough’. Through a friend of the grandfather, [M,] he gets a chance to redeem himself as a subagent.”

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I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.