James Bond does not exist in the real world. Which is probably a good thing because a racist, sexist dinosaur who has committed enough murders in the name of queen and country to be tried for genocide would be absolutely terrifying in reality. He also wouldn't be much of a spy since, as journalist Jon Ronson found when he recreated one of Bond's journeys - a cross-country car trip from Goldfinger, replete with mutli-course meals and copious amounts of booze - he would've barely slept and suffered from terrible gas. Ian Fleming's super spy was, really, nothing more than wish-fulfilment for both the writer and his audience, save for one particular aspect: the espionage was, for the most part, true to the everyday operations of MI6. Which Fleming knew, because he used to work for them. Before he retired to write pulp novels in a Jamaican shed, Fleming spent a good part of the Second World War working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division. He put together Operation Goldeneye (he was good with names) to sabotage Nazi plans to invade Spain, and was involved in in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force, and was instrumental in getting MI6 off their collective arses and actively pursuing the details of the Enigma codes used by the German Navy, in collaboration with Bletchley Park codebreakers like Alan Turing. He might have been as sexist and racist an old dinosaur as Bond himself, but Fleming too could back it up with some legit espionage.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
