Bill Tanner

: "For the New Zealand politician see William Tanner (New Zealand)"James Bond Character


bgcolor=#039
fgcolor=#fff
name=Bill Tanner
portrayed=various
gender=Male
affiliation=MI6
status=Active
role=Chief of Staff

Bill Tanner is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel series.

Character summary

Superb in a crisis, and blessed with a dry sense of humour, Tanner is M's Chief of Staff. He is also Bond's staunchest ally in the Service, and they often enjoy a round of golf when off-duty. A family man, Tanner is just a little envious of Bond's freedom.

Novels

In Ian Fleming's novels, Bill Tanner is MI6's Chief of Staff. He appears infrequently in Fleming's novels, but is a regular character in the later continuation series by John Gardner.

In 1965, Kingsley Amis wrote "The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007", a tongue-in-cheek manual for prospective secret agents, illustrated with examples from Fleming's novels. For this work, Amis used the pseudonym "Lt. Colonel William ('Bill') Tanner".

Film appearances

In "The Man with the Golden Gun", Bill Tanner is only seen briefly in the film and is not mentioned by name until the end credits. He appears in M's office with M and Colthorpe, discussing Francisco Scaramanga, who has sent a bullet to MI6 printed with Bond's ID number. He explains Scaramanga's fingerprints on the bullet were verified by the CIA, and that Scaramanga is attempting to provoke a battle with MI6. This leads to Bond being sent to find Scaramanga.

In "For Your Eyes Only", Bill Tanner is given a bigger role, as Bernard Lee, who played M, had died.cite news | title = Quantum of Solace - Production Diary 7 | date = 2008-01-26 | url = http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/bond_22_prod_diary07.php3?t=&s= | accessdate=2008-01-26] Tanner gives Bond his assignment (along with Sir Fredrick Gray), which he sends him to find Hector Gonzales. Bond is unable to get information from Gonzales later on because Melina Havelock kills him after Bond is captured. Tanner then gets upset at him for not getting any information and letting Melina murder him. Tanner is last seen at the end of the film, when he connects the Prime Minister and Bond by phone. Unknowingly though, Bond is not there and it is merely a talking parrot that ends up "flirting" with Margaret Thatcher. In "Octopussy", the role of M was recast with Robert Brown, so Tanner did not appear.

In "GoldenEye", Tanner is only briefly seen in the Situation Room when the GoldenEye weapon is set off. Tanner gets scolded here for calling the new M, "the Evil Queen of Numbers" while she is right behind him. As Michael Kitchen was unable to reprise his role for "Tomorrow Never Dies", the character of Charles Robinson (played by Colin Salmon), was created in his stead.

In "The World Is Not Enough", Tanner is seen at the Scotland MI6 building debriefing the agents on the murder of Sir Robert King, father of Elektra King. When Bond comes to the conclusion that Renard is behind it, Tanner is seen with them talking about what Renard can do or is planning to do. He is only seen again twice, when Elektra King contacts M to get her to come and see her and finally at the end of the film where Q is attempting to find Bond.

Tanner is to reappear in "Quantum of Solace" played by Rory Kinnear. It is unknown what part the character will play in the plot at this moment in time, though it is clear that he will be M's aide.

References