M James Bond: The Character, the Actors and the Name

M is the senior MI6 figure who gives James Bond his assignments, credited as M in the EON series and Never Say Never Again, except for Ralph Fiennes, who is credited as Gareth Mallory in Skyfall (2012). Five actors are credited as M: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes in the EON series, and Edward Fox in the unofficial, non-EON Never Say Never Again (1983), directed by Irvin Kershner. The one exception is the unofficial, non-EON Casino Royale (1967), where John Huston is credited as McTarry. Think of M as the dispatcher in a garage: the car does the exciting work, but nothing leaves the workshop until someone hands over the keys and the job sheet.

Bernard Lee is the first M. In Dr. No (1962), directed by Terence Young, M sends Bond to Jamaica after the British station chief John Strangways and his secretary are murdered. Dr. No had its UK premiere on 7 October 1962 (reported) and its US release on 8 May 1963 (reported). Lee is billed ninth in the cast, and Bernard Lee is credited as M in the first eleven EON films, Dr. No (1962) to Moonraker (1979), directed by Lewis Gilbert.

Robert Brown takes over in Octopussy (1983), directed by John Glen, and plays M in four films, ending with Licence to Kill (1989), also directed by Glen. Judi Dench then arrives in GoldenEye (1995), directed by Martin Campbell, which had its UK premiere on 23 November 1995 (reported) and its US release on 17 November 1995 (confirmed). She stays for seven films: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997, Roger Spottiswoode), The World Is Not Enough (1999, Michael Apted), Die Another Day (2002, Lee Tamahori), Casino Royale (2006, Martin Campbell), Quantum of Solace (2008, Marc Forster) and Skyfall (2012, Sam Mendes).

Ralph Fiennes appears in Skyfall as Gareth Mallory, then as M in Spectre (2015, Sam Mendes) and No Time to Die (2021, Cary Joji Fukunaga). That makes Mallory the only full name the EON credits give the role. Edward Fox plays M in Never Say Never Again, which Taliafilm made independently of EON Productions.

The other unofficial film treats the role differently. In the unofficial, non-EON Casino Royale (1967), a spoof with five credited directors, David Niven is credited as James Bond, John Huston is credited as McTarry, and the story kills M early. For the main series, see the James Bond movies overview or the profile of the James Bond character.

M's arc is a long shift from a voice behind a desk to a person with a stake in the plot, and it turns on the Judi Dench years.

In the Bernard Lee era, M mostly sets the job in motion. In Dr. No (1962) he sends James Bond to Jamaica, in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) he points Bond at a diamond smuggling pipeline, and in Live and Let Die (1973) at a string of murdered agents. M also draws lines that Bond ignores. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), M takes Bond off the hunt for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, so Bond uses his leave to follow the lead alone. In The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), M takes Bond off the search for the solar scientist because a golden bullet marked 007 suggests Bond is the target, and later M and Q send him to recover the Solex Agitator.

Robert Brown's M gets the sharpest confrontation of the early run. In Licence to Kill (1989), Bond wants revenge for the attack on Felix Leiter and his bride. M orders him to drop it and take another assignment, Bond refuses, and M suspends him and removes his license to kill. James Bond goes after Franz Sanchez on his own, and at the end M offers him his old position back.

Judi Dench's M carries the most story. In GoldenEye (1995) she sends Bond to find out who is behind the electromagnetic pulse that wiped out the Severnaya radar base. In Die Another Day (2002) she suspends his 00 status after 14 months of captivity, because she fears he talked. In Casino Royale (2006) she is the one who tells Bond that Vesper Lynd was forced to act as a double agent to protect the man she loved. In Quantum of Solace (2008) she questions Mr. White with Bond, discovers that one of her own bodyguards is a traitor, worries that Bond is driven by vengeance and cancels his passports and cards, though he tells her at the end that he never left.

Skyfall (2012) puts M at the center. She faces an inquiry led by Gareth Mallory, who wants her to step down, and Raoul Silva, a former MI6 agent, blames her for abandoning him. Bond takes her to Skyfall, his childhood home in Scotland, and when Silva follows them to a nearby chapel she is badly wounded. She dies in Bond's arms.

Fiennes's M inherits the aftermath. In Spectre (2015) a message from the previous M sends Bond to Mexico City, the current M suspends him for going off the books, and M ends the film by arresting Blofeld after a struggle in which C dies. In No Time to Die (2021), Bond arranges for M to order a missile strike on Safin's island base, and the film shows that MI6 itself created the Heracles nanobot weapon.

M's key relationships are with James Bond, Miss Moneypenny, Q, Bill Tanner, Raoul Silva and Gareth Mallory. The most important is with Bond himself: M assigns, suspends, rehires and sometimes defends 007, and Bond answers by following orders, bending them or ignoring them.

Miss Moneypenny sits just outside the door. Lois Maxwell is credited as Miss Moneypenny in most of Bernard Lee's films, and she continues opposite Robert Brown in Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985). Samantha Bond holds the role opposite Judi Dench from GoldenEye (1995) to Die Another Day (2002). In Skyfall, Eve, played by Naomie Harris, is told to take a shot she cannot make cleanly, and afterward she leaves fieldwork to become secretary to Gareth Mallory. By Spectre she is credited as Moneypenny, so the Eve of Skyfall becomes Eve Moneypenny.

Q is the other regular. Desmond Llewelyn is credited as Q in seven of Lee's films from Thunderball (1965) to Moonraker (1979), in all four of Brown's films and in Dench's first three, and in Skyfall Ben Whishaw plays the role. Bill Tanner is also in the room: Michael Kitchen is credited in GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough, and Rory Kinnear is credited from Quantum of Solace onward.

Raoul Silva is the relationship that turns M into a target. He is a former MI6 agent who blames her for abandoning him, and after Bond captures him and brings him to London he escapes on purpose, because his real aim is to kill her. Gareth Mallory is the political counterpart: he runs the inquiry that threatens her job, then becomes the next M.

For the people around M in the same stories, see Q, Miss Moneypenny and Raoul Silva. Vesper Lynd matters to M's arc too, and you can read about her on the Vesper Lynd page.

The Judi Dench version of M dies in Skyfall (2012), and Gareth Mallory takes over the role.

After Raoul Silva's attack, M is badly wounded and dies in Bond's arms. After her funeral, Eve says she is leaving fieldwork for a desk job as secretary to Mallory, and the film closes with Mallory as the new M. Ralph Fiennes then plays M in Spectre and No Time to Die, and in the latter M orders the missile strike that ends Bond's story on Safin's island.

No other EON version of M dies on screen; in the unofficial Casino Royale (1967), M is killed early when Bond's estate is attacked, which sets the spoof in motion. As for what comes next, no casting for M has been confirmed for the untitled Bond 26.

The best M scenes are the ones that change what Bond is allowed to do: the Licence to Kill (1989) suspension, the Casino Royale (2006) Vesper briefing and the Skyfall (2012) finale. This is opinion, and it favors scenes where the office stops being a briefing room and becomes part of the mission.

First, Licence to Kill. In my opinion, Robert Brown's M gets the cleanest version of the rule: you can have your revenge or you can have your license, and Bond chooses revenge. It takes the typical briefing scene and turns it into a hard stop, which is why the rest of the film plays out with Bond improvising instead of equipped.

Second, the Judi Dench run. It could be argued that Casino Royale (2006) holds her best scene, when she tells Bond that Vesper was forced into a double agent role and probably traded the money to save him. It works like a diagnostic report on an engine: it explains the fault without repairing it. Quantum of Solace (2008) follows with the passports and cards being cancelled, which is M using paperwork as a weapon.

Third, Skyfall. Raoul Silva's grudge makes M the target, and the trip to the Scottish house forces Bond to protect the person who normally protects him. Perhaps that is the point of the character: for decades M sends Bond into danger, and Skyfall finally makes M the one in danger. It is the strongest argument that Dench's seven films form the main arc.

Finally, the opening of Spectre (2015). A message from the previous M sends Bond to Mexico City, which proves the character can still steer the plot after the death. That being said, Ralph Fiennes's M is at his best at his desk, handling C and the surveillance merger, because that is the corner of the office the series rarely shows.