A couple of days ago, I came across talk of the creation of a musical based on James Bond. As a Bond fan, my initial reaction was to balk at the idea. 007 is a coldblooded government assassin – he does not sing. To make him do so would completely change his image, turning him into a family-oriented bit of fluff with nothing to do with the character Fleming created. It would ruin the whole Bond phenomenon.

Yet, while that is true, you could say that for the franchise to survive it must evolve. Indeed, it has always evolved: every few films, a new actor is cast, bringing something new to the franchise. That is how it has survived for over fifty years, and how it built such an extraordinary cultural niche for itself that bond escorted the queen to the olympics. There is something special about this character, and part of his success stems from his ability to change with the times; would not this musical idea just be another phase in that evolution?

Mulling this idea over yesterday afternoon, I answered that with a firm ‘no’: James Bond does not, and should never be forced to, sing. However, this morning, cuddling up to Lyn just before I got up, I realised something: a major aspect of the franchise is it’s music. Every time a new bond film comes out, there is always debate over who would do the theme song. I laughed at myself for not realising it before: the obvious plan would be to create a stage show from the existing bond themes. In that moment, my attitude to the whole idea changed. I love most bond theme songs, especially Nobody Does it Better and live and let die. If creating this show from the bond themes is indeed what they are planning – and, let’s face it, that would be the logical thing to do – then I would certainly be up for it. It might deviate from the phenomenon Fleming created, but, handled correctly and written wel, it could be awesome.