M - Judi Dench

The announcement that Bond's new superior would be played by a woman made fans sceptical that the decision was merely a nod to political correctness. After all, how could Bond - the great seducer of otherwise stong-willed women - take orders from a member of the fair sex? With her first scene in 'GoldenEye', Judi Dench quieted the cynics with a dynamic, no-nonsense approach to the role. There is real tension between her and Bond, especially in the superb sequence in which he admits he regards her as a number-crunching bureaucrat, while she responds that he is a 'sexist, misogynist dinosaur - a relic of the Cold War.' In recent years, the Bond/M sequences had become pale shadows of those wonderful scenes with Bernard Lee from the early films. With Dench in the role, the relationship takes on a whole new mystique. There is still mutual respect between the two but it is understated and therefore all the more meaningful.

Other Allies in GoldenEye

Jack Wade

Valentin Zukovsky

Dimitri Mishkin

Miss Moneypenny

Q

Bill Tanner