Operation Double Cross is more fun and has crazier characters. Cumberbatch can play the P.G. Wodehouse loving Abwehr case officer (seriously!).

For the 80s, I nominate Buckaroo Banzai.

The short answer is: it was the style at the time.

I've only seen one episode of that. One of the characters used big words, while another provided monosyllabic translations. I hope that gag wasn't restricted to that episode.

I do like M's reaction when handed his cup.

Your villain list is missing Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax.

Don't forget to include Justice Souter in your vile brew.

Indeed. A veteran of some brutal campaigns in the Great War, then an agent of the Austro-Hungarian government, at some point he: got into knife fights, was brought low by women, formed an enmity for both communism and certain Russian noble families, adopted a daughter, and finally became disgusted with everything,…

Or in the spirit of this thread, "penetration agents".

With a note that read, "Marshall Aid. Thirty-two million francs. With the compliments of the USA."

They have All the Time in the World to reach such an All Time High.

I expressed myself badly; I was speaking of the novel.

It's mentioned in more than one book that Bond looks like Hoagy Carmichael, but with more cruelty around the mouth.

To be fair, the charge was always that it was a "hoax bomb". It's the same flavor of stupid overreaction one sees when a toy gun is brought to school.

Plus, per Moonraker, not even the 007 codename is recycled. Bond is the senior man in the department, and the only other agent mentioned is 0011.

The franchise as a whole has done that since 1963. Even Fleming retroactively made his character a Scot.

Lazenby's Bond has souvenirs in his desk from Connery Bond missions.

Personally I would pick Robert Guillaume for Mr. Nancy.

In the novel Moonraker, Bond is the senior 00 agent in the service. The other agent mentioned by number is 0011.
This suggests that the numbers are retired, not recycled, and that there are very few 00 agents active at any one time. Bond only gets two or three assignments a year, and he doesn't expect to make it to…

You, sir, are worse than Hitler.