Q

Q is a character in the James Bond films and novelisations. Q is the head of Q Branch (later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service charged with oversight of top secret field technologies. Q (standing for quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. The use of letters as pseudonyms for senior officers in the British Secret Service was started by its first director, Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming (1859–1923), who signed himself with a C written in green ink. Q has appeared in 22 of the 25 Eon Productions James Bond films, the exceptions being Live and Let Die (1973), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). Q also featured in both non-Eon Bond films, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). Between 1963 and 1999, Q was portrayed in the Eon films by Desmond Llewelyn until his death in late 1999. He was played in subsequent films by John Cleese and Ben Whishaw. Novels The character Q never appears in the novels by the author Ian Fleming, where Q and the Q Branch are only mentioned; however, Q does appear in the novelisations by Christopher Wood as well as the later novels by John Gardner and Raymond Benson, who adopted Eon's decision to combine the character with Major Boothroyd, the armourer from Dr. No.