issue 77, volume 19, december 2025

Across more than six decades, James Bond has survived changing fashions and shifting geopolitics - but one constant has quietly shaped 007’s screen identity from the very beginning: censorship. This issue takes a deep dive into the sometimes-surprising, often-revealing history of what the world’s censors trimmed, replaced, muted, or simply refused to allow.

From the BBFC’s objections to sadism and sound effects in the 1960s to the MPAA’s anxieties about sex in the 1990s, the evolution of Bond’s censorship battles becomes a window into the evolving cultural values of the past sixty years. It’s a story of what audiences saw - and what they were never meant to. Rounding out this issue, we catch up with authors Vaseem Khan and Raymond Benson about their new books, and discuss 007 art with Jeff Marshall and Sean Longmore.

In This Issue

• Censoring 007 the battles that defined James Bond on screen
• Exploring Q, Root & Branch examining the origin and development of the character
• Quantum of Menace exclusive interview with author Vaseem Khan
• On The Road Again in conversation with Raymond Benson
• Parody In Print the humorous side of Bond’s many imitators
• Bond’s Playlist the music in 007’s world

Look Inside