M is a codename held by a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series; the character is the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service for the agency known as MI6. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-four films. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by four actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, the incumbent; in the two independent productions, M was played by John Huston, David Niven and Edward Fox. In the videogame 007 First Light, M was portrayed by Priyanga Burford.
Contents
Background
Ian Fleming based much of M's character on Rear Admiral John Godfrey, who was Fleming's superior at the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. After Fleming's death, Godfrey complained "He turned me into that unsavoury character, M."
Other possible inspirations include Lieutenant Colonel Sir Claude Dansey, the deputy head of MI6 and head of the wartime Z network, who achieved different interpretations of his character from those who knew him: Malcolm Muggeridge thought him "the only professional in MI6", while Hugh Trevor-Roper considered Dansey to be "an utter shit, corrupt, incompetent, but with a certain low cunning". A further inspiration for M was Maxwell Knight, the head of MI5, who signed his memos as "M" and whom Fleming knew well. The tradition of the head of MI6 signing their name with a single letter came from Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who would sign his initial "C", with green ink.
Another possibility for the model of M was William Melville, an Irishman who became the head of the Secret Service Bureau, the forerunner of both MI5 and MI6: Melville was referred to within government circles as M. Melville recruited Sidney Reilly into government service and foiled an assassination plot against Queen Victoria on her 1887 Golden Jubilee. Fleming's biographer John Pearson also hypothesised that Fleming's characterisation of M reflects memories of his mother:
Novels
Fleming's third Bond novel, Moonraker, establishes M's initials as "M**** M*******" and his first name is subsequently revealed to be Miles. In the final novel of the series, The Man with the Golden Gun, M's full identity is revealed as Vice Admiral Sir Miles Messervy KCMG; Messervy had been appointed Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service after his predecessor had been assassinated at his desk.
A naval theme runs throughout Fleming's description of M and his surroundings, and his character was described by journalist Ben Macintyre as "every inch the naval martinet". Macintyre wrote that in his study of Fleming's work, Kingsley Amis outlined the way Fleming had described M's voice, being: angry (three times); brutal, cold (seven times); curt, dry (five times); gruff (seven times); stern, testy (five times).
Over the course of twelve novels and two collections of short stories, Fleming provided a number of details relating to M's background and character. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service it is revealed that M's pay as head of the Secret Service is £6,500 a year, (£118,723 in 2025 pounds) £1,500 of which comes from retired naval pay. Although his pay is good for the 1950s and 1960s, it is never explained how M received or can afford his membership at Blades, an upscale private club for gentlemen he frequents in London to gamble and dine. Blades has a restricted membership of only 200 gentlemen and all must be able to show £100,000 (£1,826,508 in 2025 pounds) in cash or gilt-edged securities. Kingsley Amis noted in his study, The James Bond Dossier, that on M's salary his membership of the club would have been puzzling. As a personal favour to M, the staff at Blades keeps a supply of cheap red wine from Algeria on hand but does not include it on the wine list. M refers to it as "Infuriator" and tends only to drink it in moderate quantities unless he is in a very bad mood.
The academic Paul Stock argues that M's office is a metonym for England and a stable point from which Bond departs on a mission, whilst he sees M as being an iconic representative of England and Englishness.
In the first post-Fleming book, Colonel Sun, M is kidnapped from Quarterdeck, his home, and Bond goes to great lengths to rescue him. The later continuation books, written by John Gardner, retain Sir Miles Messervy as M, who protects Bond from the new, less aggressive climate in the Secret Service, saying that at some point Britain will need "a blunt instrument". In Gardner's final novel, COLD, M is kidnapped and rescued by Bond and finishes the book by retiring from MI6. Continuation Bond author Raymond Benson's 1998 novel The Facts of Death continued Messervy's retirement, where he still resides in Quarterdeck. The book also introduces a new M, Barbara Mawdsley, based on Judi Dench's character in the Pierce Brosnan films.
Films
Eon Productions films
M was played by Bernard Lee from the first Bond film, Dr. No (1962), until Moonraker (1979). In line with Fleming's character, he is given the name of Miles in The Spy Who Loved Me. In Dr. No M refers to his record of reducing the number of operative casualties since taking the job, implying someone else held the job recently before him. The film also saw M refer to himself as head of MI7; Lee had originally said MI6, but was overdubbed with the name MI7 prior to the film's release. Earlier in the film, the department had been referred to as MI6 by a radio operator.
A number of Bond scholars have noted that Lee's interpretation of the character was in line with the original literary representation; John Cork and Collin Stutz observed that Lee was "very close to Fleming's version of the character", while Rubin commented on the serious, efficient, no-nonsense authority figure. Jim Smith and Stephen Lavington, meanwhile, remarked that Lee was "the very incarnation of Fleming's crusty admiral."
Lee died of cancer in January 1981, four months into the filming of For Your Eyes Only and before any of his scenes could be filmed. Out of respect, no new actor was hired to assume the role and, instead, the script was re-written so that the character is said to be on leave, with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or the Minister of Defence, Sir Frederick Gray. Later films referred to Lee's tenure as head of the service, with a painting of him as M in MI6's Scottish headquarters during the 1999 instalment The World Is Not Enough.
Appearances in:
Lee's likeness was used in the 2005 video game James Bond 007: From Russia with Love.
After Lee's death in 1981, the producers hired the actor Robert Brown to play M in Octopussy. Brown had previously played Admiral Hargreaves, Flag Officer Submarines, in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond scholars Steven Jay Rubin, John Cork, and Collin Stutz all consider Admiral Hargreaves would have been appointed to the role of M, rather than Brown playing a different character as M.
Pfeiffer and Worrall considered that whilst Brown looks perfect, the role had been softened from that of Lee; they also considered him "far too avuncular", although in Licence to Kill they remarked that he came across as being very effective as he removed Bond's double-0 licence. Continuation author Raymond Benson agrees, noting that the M role was "once again under written, and Brown is not allowed the opportunity to explore and reveal his character traits"; Benson also considered the character to be "too nice". In No Time to Die (2021), Brown's M is briefly seen in a portrait at the office of the incumbent M (Ralph Fiennes) opposite a portrait of Judi Dench's M.
Non-Eon films
The 1967 film Casino Royale had not one but two Ms. The first is played by John Huston, who also co-directed. In this film, M's real name is McTarry and he is accidentally killed when, in order to get Bond out of retirement, he orders the military to fire mortars at Bond's mansion when the retired spy refuses to return to duty. The first quarter of the film depicts Bond's subsequent visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M's remains recovered after the attack—his bright red toupée. Subsequently, Bond—played by David Niven—becomes the new M and proceeds to order that all MI6 agents, male and female, be renamed "James Bond 007" in order to confuse the enemy.
In 1983's Never Say Never Again, Edward Fox played M as a bureaucrat, contemptuous of Bond—far removed from the relationship shared between Bernard Lee's M and Sean Connery's Bond in the original Eon films; the academic Jeremy Black notes that the contempt felt for the 00 section by Fox's M was reciprocated by Connery's Bond. Fox's M is also younger than any of the previous portrayals, and his portrayal is the only instance to date of the actor playing M being younger than the actor playing Bond. The media historian James Chapman notes that while M considers Bond to be an out-dated relic, the Foreign Secretary orders the 00 section to be re-activated.
Outside the James Bond series
Several past incarnations of M appear in Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The first, later revealed to be James Moriarty, created and directed the eponymous League in 1898 to win a gang war against Fu Manchu. Following Moriarty's death, Mycroft Holmes assumed the role of M. In the sequel volume The Black Dossier, Harry Lime, the head of the British secret service, assumed the role of M amidst a moribund and dystopian 1950s post-war Britain. In the final volume Century, the elderly Emma Peel assumed the role of M as of 2009.
The James Moriarty incarnation of M appears in the first volume's 2003 film adaptation, portrayed by Richard Roxburgh.