Episode 16 - James Bond - The Living Daylights - “Post-coital Postcard” - a podcast by Spectre Etc

Welcome to SPECTRE etc. This is the James Bond podcast where we discuss the ins and the outs of each film. In this episode, Timothy Dalton takes us on a tour of an Afghan conflict and shows us the conflict of a Cellist tour in “The Living Daylights”.

* The pre-titles sequence is a welcome return to M’s office being out of his office. Bond has to jump a jeep off Gibraltar, before some music from A-Ha triggers memories of DJ Skat Kat.
* Bond must help Crybaby Saunders with Yorgi’s defection from the KGB. Bond spots a cellist acting as a sniper, and Kara can count herself lucky to escape with just a rash. Bond’s plan to cross the border leads to a much earlier (and shorter!) motorboat scene than previous films.
* A very frail Q still out of the office, but eventually 007 drags him back to the lab. Moneypenny is new and young and… still kinda lame. As is the ghetto blaster gag.
* Yorgi’s MI6 safehouse has incredibly lax security (and no cows, apparently), so an evil KGB milkman is able to break in and use a misappropriated Red Cross logo to steal Yorgi back for Mother Russia.
* Bond realises Yorgi’s defection was a scam and that Kara is his ticket to Yorgi. After some alone time in a public bathroom, Bond whisks Kara away. They are chased by an army of pursuers, but Bond is able to use car gadgets and Kara gadgets (a cello case) to evade them.
* James shows Kara an evening of culture (the opera and the circus) and then takes her, on the ferris wheel. Kara heads off for some post-coital postcard shopping, while Bond says a final goodbye to Saunders - who gets caught in a jamb.
* Bond breaks into Pushkin’s hotel room, and uses a naked girl to help set up a fake assassination. Bond beats Necros to the shot, and escapes by running across rooftops. Once again, 007 is kidnapped by an ally - this time he is brought to Felix Leiter’s frathouse for some solo cups of Jim Beam. Before Felix can rack up the Beer Pong table, James joins Kara - where Kara’s chloral-hydrate martini ensures his bad luck with drinks continues.
* Knocked out, Bond is captured and thrown on a plane to Afghanistan. Alongside him is a cooler carrying a heart, packed in ice. Upon arrival, Bond escapes the airbase and joins the Mujahideen in their fight for freedom.
* Bond heads back to the airbase to infiltrate the opium smuggling but gets sloppy with his disguise, so is forced to steal a plane full of opium. Just before take-off, James allows Kara to enter from behind. Unfortunately, Necros is also able to enter one of Bond’s openings.
* Necros tries to garrotte Bond with a net, but they both end up falling out the arse-end of the plane. James loses a show, but returns to the cockpit in time to prevent Kara piloting the plane into a mountain. He crash-lands in Pakistan - somehow close to both Karachi and Islamabad.
* Bond heads to Whittaker’s playroom to tie up a few loose ends. Whittaker has a lot of toys, including a remote-control cannon! Bond kills Whittaker, and then kills a witticism. Then, after all this work Dalton does to instil some realness in Bond, the idea of a Kara Milovy World Tour stretches the film’s credibility to breaking point!

And of course, keep checking back for a link to our petition to have Q restricted to London duties!

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