Bill Tanner is MI6's Chief of Staff. The character was portrayed from 2008 to present by Rory Kinnear and appears in the James Bond films Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time To Die (2021). Kinnear also voices for the 2010 remake of the GoldenEye 007 game, the original game Blood Stone (2010) and 007 Legends (2012).
Biography[]
Quantum of Solace[]
Tanner is first seen giving informations about the recently deceased Craig Mitchell to James Bond and M. He later informs M about 007's actions while tracking down Edmund Slate. Tanner finally moves to Bolivia to try to help M stop Bond until she decides to trust her agent.
Skyfall[]
He is seen in the beginning of the movie, tracking James Bond's movements in Turkey, telling M that 007 is on the Grand Bazaar, chasing Patrice. Tanner is then seen in many scenes throughout the film, participating notably in Bond's evaluations and accompanying M in most of his movements.
Spectre[]
Tanner is first seen taking James Bond by boat on the river Thames to MI6 as they go to Q's laboratory, and they talk about the new Nine Eyes system. Tanner asks Bond if he has met Max Denbigh before.
He then helps with the assault on the Nine Eyes program.
No Time to Die[]
Tanner is first seen after M and James Bond talk about Lyutsifer Safin and Heracles.
He is then walking alongside Bond in HM Prison Belmarsh, talking to Bond about the history between him and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and also Madeleine Swann. They then run into Swann and go inside together to meet Blofeld. Nomi and Tanner watch through the one-way mirror, and as Blofeld approaches, Madeleine leaves and Bond interrogates Blofeld about the meeting in Cuba that killed every single Spectre member except Blofeld.
Bond then asks Blofeld about Swann and proceeds to strangle him. Tanner then asks Bond to open the door and lectures him how Bond broke the most important rule in the whole playbook. However, when they turn around, they realise that Blofeld has died in his cell, from being poisoned with Heracles, which Bond had inadvertantly passed to him.
When Bond and Nomi break into The Poison Garden, and forces circle around the area. Tanner informs M that the Americans, Russian and Japanese authorities want answers for why a there's a C-17 circling the island.
Bond then proceeds to die, and Tanner, Nomi, Q and M drink in Bond's honour.
Behind the Scenes[]
Following an almost decade-long absence from the series, Tanner returned to the Bond film series in Quantum of Solace, once again in his familiar position as M's aide. He was played by a different actor, Rory Kinnear, giving Judi Dench (who plays M) the distinction of having played opposite two different actors playing the role of Tanner. Kinnear is also the godson of Dench's late husband Michael Williams.
Trivia[]
- Leaked Sony Pictures e-mails dated circa October 2013 reveal that Spectre screenwriter John Logan, pitched the idea that Tanner should be revealed as a SPECTRE mole within MI6. The idea, along with many others from early drafts, were subsequently abandoned or re-written.[1]
- Kinnear's Tanner was the only returning character from Quantum of Solace to actually survive past the end of the last film that make up Craig's Bond continuity.
- He is the only Tanner thus far to appear in the games.
- He has had the most film appearances out of any Bill Tanner.
- He is the only Tanner to appear under more than one M.
Gallery[]
Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear)/Gallery
See also[]
- Bill Tanner
- Bill Tanner (Literary)
- Bill Tanner (Michael Goodliffe)
- Bill Tanner (James Villiers)
- Bill Tanner (Michael Kitchen)
- Bill Tanner (Nicky Henson)
References[]
- ↑ Johnston, Rich. "When Blofeld Was A Woman In Spectre – Sony Leaks…", Bleeding Cool, April 17 2015. Retrieved on March 07 2016. (in English)