Roger Moore

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0:00:14 > 0:00:16My name's Bond. James Bond.

0:00:16 > 0:00:18And I'm licensed to kill.

0:00:18 > 0:00:20There's a royal premiere tonight, it's the latest Bond,

0:00:20 > 0:00:24The Spy Who Loved Me. It has women, action and me.

0:00:24 > 0:00:28And so have you, tonight, on Nationwide at 6.20pm.

0:00:28 > 0:00:31I'm Roger Moore, so watch The Spy Who Loved Me,

0:00:31 > 0:00:34and you'll love James Bond.

0:00:34 > 0:00:36It still works on the third take.

0:00:36 > 0:00:38Suave and charming,

0:00:38 > 0:00:40deadly and debonair,

0:00:40 > 0:00:43saving the world with his finger on the trigger

0:00:43 > 0:00:45and his tongue firmly in his cheek.

0:00:45 > 0:00:46A woman.

0:00:46 > 0:00:49No wonder that Sir Roger Moore was

0:00:49 > 0:00:51the spy who we loved.

0:00:52 > 0:00:54The man with the golden pun,

0:00:54 > 0:00:57dispatching villains with a combination of punches

0:00:57 > 0:01:01and punch lines, gadgets and gags.

0:01:03 > 0:01:05I'm now aiming precisely at your groin...

0:01:08 > 0:01:10..so speak, or forever hold your "peace".

0:01:12 > 0:01:16For over 50 years, Roger Moore was one of Britain's best exports,

0:01:16 > 0:01:19known across the world for playing iconic heroes

0:01:19 > 0:01:21on television and film.

0:01:22 > 0:01:27On the small screen, there was Ivanhoe in the 1950s,

0:01:27 > 0:01:29Maverick and The Saint in the '60s,

0:01:29 > 0:01:33and Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders! in the '70s.

0:01:34 > 0:01:38And on the big screen, well, you don't get any bigger than...

0:01:38 > 0:01:40Bond, James Bond.

0:01:40 > 0:01:42And as we will see in this programme,

0:01:42 > 0:01:46Roger always seemed destined to play 007.

0:01:46 > 0:01:51We will also explore how he was one of the most self-effacing stars

0:01:51 > 0:01:52of all time,

0:01:52 > 0:01:56always first in line to criticise himself.

0:01:56 > 0:01:58And we will be looking at how,

0:01:58 > 0:02:01once he has handed in his licence to kill,

0:02:01 > 0:02:05he took on another, life-changing mission -

0:02:05 > 0:02:08which was perhaps his greatest.

0:02:10 > 0:02:13But let's start with Simon Templer and The Saint.

0:02:16 > 0:02:19Roger had at one point wanted to produce his own series

0:02:19 > 0:02:23based on the popular novels by Leslie Charteris.

0:02:23 > 0:02:25That didn't happen.

0:02:25 > 0:02:27But when others got the rights,

0:02:27 > 0:02:30Roger was still cast as the modern-day Robin Hood,

0:02:30 > 0:02:33who robbed from the corrupt and gave most of the loot

0:02:33 > 0:02:36back to their victims.

0:02:36 > 0:02:40This interview took place in 1963,

0:02:40 > 0:02:43and starts very tellingly.

0:02:43 > 0:02:45Mr Moore, why do you think you were chosen to play The Saint?

0:02:48 > 0:02:50Because Sean Connery wasn't available.

0:02:50 > 0:02:53No, let's have a truthful answer.

0:02:53 > 0:02:56I tried to buy the show five or six years ago, I tried to

0:02:56 > 0:03:00buy the rights, but I didn't have enough money at the time,

0:03:00 > 0:03:03or Leslie Charteris wasn't interested in selling to television,

0:03:03 > 0:03:04which put the price up.

0:03:04 > 0:03:06So when I was approached,

0:03:06 > 0:03:08you know, I was delighted to do it.

0:03:08 > 0:03:11I thought it was a character for a running TV series.

0:03:11 > 0:03:14You know, it had a built-in premise.

0:03:14 > 0:03:16Sort of part Superman...

0:03:18 > 0:03:20..and natural hero.

0:03:20 > 0:03:24Things one is not allowed to do on television because of censorship,

0:03:24 > 0:03:27or the hero must always be white.

0:03:27 > 0:03:28I think that a hero... You know,

0:03:28 > 0:03:31heroes don't exist, as far as I'm concerned. I...

0:03:34 > 0:03:36..think that people who have read the books know that The Saint

0:03:36 > 0:03:40was a crook, although we never say it in television,

0:03:40 > 0:03:42and for this reason, he has a double interest.

0:03:42 > 0:03:45He has another aspect to his character.

0:03:45 > 0:03:47You enjoy packing punches?

0:03:47 > 0:03:52Yes. You know, I like to win because in life I am a devout coward.

0:03:52 > 0:03:55I have a yellow streak up my back, to prove it.

0:03:55 > 0:03:58What I really like about playing The Saint is I have been

0:03:58 > 0:04:00under contract to MGM,

0:04:00 > 0:04:03to Warner Bros and to Columbia,

0:04:03 > 0:04:06and always playing heroes that were, you know, true blue.

0:04:06 > 0:04:09And I was never allowed to be photographed with a cigarette

0:04:09 > 0:04:11or a drink in my hand.

0:04:11 > 0:04:13And now, you know, I play The Saint - it doesn't matter.

0:04:15 > 0:04:17But with all these series you have been in,

0:04:17 > 0:04:20have you got any stories to tell us about the dangerous moments

0:04:20 > 0:04:22you've had when you perhaps packed a punch

0:04:22 > 0:04:24and received a broken leg in return?

0:04:24 > 0:04:27Well, I... When I first started Ivanhoe,

0:04:27 > 0:04:29we were doing a sword fight on horseback,

0:04:29 > 0:04:32and this was before I started wearing gloves as the character.

0:04:32 > 0:04:35And one day we were... It was three o'clock in the afternoon,

0:04:35 > 0:04:37we were out in the field,

0:04:37 > 0:04:40and we had about six or seven horses charging at me.

0:04:40 > 0:04:43There were great screams of "Ivanhoe".

0:04:43 > 0:04:44I went into the battle,

0:04:44 > 0:04:47someone came in with a sword straight on my finger...

0:04:47 > 0:04:49..and the nail came shooting off.

0:04:49 > 0:04:51So, I said "Cut, please."

0:04:51 > 0:04:54and stopped, and they put an adhesive tape on.

0:04:54 > 0:04:58And then we went back into action again.

0:04:58 > 0:05:00The next cut took the adhesive tape off.

0:05:00 > 0:05:03So, they put the adhesive tape back on. By this time, you know,

0:05:03 > 0:05:05I really don't know what day it is.

0:05:05 > 0:05:08And we started charging in again.

0:05:08 > 0:05:12The saddle slipped, I ended up underneath the horse.

0:05:12 > 0:05:15There's shouts of "Ivanhoe", and I'm shouting, "Cut! Cut, please. Cut."

0:05:15 > 0:05:17And I got up and I went home.

0:05:17 > 0:05:19Maverick, Ivanhoe and The Saint,

0:05:19 > 0:05:22I'd say that Roger Moore never had it so good.

0:05:22 > 0:05:25Why... What is the attraction behind playing

0:05:25 > 0:05:27in these long-running series?

0:05:27 > 0:05:29Money.

0:05:30 > 0:05:32That wasn't the end of the interview.

0:05:32 > 0:05:35Here, for your eyes only,

0:05:35 > 0:05:37are some fascinating outtakes

0:05:37 > 0:05:40displaying Roger's famous sense of humour.

0:05:42 > 0:05:45At home, you will see the glossy finished article.

0:05:45 > 0:05:48What you don't often see are the moments when we are not

0:05:48 > 0:05:50quite so smoothly professional.

0:05:50 > 0:05:53I think after playing The Saint you now have enough money

0:05:53 > 0:05:55to buy the series.

0:05:55 > 0:05:58No, actually, I have been paid in Green Shield Stamps.

0:05:58 > 0:06:01And I have... I have...

0:06:01 > 0:06:03Now, I have enough to have a trip to Majorca

0:06:03 > 0:06:06and buy a washing machine.

0:06:06 > 0:06:10The man who created The Saint describes him as having a quick wit,

0:06:10 > 0:06:13built to pack punches and with an eye for pretty girls.

0:06:13 > 0:06:15Is this you? Let's start with the girls first.

0:06:15 > 0:06:17Yes.

0:06:18 > 0:06:21- Go on.- A quick punch, no, and I don't know about wit.

0:06:22 > 0:06:24You've been in Maverick, you were Beauregarde Maverick,

0:06:24 > 0:06:26you played Ivanhoe, and now The Saint,

0:06:26 > 0:06:29you must have worked with any number of actresses.

0:06:29 > 0:06:33You've gone through the whole lot. How do actresses rate as women?

0:06:33 > 0:06:35Cut, I'm sorry. Rolling.

0:06:35 > 0:06:36What? Sorry, Bob. Cut...

0:06:36 > 0:06:39Let's try that again, shall we?

0:06:39 > 0:06:40Take two.

0:06:40 > 0:06:44You've played Beauregarde Maverick, Ivanhoe and now The Saint,

0:06:44 > 0:06:47you've been through plenty of actresses in your time.

0:06:47 > 0:06:50How do actresses rate as women?

0:06:50 > 0:06:52You can't say that!

0:06:56 > 0:06:59I was lucky enough to be one of those actresses

0:06:59 > 0:07:02who appeared with Roger in The Saint.

0:07:02 > 0:07:05In fact, Roger and I clicked quite nicely,

0:07:05 > 0:07:09and got on so well I ended up in several episodes,

0:07:09 > 0:07:12each time playing a different character, in a different wig.

0:07:14 > 0:07:18Roger was the ultimate professional, always on top of his lines,

0:07:18 > 0:07:22putting everyone at ease, cast and crew,

0:07:22 > 0:07:25because he was just so funny and relaxed.

0:07:25 > 0:07:27Actors wanted to be on the show

0:07:27 > 0:07:29because he was such a joy to be with.

0:07:29 > 0:07:32We knew that a day working with Roger

0:07:32 > 0:07:34was always going to be enjoyable.

0:07:34 > 0:07:36And you were guaranteed a good time.

0:07:37 > 0:07:39Oh, Simon!

0:07:40 > 0:07:43You were marvellous!

0:07:45 > 0:07:49Well, that's the sort of gratitude I like.

0:07:49 > 0:07:52But there was much more to Roger than just fun.

0:07:52 > 0:07:55He was creative, a hard worker,

0:07:55 > 0:07:57and always liked to push himself.

0:07:57 > 0:08:00One little-known fact about The Saint is that

0:08:00 > 0:08:03several of the episodes, and some very familiar faces,

0:08:03 > 0:08:06were actually directed by Roger himself.

0:08:06 > 0:08:08SHE SCREAMS

0:08:08 > 0:08:10Well, television for a director is very good.

0:08:10 > 0:08:13It's a good training ground

0:08:13 > 0:08:15because you have to direct off the top of your head.

0:08:15 > 0:08:17You have to do your homework at night,

0:08:17 > 0:08:19be ready for any eventuality, and be able to change.

0:08:19 > 0:08:21You know, it's all very fast.

0:08:21 > 0:08:25And I would really love to direct a feature that I am not in,

0:08:25 > 0:08:28where I don't have to direct myself.

0:08:28 > 0:08:32The way I shot was mainly from Simon Templar's point of view.

0:08:32 > 0:08:34So, I would set up a master shot,

0:08:34 > 0:08:37and I would have the camera move over my shoulder.

0:08:37 > 0:08:39And now, I'm back behind the lens and I'm the director,

0:08:39 > 0:08:42and Simon Templar's giving the lines. And at the end of the day,

0:08:42 > 0:08:44send everybody home and I'd do my close-ups

0:08:44 > 0:08:47talking to the script girl. It was much quicker.

0:08:47 > 0:08:49And also, I didn't have anybody to argue with.

0:08:56 > 0:08:58Hi.

0:09:06 > 0:09:08- Whose bunk is that?- Yours.

0:09:13 > 0:09:15Or maybe that one is, haven't decided yet.

0:09:15 > 0:09:17- Right, Hal?- Yeah, that's right.

0:09:17 > 0:09:19Then decide now.

0:09:24 > 0:09:26So, you're The Saint?

0:09:28 > 0:09:32It's hard to overstate just how successful The Saint was.

0:09:32 > 0:09:37Six series, comprising nearly 120 episodes -

0:09:37 > 0:09:40it was a huge international hit,

0:09:40 > 0:09:44and made Roger one of the most famous faces on the planet.

0:09:44 > 0:09:46Not bad for a man who was once best known

0:09:46 > 0:09:49for modelling knitwear.

0:09:49 > 0:09:53A friend of mine was a photographer who said that I could earn

0:09:53 > 0:09:5530 bob an hour,

0:09:55 > 0:09:57modelling a...

0:09:57 > 0:09:59..knitting pattern or something.

0:09:59 > 0:10:03From then on, I was sort of inundated with work.

0:10:04 > 0:10:06I managed to push it up to two quid an hour,

0:10:06 > 0:10:10and I got it to the stage where I was able to farm out work

0:10:10 > 0:10:12if I couldn't do it.

0:10:13 > 0:10:16The jumper modelling meant Michael Caine

0:10:16 > 0:10:20would nickname Roger - The Big Knit.

0:10:20 > 0:10:24So, how did The Big Knit become an acting knight?

0:10:24 > 0:10:27Roger never liked talking about his private life.

0:10:27 > 0:10:30He rarely discussed his four marriages,

0:10:30 > 0:10:32or the fact that, for a while,

0:10:32 > 0:10:35he had a wife far more famous than he was -

0:10:35 > 0:10:38the Welsh singing star Dorothy Squires.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41But this exchange with Michael Parkinson

0:10:41 > 0:10:45does at least throw some light on how he got the acting bug.

0:10:45 > 0:10:46I've always wondered about you.

0:10:46 > 0:10:49Were, in fact, you a good-looking child?

0:10:49 > 0:10:51- Was I a good-looking child? - Yes, yes.

0:10:51 > 0:10:53No, I was rather fat, I think.

0:10:53 > 0:10:56- Were you?- Yeah.- And spotty?

0:10:56 > 0:10:58Fat and spotty. Yeah, I was a little overweight.

0:10:58 > 0:11:01My father always used to get furious at me with, you know,

0:11:01 > 0:11:03schoolboys' raincoats, those blue ones.

0:11:03 > 0:11:07And he would pull that belt and he'd say I looked like a sack of...

0:11:07 > 0:11:09..you can't say it, tied up ugly in the middle.

0:11:09 > 0:11:12Yeah. What were their ambitions for you, your parents?

0:11:12 > 0:11:13Because your dad was...

0:11:13 > 0:11:15- To get thin, I think!- To get thin.

0:11:15 > 0:11:17Did they have any theatrical ambition for you?

0:11:17 > 0:11:21No, no. My father was keen on amateur dramatics

0:11:21 > 0:11:24when he was in the police, and he organised

0:11:24 > 0:11:28the dramatics society for E Division,

0:11:28 > 0:11:30and he used to produce and direct and star

0:11:30 > 0:11:32and do the make-up and all the scenery.

0:11:32 > 0:11:34It was a one-man show.

0:11:34 > 0:11:37You weren't, of course... You started acting, but then

0:11:37 > 0:11:42your career, as it was, was interrupted by National Service.

0:11:42 > 0:11:44You went into the forces. You were commissioned, as well.

0:11:44 > 0:11:47Were you a dashing subaltern?

0:11:47 > 0:11:49Er... Well, yes, I suppose I was.

0:11:49 > 0:11:51By that time, I had lost weight.

0:11:51 > 0:11:54The only reason they commissioned me, I looked good in uniform!

0:11:54 > 0:11:56- Really?- I looked like a hero.

0:11:56 > 0:11:59- Little did they know!- Did you enjoy it, the army life?

0:11:59 > 0:12:01Well, I was determined not to.

0:12:01 > 0:12:06My first six weeks, you know, basic training in Bury St Edmunds,

0:12:06 > 0:12:09It was really Bury St Roger up there, it was so cold.

0:12:09 > 0:12:11LAUGHTER

0:12:11 > 0:12:13And the sergeant would always say to me,

0:12:13 > 0:12:15and I knew nothing about the army, except my mother's family were army.

0:12:15 > 0:12:18My mother was born in India in barracks.

0:12:18 > 0:12:21My grandfather was the senior RSM in the British Army

0:12:21 > 0:12:22in the First World War.

0:12:22 > 0:12:26And so I was rather a disgrace, not wanting to go.

0:12:26 > 0:12:29And I was dragged in and I had yellow jaundice,

0:12:29 > 0:12:32and I was doing a season of Shaw at Cambridge.

0:12:32 > 0:12:34And you know when you have jaundice,

0:12:34 > 0:12:36you have peculiar symptoms apart from yellow eyes

0:12:36 > 0:12:39and of jaundiced skin that,

0:12:39 > 0:12:42when they ask you to deposit. You know,

0:12:42 > 0:12:44- "over there", says the doctor...- Yes.

0:12:44 > 0:12:49..and it was a very strange sort of colour and they passed me A1.

0:12:49 > 0:12:52- Really?- Yeah. So, now you know why they commissioned me.

0:12:52 > 0:12:54- They were desperate.- To put you in the works?

0:12:54 > 0:12:57But the sergeant would always say to me, he would say,

0:12:57 > 0:12:59"I Corps for you, lad."

0:12:59 > 0:13:03And I thought he meant that I was going in the opticians' branch

0:13:03 > 0:13:06- of the medical corps. What he meant was Intelligence Corps.- Yes.

0:13:08 > 0:13:11Anyway, they commissioned me, and then I was fortunate enough

0:13:11 > 0:13:13to get transferred to entertainment.

0:13:13 > 0:13:17When you went to Hollywood, was this your great ambition,

0:13:17 > 0:13:19to get to the film capital?

0:13:19 > 0:13:23I think Hollywood... Well, in those days, I don't know today,

0:13:23 > 0:13:27but as a struggling young actor, Hollywood, I mean, you know,

0:13:27 > 0:13:29if you were English, was an absolutely wonderful place to go.

0:13:29 > 0:13:31And what was your first impression of it?

0:13:31 > 0:13:33Did it live up to expectation, or what?

0:13:33 > 0:13:36Oh, yes, it was everything I imagined.

0:13:36 > 0:13:38I would always walk up to people like Gary Cooper.

0:13:38 > 0:13:39I thought I knew them.

0:13:39 > 0:13:41I'd be brought up with them on the screen, you know?

0:13:41 > 0:13:43I'd say, "Hello!", you know?

0:13:43 > 0:13:45You wonder why you get the blank from them.

0:13:45 > 0:13:47Do you remember your first movie?

0:13:47 > 0:13:50The Last Time I Saw Paris.

0:13:50 > 0:13:52Is that all you want to say about it?

0:13:52 > 0:13:54Yeah, well, I remember it distinctly,

0:13:54 > 0:13:57because I was signed by MGM,

0:13:57 > 0:14:01and I arrived to start the contract on April 1st, April Fools' Day,

0:14:01 > 0:14:04which was an appropriate day for me to arrive in Hollywood,

0:14:04 > 0:14:08and I did it with Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson.

0:14:08 > 0:14:11And I knew nothing about pictures.

0:14:11 > 0:14:14And I remember Dick Brooks had a reputation of being

0:14:14 > 0:14:18a shouting director, and he was really going mad my first day

0:14:18 > 0:14:21on the set, not with me, but he was getting mad with the censor,

0:14:21 > 0:14:23or the girl from the censor's office,

0:14:23 > 0:14:25because she had come down to say that the camera was too high,

0:14:25 > 0:14:28and Liz Taylor's cleavage was exposing too much,

0:14:28 > 0:14:30and he started in such language.

0:14:30 > 0:14:32I was quite embarrassed.

0:14:32 > 0:14:33It was terrible.

0:14:33 > 0:14:35You were, in fact, of course,

0:14:35 > 0:14:38you were in that line of the good-looking English leading actor,

0:14:38 > 0:14:41weren't you? Probably the last in that line, weren't you,

0:14:41 > 0:14:43to go to Hollywood? I mean, there was, what, Stew Granger before you?

0:14:43 > 0:14:46Stewart Granger, James Mason.

0:14:46 > 0:14:48- Michael Wilding.- Yes.

0:14:48 > 0:14:51All at MGM. And Edmund Purdom.

0:14:51 > 0:14:54Yes, yes. What was the reception like for you there?

0:14:54 > 0:14:55Was there any hostility at all?

0:14:55 > 0:14:58Well, they weren't going to put up with any more from an Englishman,

0:14:58 > 0:15:01you know, so I learnt to smile a great deal.

0:15:01 > 0:15:03I can remember

0:15:03 > 0:15:05my first job in rep, when I came out of the army,

0:15:05 > 0:15:08the director said, "You're not very good, you know?"

0:15:08 > 0:15:10He said, "Smile when you come on."

0:15:10 > 0:15:12So, I've smiled ever since.

0:15:12 > 0:15:14Did you have a sort of clenched look about you then?

0:15:14 > 0:15:17Er... Yeah, I guess so.

0:15:17 > 0:15:20I remember in Hollywood,

0:15:20 > 0:15:23when I was going to play the Duke of Wellington's nephew

0:15:23 > 0:15:24in a film called The Miracle,

0:15:24 > 0:15:28they said, "Would you mind sort of working on your English accent?"

0:15:29 > 0:15:31I said, "What's wrong with my accent?"

0:15:31 > 0:15:34What they meant was, I spoke with my teeth together, my muscles,

0:15:34 > 0:15:37all the time, because I was afraid of what was going to come out.

0:15:37 > 0:15:38There was a marvellous phrase you used once.

0:15:38 > 0:15:42You said that after the movies and MGM, you went through the treadmill

0:15:42 > 0:15:43of television. And in fact, actually,

0:15:43 > 0:15:44it was a treadmill for you,

0:15:44 > 0:15:47but it did in fact establish you, didn't it?

0:15:47 > 0:15:48I mean, things like The Saint, particularly.

0:15:48 > 0:15:50Yeah, well, The Saint,

0:15:50 > 0:15:52I made 120 episodes, I think,

0:15:52 > 0:15:56and it was shown in every country in the world apart from Red China

0:15:56 > 0:16:00and Russia, so it had at some point an enormous audience,

0:16:00 > 0:16:04not that they necessarily liked you, but they knew who you were.

0:16:07 > 0:16:12Roger filmed his final episode of The Saint in 1969,

0:16:12 > 0:16:17the same year that he married his third wife, Luisa Mattioli,

0:16:17 > 0:16:20after several years of waiting for Dorothy Squires

0:16:20 > 0:16:21to grant him a divorce.

0:16:21 > 0:16:24It felt like a time of change,

0:16:24 > 0:16:29and Roger was determined not to make another TV series.

0:16:29 > 0:16:33But as a certain other actor would also learn...

0:16:33 > 0:16:35..never say never again.

0:16:36 > 0:16:40Before Roger knew it, he was starring in The Persuaders!,

0:16:40 > 0:16:43and there were different accounts of how he was persuaded into it.

0:16:45 > 0:16:47I had said I was not going to do any more.

0:16:47 > 0:16:49I thought I'd had enough.

0:16:49 > 0:16:51Lew Grade called me and said,

0:16:51 > 0:16:52"I've sold The Persuaders!".

0:16:52 > 0:16:55And I said, "Lew, but I said I didn't want to do it."

0:16:55 > 0:16:59So, he stuck his cigar in my mouth and said,

0:16:59 > 0:17:02"The country needs the money."

0:17:02 > 0:17:04He says, "Think of the Queen."

0:17:16 > 0:17:18He said, "You can have any leading man you want."

0:17:18 > 0:17:22He says, "I can get Rock Hudson, I can get Glenn Ford,

0:17:22 > 0:17:25"I can get Tony Curtis..." and a couple of other names.

0:17:25 > 0:17:28I said to him, "I think that probably Rock Hudson and I

0:17:28 > 0:17:31"are too similar in type as leading men,

0:17:31 > 0:17:35"but Tony Curtis, I think, is a great actor and has great humour,

0:17:35 > 0:17:39"and I think that would work." So he said, "All Right. We'll sign Tony."

0:17:40 > 0:17:45And here's Lew Grade's version of events.

0:17:45 > 0:17:48He remembers things a little differently.

0:17:48 > 0:17:52Roger was always suspicious that when I went to America

0:17:52 > 0:17:57that I would do a deal with him for a television series again.

0:17:57 > 0:17:59And he knew I was going to America.

0:17:59 > 0:18:04He said, "Lew, I'll do anything you want, but no more television.

0:18:04 > 0:18:07"I've spent seven years on The Saint

0:18:07 > 0:18:11"and I don't want to do any more."

0:18:11 > 0:18:14And when Roger Moore says something,

0:18:14 > 0:18:16he means it.

0:18:16 > 0:18:18And I'll give you an example.

0:18:18 > 0:18:22I was in America, this time at ABC.

0:18:23 > 0:18:24And I'm talking to them.

0:18:24 > 0:18:29They say, "We need a show for ten o'clock on Wednesday night."

0:18:29 > 0:18:32I said, "What about Roger Moore?"

0:18:32 > 0:18:35He's told me he's not going to do television any more.

0:18:36 > 0:18:39They said, "Well, Roger Moore's been on The Saint, he's been on

0:18:39 > 0:18:41the two networks", you know.

0:18:41 > 0:18:44I said, "What happens if I get Tony Curtis?"

0:18:44 > 0:18:47He says, "You have a deal. 22 episodes."

0:18:47 > 0:18:50I call Roger Moore and I said,

0:18:50 > 0:18:52"Roger, I'm in trouble."

0:18:54 > 0:18:59"I've committed to a series of 22 episodes with Tony Curtis and you,

0:18:59 > 0:19:02"a series called The Persuaders!".

0:19:02 > 0:19:06He said, "Lew, I'm not going to do any more television.

0:19:07 > 0:19:10"I'll do anything you want, but not television."

0:19:12 > 0:19:14I said, "Just a moment, Roger."

0:19:14 > 0:19:17I opened my drawer and I

0:19:17 > 0:19:19pulled out a substantial cheque.

0:19:19 > 0:19:23I said, "Roger, this is something to start with."

0:19:23 > 0:19:26And without a flicker of an eyelid...

0:19:28 > 0:19:31..he said, "When do I start?"

0:19:31 > 0:19:34LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:19:34 > 0:19:37Well, we played it tongue-in-cheek...

0:19:37 > 0:19:40..because I play most heroes tongue-in-cheek, you know,

0:19:40 > 0:19:45because I really don't see myself as a hero.

0:19:45 > 0:19:49Although I play them and so I play them as though,

0:19:49 > 0:19:51you know, it's all a joke.

0:19:51 > 0:19:55And I think you have to sort of make the audience feel that...

0:19:57 > 0:20:00.."Hey, listen, it's all right to laugh."

0:20:00 > 0:20:04Daniel, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in us.

0:20:04 > 0:20:05Us?

0:20:07 > 0:20:10- Wait a minute, you didn't give her a...- 100,000 big ones.

0:20:13 > 0:20:15That's the most conniving, dirty...

0:20:15 > 0:20:17Wait a minute.

0:20:17 > 0:20:20She only needed 100 grand, which I gave her.

0:20:20 > 0:20:22And I gave her.

0:20:22 > 0:20:25- VOICEOVER:- When we drank champagne, it was champagne,

0:20:25 > 0:20:27it wasn't ginger ale,

0:20:27 > 0:20:31and so I was rather inclined to drink too much and eat too much.

0:20:33 > 0:20:36Lew Grade did once say that Roger and Tony

0:20:36 > 0:20:40weren't as friendly off screen as they were on...

0:20:41 > 0:20:43..but that, it seems, wasn't the case.

0:20:43 > 0:20:48Tony, at the beginning, had not done television and...

0:20:48 > 0:20:53..I think he had a sort of feeling that, well, this was a step down

0:20:53 > 0:20:58in the world from being an enormous movie star.

0:20:58 > 0:21:01His ideas gradually changed on that.

0:21:01 > 0:21:04We had quite a lot of fun bouncing off one another,

0:21:04 > 0:21:09but I think Lew sort of thought, yes, I want to say that,

0:21:09 > 0:21:11because that makes it more attractive

0:21:11 > 0:21:15so that they would then look to see what was going on between them.

0:21:17 > 0:21:19As with The Saint,

0:21:19 > 0:21:22Roger directed a couple of episodes of The Persuaders!.

0:21:23 > 0:21:28And he was also responsible for some of the fashions on display,

0:21:28 > 0:21:30which were very much of their time.

0:21:31 > 0:21:34I had a credit for designing the clothes.

0:21:34 > 0:21:36Actually, it was all my cloth,

0:21:36 > 0:21:40because I was on the board of the mills in Bradford,

0:21:40 > 0:21:41Pearson and Foster,

0:21:41 > 0:21:44which unfortunately didn't materialise

0:21:44 > 0:21:47as a successful enterprise,

0:21:47 > 0:21:49probably because of my involvement.

0:21:49 > 0:21:53But all the cloth was mine and it was made up by my then tailor,

0:21:53 > 0:21:55Cyril Castle.

0:21:55 > 0:21:57Yes, I would say, you know,

0:21:57 > 0:22:01"I'd like this sort of look and that look."

0:22:01 > 0:22:04And if you remember, back in the early...

0:22:04 > 0:22:08..the beginning of the '70s, late '60s sort of...

0:22:08 > 0:22:11..men were rather extravagant in their dress,

0:22:11 > 0:22:16we had the kipper ties and big knots or else a scarf around the neck.

0:22:18 > 0:22:19Flared trousers!

0:22:20 > 0:22:22We were pretty lairy.

0:22:24 > 0:22:27The lightweight nature of The Persuaders!,

0:22:27 > 0:22:30and the fact that it looked so much fun to make,

0:22:30 > 0:22:34added to a general sense that Roger may have been a big star,

0:22:34 > 0:22:37but perhaps wasn't much of an actor.

0:22:37 > 0:22:40It was a constant theme throughout his career,

0:22:40 > 0:22:44that over the years he really didn't help to dispel,

0:22:44 > 0:22:47as this little selection demonstrates.

0:22:48 > 0:22:50You're very self-deprecating about your acting.

0:22:50 > 0:22:52- Is that defensive? - Yes, it's defensive.

0:22:52 > 0:22:55I always try to say it before anybody else does.

0:22:55 > 0:22:59No, but if you didn't say it, perhaps nobody else would.

0:22:59 > 0:23:02I'd never thought of that. Maybe I started the wrong way!

0:23:02 > 0:23:05Why do you always put yourself down when people ask you about acting?

0:23:05 > 0:23:08- Because you do, don't you? - I've stopped doing that.- You have?

0:23:08 > 0:23:11- I now say I'm marvellous.- You do? - LAUGHTER

0:23:11 > 0:23:14- Yes.- That's all right. What caused the change of heart?

0:23:14 > 0:23:17The critics started believing me.

0:23:17 > 0:23:19You always claimed that you can't act.

0:23:19 > 0:23:21No, I didn't say, I used to.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24- Then I started saying I could. - Yeah.

0:23:24 > 0:23:27And then they started arguing with me!

0:23:27 > 0:23:29So, I've gone back the other way.

0:23:31 > 0:23:35Roger's modesty, false or otherwise,

0:23:35 > 0:23:38was maybe one more reason that people loved him.

0:23:38 > 0:23:42He was, of course, being unfair to himself.

0:23:42 > 0:23:45Between The Saint and The Persuaders!,

0:23:45 > 0:23:50his performance in the 1970 thriller The Man Who Haunted Himself

0:23:50 > 0:23:52was very highly praised.

0:23:52 > 0:23:54In fact he had two roles -

0:23:54 > 0:23:59an uptight businessman and his wild alter ego.

0:23:59 > 0:24:01Police.

0:24:02 > 0:24:03I'll go to the police!

0:24:03 > 0:24:06- Daddy. Daddy, what's happening? - What's going on out here?

0:24:10 > 0:24:12Who on earth is that?

0:24:12 > 0:24:15Talking about the film years later,

0:24:15 > 0:24:18Roger once again criticised his own performance,

0:24:18 > 0:24:22although on this occasion that provided an interesting insight

0:24:22 > 0:24:25into how seriously he took the role.

0:24:25 > 0:24:31This is the one reading of a line that I hate,

0:24:31 > 0:24:34when I say to the boys.

0:24:34 > 0:24:35"Jamie..."

0:24:35 > 0:24:37Basil said, "No, say it to Jamie."

0:24:37 > 0:24:41And as I look at it, I can hear myself imitating him,

0:24:41 > 0:24:43and it's the wrong reading of the line.

0:24:43 > 0:24:44I'd like to go back and re-voice it.

0:24:44 > 0:24:47Here's the line coming up now. Oh, dear.

0:24:47 > 0:24:50Eve? Mike? Jamie!

0:24:51 > 0:24:54The Man Who Haunted Himself was Roger's personal favourite

0:24:54 > 0:24:56of all his films

0:24:56 > 0:24:59and helps show that you don't last as long as he did,

0:24:59 > 0:25:03and become a national treasure, without talent.

0:25:04 > 0:25:07It also contains this little exchange.

0:25:08 > 0:25:12- So, there has been a leak. - Well, I don't know.

0:25:12 > 0:25:14I'm getting too old for this jungle.

0:25:14 > 0:25:16How could it happen, Pel?

0:25:16 > 0:25:18Come on, Charles. Espionage isn't all James Bond

0:25:18 > 0:25:20and Her Majesty's Secret Service.

0:25:20 > 0:25:22Industry goes in for it too, you know?

0:25:23 > 0:25:27That was one of the many moments dotted throughout Roger's career

0:25:27 > 0:25:32that point to it being almost fated that he'd play James Bond.

0:25:33 > 0:25:36The references to 007 are many.

0:25:37 > 0:25:40From the contents of a suitcase in The Persuaders!...

0:25:40 > 0:25:42Clever.

0:25:42 > 0:25:45Clever. Arranged by Schubert, I should imagine.

0:25:45 > 0:25:47It has all his trademarks.

0:25:47 > 0:25:51And his rather bizarre sense of humour.

0:25:52 > 0:25:55All the James Bond books.

0:25:55 > 0:25:59..to this example of character confusion in The Saint.

0:25:59 > 0:26:00Ah, Miss Hill, come in.

0:26:00 > 0:26:02- The keys!- You fixed it?

0:26:02 > 0:26:03- Yes, I did.- Well done.

0:26:03 > 0:26:06It worked out just as you said it would.

0:26:06 > 0:26:07The Joysons have left

0:26:07 > 0:26:10and this apartment is available from tomorrow

0:26:10 > 0:26:12for your friends in the FBI.

0:26:13 > 0:26:15I just can't wait for my next assignment.

0:26:15 > 0:26:19- Me! Me, working for James Bond.- Hm?

0:26:19 > 0:26:23I'm so excited. You're not just teasing me, are you?

0:26:23 > 0:26:24You really are James Bond?

0:26:33 > 0:26:37There's even a full-on spoof in this comedy encounter

0:26:37 > 0:26:41with Millicent Martin from 1963.

0:26:41 > 0:26:43With its female Russian agent,

0:26:43 > 0:26:46it could almost be considered a dress rehearsal

0:26:46 > 0:26:48for The Spy Who Loved Me.

0:26:48 > 0:26:51Over there, Mr Bond.

0:26:51 > 0:26:54Yes, well, I am on holiday.

0:26:54 > 0:26:56- Thank you.- Yes. Mr Smith.

0:27:03 > 0:27:07- Oh, oh!- Yes, and I'm 007, as if you didn't know.

0:27:07 > 0:27:09James Bond, what are you doing at my hotel?

0:27:09 > 0:27:12And what, may I ask, is Sonia Sekova, Russia's master spy,

0:27:12 > 0:27:14doing staying at my hotel?

0:27:20 > 0:27:22Why have you come to spy on me?

0:27:22 > 0:27:23I might ask you the same question.

0:27:23 > 0:27:26You mean, you don't know why you've come to spy on me?

0:27:26 > 0:27:28Typical British intelligence, muddle through as usual.

0:27:28 > 0:27:31Well, you Russians always were a little thick in the head.

0:27:31 > 0:27:33If you're coming here to spy on me, you must know that I am on holiday.

0:27:33 > 0:27:36Oh, don't give me that. James Bond is never on holiday.

0:27:36 > 0:27:39Everybody knows that. Besides, I haven't come to spy on you.

0:27:43 > 0:27:47In 1973, it finally became a reality.

0:27:47 > 0:27:50George Lazenby's stint as Bond hadn't worked out,

0:27:50 > 0:27:54Sean Connery's comeback was for one film only,

0:27:54 > 0:27:58producers Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli needed a new 007.

0:28:00 > 0:28:03Roger lost the weight he'd gained from champagne and high living

0:28:03 > 0:28:05in The Persuaders!,

0:28:05 > 0:28:10he had a haircut and accepted his licence to kill.

0:28:10 > 0:28:11He was 45.

0:28:13 > 0:28:18Well, you know, I came into it after he was very well-established,

0:28:18 > 0:28:20and obviously I couldn't play it in the same way,

0:28:20 > 0:28:22so I had to have a different approach,

0:28:22 > 0:28:27and I am a lighter sort of actor than Sean.

0:28:27 > 0:28:30How did you categorise? Did you think a great deal about how

0:28:30 > 0:28:31you were going to approach this part?

0:28:31 > 0:28:34Did you attempt to motivate yourself?

0:28:34 > 0:28:37- Well, I thought about money.- Sort of method school of acting stuff.

0:28:37 > 0:28:40- Just the money, eh?- No, no, no.

0:28:40 > 0:28:43My only worry ever about...

0:28:43 > 0:28:44..doing it was...

0:28:45 > 0:28:48..being, you know, the comparison with Sean,

0:28:48 > 0:28:50was that I would say to myself,

0:28:50 > 0:28:54"My name is Bond, James Bond," but I would hear it in my mind...

0:28:54 > 0:28:56- AS SEAN CONNERY:- "My name is Bond, James Bond."

0:28:56 > 0:28:58You know, and I mustn't do that.

0:28:58 > 0:29:00It's very difficult.

0:29:00 > 0:29:03Have you changed the role at all or have you considered to...

0:29:03 > 0:29:07Are you playing it exactly the same way each time?

0:29:07 > 0:29:09I think we have injected a little more humour.

0:29:09 > 0:29:12Yes. It seems to me to be more and more for laughs,

0:29:12 > 0:29:14and more and more enormous effects, of course.

0:29:14 > 0:29:16Well, I think...

0:29:16 > 0:29:19Bond films are so outrageous, the stunts are so outrageous,

0:29:19 > 0:29:21everything is, you know, beyond belief.

0:29:21 > 0:29:24I mean, there is no such thing as a spy who can walk anywhere

0:29:24 > 0:29:26in the world and every bartender recognises him and says,

0:29:26 > 0:29:29"Ah, Mr Bond, vodka Martini, shaken not stirred."

0:29:29 > 0:29:32Spies aren't like that, are they? They're...

0:29:32 > 0:29:34LAUGHTER

0:29:34 > 0:29:38They're sort of unknown faces that would pass in a crowd

0:29:38 > 0:29:41and not be noticed, real spies. So, you might be good for the part.

0:29:41 > 0:29:43- No, anyway... - LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:29:45 > 0:29:48Thank you. On my side.

0:29:51 > 0:29:53It's hard to imagine now,

0:29:53 > 0:29:58but back then there were real fears that without Connery the Bond series

0:29:58 > 0:30:00was doomed.

0:30:00 > 0:30:04With Live And Let Die, Roger brought it back to life,

0:30:04 > 0:30:08each of his films earning huge sums at the box office

0:30:08 > 0:30:10as his popularity increased.

0:30:11 > 0:30:14But as he would recall years later,

0:30:14 > 0:30:19his first Bond action sequence meant things were nearly all over

0:30:19 > 0:30:20before they'd begun.

0:30:20 > 0:30:23In fact, I very nearly didn't do it.

0:30:23 > 0:30:28The first day of shooting, before we started the first day of shooting,

0:30:28 > 0:30:31I was rehearsing with this jet ski boat.

0:30:32 > 0:30:37And they turn, you know, on a sixpence, jet boats.

0:30:37 > 0:30:39But they have to be in full power when you do it.

0:30:39 > 0:30:42You have to say, "I'm going to turn now,"

0:30:42 > 0:30:45so you have to have the guts to say, "Push it right forward,"

0:30:45 > 0:30:48give it all the acceleration, and you come around.

0:30:48 > 0:30:53That is great. If you're going and the engines cut out,

0:30:53 > 0:30:55you don't have anything to steer with.

0:30:55 > 0:30:59There's no rudder. It's going through the engines.

0:30:59 > 0:31:02And so you go in a straight line at the speed the engines cut out.

0:31:02 > 0:31:06And this is what happened. We went around a bend on a bayou

0:31:06 > 0:31:11and the engines cut out and I just went straight into...

0:31:11 > 0:31:14..a boat hut or something that was stupidly stuck

0:31:14 > 0:31:16on the edge of the water.

0:31:16 > 0:31:19And I had about ten seconds, you know, as I saw this coming,

0:31:19 > 0:31:22what am I going to do? And I do this, or that,

0:31:22 > 0:31:27and by the time I thought about it, I'd smashed my teeth on the thing,

0:31:27 > 0:31:29and been thrown into the back of the boat.

0:31:29 > 0:31:33I walked with a stick for three weeks.

0:31:33 > 0:31:35I was very fortunate I didn't lose all my teeth.

0:31:35 > 0:31:38Everybody thought these were done by stunt people.

0:31:38 > 0:31:40Well, I had to learn to drive the boat.

0:31:40 > 0:31:47It wasn't until I was on my way to the first press screening of Bond -

0:31:47 > 0:31:49I suddenly got nerves.

0:31:51 > 0:31:54Oh, dear. This is not the time to get nerves.

0:31:54 > 0:31:56And after about five minutes, I said, "If they don't like it,

0:31:56 > 0:31:59"they don't like it, and I go back to modelling sweaters."

0:32:02 > 0:32:05Live And Let Die was a hit,

0:32:05 > 0:32:08but as ever, Roger had his critics,

0:32:08 > 0:32:14who preferred Connery's toughness to Roger's less serious approach.

0:32:14 > 0:32:17He addresses this in the next interview,

0:32:17 > 0:32:21which was filmed on the set of the 1975 comedy That Lucky Touch

0:32:21 > 0:32:25and which coincided with his second Bond film,

0:32:25 > 0:32:28The Man With The Golden Gun.

0:32:30 > 0:32:32Can we talk about, can we talk about the knocks?

0:32:32 > 0:32:36I mean, I don't know how you react to good or bad publicity

0:32:36 > 0:32:41but the Bond films inevitably, when you took over from Sean Connery,

0:32:41 > 0:32:44because it was new and because it was different, people all said,

0:32:44 > 0:32:49"Oh, well, Roger Moore is not my idea of 007

0:32:49 > 0:32:51"and he's not like Sean Connery, and it's all a great failure."

0:32:51 > 0:32:54I mean, do you mind that kind of hammering?

0:32:56 > 0:32:59No, not really, because I say it before they do.

0:33:00 > 0:33:04It is always nice to get a good notice.

0:33:04 > 0:33:06- You do like a good notice? - Well, of course you do,

0:33:06 > 0:33:08but you don't take any notice if they're bad.

0:33:08 > 0:33:09And so by the same token,

0:33:09 > 0:33:12- I shouldn't take any notice of the good ones.- Yes.

0:33:12 > 0:33:17Not that there are many, but, still, people still pay to see the films.

0:33:17 > 0:33:20I think the first time they went to see...

0:33:20 > 0:33:23..Live And Let Die was just to see if I was going to be as bad

0:33:23 > 0:33:25as they thought I would be.

0:33:25 > 0:33:27Now, this one is doing equal business,

0:33:27 > 0:33:30in some countries even better...

0:33:30 > 0:33:32..so maybe it's a different audience,

0:33:32 > 0:33:35that hadn't seen Live And Let Die.

0:33:35 > 0:33:38- You never can tell.- Have you played much comedy before?

0:33:38 > 0:33:40According to the critics, all the time.

0:33:40 > 0:33:44But anything that was seriously called a comedy...

0:33:44 > 0:33:46- ..no, I haven't. - BANGING IN BACKGROUND

0:33:46 > 0:33:49Is comedy, and I'm shouting a bit because of the...

0:33:49 > 0:33:51I think they're rearranging the sets back there.

0:33:51 > 0:33:52Well, they're all critics.

0:33:54 > 0:33:57Is playing comedy much more difficult than playing Bond?

0:34:00 > 0:34:02Well, it's an entirely different technique.

0:34:03 > 0:34:07The important thing of comedy is timing.

0:34:07 > 0:34:09It really is very simple.

0:34:09 > 0:34:12Not that Bond makes people cry, but it's very simple, you know,

0:34:12 > 0:34:17to do drama and make people have tears welling up in their eyes.

0:34:17 > 0:34:21- To make people laugh is difficult. - Yes.

0:34:21 > 0:34:23Would it be so that... Because you have to do...

0:34:23 > 0:34:26..a lot of different takes,

0:34:26 > 0:34:28have to repeat things very often,

0:34:28 > 0:34:33does a funny script end up in the end as totally unfunny?

0:34:33 > 0:34:36You start feeling you're being unfunny.

0:34:36 > 0:34:38It's very difficult. When you start rehear...

0:34:38 > 0:34:41It's the difference between filming for television

0:34:41 > 0:34:42and filming for cinema,

0:34:42 > 0:34:45where you have much more time in the cinema to rehearse,

0:34:45 > 0:34:48whereas filming for television, you know,

0:34:48 > 0:34:50- which I did for so many years... - Mmm.

0:34:50 > 0:34:52That your performance is off the top of your nut.

0:34:52 > 0:34:56You go in and you really want to shoot on the first rehearsal,

0:34:56 > 0:34:58when it's bright and sparkling.

0:34:58 > 0:35:01Filming for the cinema's rather like the theatre,

0:35:01 > 0:35:03where you have a long time together

0:35:03 > 0:35:06with the off-the-top-of-the-head performance

0:35:06 > 0:35:08to get into the depth of it,

0:35:08 > 0:35:11then stop being bored with it and make it come to life in every take.

0:35:11 > 0:35:13And this is concentration,

0:35:13 > 0:35:16and that's all you require, is concentration.

0:35:16 > 0:35:20- Luckily, Roger- was- concentrating during one moment filming

0:35:20 > 0:35:22The Man with the Golden Gun,

0:35:22 > 0:35:26which resulted in him becoming a real life-saving hero.

0:35:29 > 0:35:32Oh, all the time I had trouble with explosives.

0:35:32 > 0:35:35We were shooting on what's called Phi Phi Island.

0:35:35 > 0:35:39It's now called James Bond Island, in the Gulf of Siam.

0:35:39 > 0:35:44- And...- A big tourist destination now, isn't it?- Oh, you know...

0:35:44 > 0:35:47It was then. I mean, the Japanese tourists would come

0:35:47 > 0:35:49from the other side of this tiny island

0:35:49 > 0:35:51and we were trying to fight them back.

0:35:51 > 0:35:53Erm...

0:35:53 > 0:35:58One day, we were shooting the whole sequence where it's all blown up...

0:35:58 > 0:36:02and I said, "Now, where are the cameras going to be?"

0:36:04 > 0:36:06They said, "Well, there's a camera there

0:36:06 > 0:36:08"and there's a camera over here."

0:36:08 > 0:36:10I said, "All rather exposed, aren't they?"

0:36:10 > 0:36:12"Oh, well, there's not going to be anybody there."

0:36:12 > 0:36:18And we were left on the island on our own, with a pyromaniac, er...

0:36:19 > 0:36:22..explosive expert, who was setting off these,

0:36:22 > 0:36:24and there were five big explosions.

0:36:24 > 0:36:27And the first one was going to go off as I came through a door.

0:36:27 > 0:36:29They said, "So you come through that..."

0:36:29 > 0:36:32And I was with Britt Ekland, who was wearing a bikini.

0:36:32 > 0:36:34There was nothing to grab hold of.

0:36:34 > 0:36:37And my hands now were getting rather wet

0:36:37 > 0:36:40because I was waiting for the next explosion to go.

0:36:40 > 0:36:43And I ran, dragging Britt.

0:36:43 > 0:36:47But she was sweating and my hand was sweating,

0:36:47 > 0:36:49and she was left standing there and I was halfway round the corner.

0:36:49 > 0:36:52And I realised then, was I going to be Bond, was I going be Roger Moore,

0:36:52 > 0:36:55was I...? I went back, actually, and I got her.

0:36:55 > 0:36:57And when the final explosion went,

0:36:57 > 0:37:01the flames came around the side of this rock overhang

0:37:01 > 0:37:05and I felt all the little tiny hairs on her back,

0:37:05 > 0:37:07you know, she was wearing a bikini!

0:37:07 > 0:37:10And it all just crisped up.

0:37:10 > 0:37:13- Extraordinary.- And it was not very pleasant.

0:37:19 > 0:37:21- I hope you can swim, goodnight. - This way!

0:37:21 > 0:37:26Roger had originally been contracted to make just three Bond adventures.

0:37:26 > 0:37:30His third was the one he liked best.

0:37:30 > 0:37:35For many, The Spy Who Loved Me was the Bond where Roger stepped out of

0:37:35 > 0:37:39Sean Connery's shadow and established the role as his own.

0:37:39 > 0:37:44A different 007, but certainly not an inferior one.

0:37:46 > 0:37:50The film is a cocktail as potent as any vodka Martini.

0:37:50 > 0:37:53A perfect blend of incredible gadgets,

0:37:53 > 0:37:56exciting action, exotic locations,

0:37:56 > 0:37:59with a gorgeous Bond girl, Barbara Bach,

0:37:59 > 0:38:03and an unforgettable baddie in the shape of Jaws.

0:38:03 > 0:38:05And a jaw-dropping opening.

0:38:16 > 0:38:21One particular stunt, which got a guy 40,000 for one jump,

0:38:21 > 0:38:23can you tell us a little bit about that?

0:38:23 > 0:38:25Well, they wanted me to do it, you see.

0:38:25 > 0:38:30- Yes!- And I said, well, you know, I couldn't do it for 40,000...

0:38:30 > 0:38:32- Yeah.- ..because I wouldn't live to spend it.

0:38:32 > 0:38:35But it was to go off a 5,000-foot precipice.

0:38:37 > 0:38:38- On skis?- On skis.

0:38:39 > 0:38:42When cinemagoers saw this for the first time,

0:38:42 > 0:38:46there were reports of them standing in their seats and cheering wildly!

0:38:48 > 0:38:51And did he do it in one take?

0:38:51 > 0:38:52One take, and his last.

0:38:54 > 0:38:57That was Roger Moore joking, of course.

0:38:57 > 0:39:01And typically, he would make light of another of those incidents where

0:39:01 > 0:39:06something went horribly wrong and could have ended very nastily.

0:39:08 > 0:39:12And there's a scene where Curt Jurgens, who was the villain,

0:39:12 > 0:39:15is going to shoot a rocket at me under the table.

0:39:17 > 0:39:21And I was supposed to be standing behind the chair.

0:39:22 > 0:39:25And I said, you know, "I don't think that it's quite so dramatic

0:39:25 > 0:39:27"as if I'm sitting in the chair."

0:39:27 > 0:39:32Well, they'd built behind the chair, er, steel,

0:39:32 > 0:39:34so that I would be protected from the explosions.

0:39:36 > 0:39:38It didn't occur to lunatic Moore.

0:39:38 > 0:39:40I sat in the chair and went,

0:39:40 > 0:39:43and the explosions went just before I got out of the chair.

0:39:44 > 0:39:48And... So where most people have one hole,

0:39:48 > 0:39:50- I have three.- Excellent!

0:39:50 > 0:39:53- And, er...- I knew you were a versatile character.

0:39:53 > 0:39:55It was very painful, I don't mind telling you.

0:39:55 > 0:39:58But there were three terrible burns there and I had to go off for

0:39:58 > 0:39:59- about a month... - Can you give us a look?

0:39:59 > 0:40:03- Yeah, if you want to...- The audience don't really believe that, I feel.

0:40:03 > 0:40:05Well, it's now just scar tissue.

0:40:05 > 0:40:07Oh, it's a disappointment, then.

0:40:07 > 0:40:10But, you know, at the end of every shooting day,

0:40:10 > 0:40:13I had to go to see the nurse at the studio

0:40:13 > 0:40:16- and have my Vaseline dressings changed.- Oh!

0:40:16 > 0:40:18- Very embarrassing.- How lovely!- Yeah.

0:40:18 > 0:40:20Sit down, Mr Bond.

0:40:26 > 0:40:28Your time's running out, Stromberg.

0:40:28 > 0:40:30Yours too, Mr Bond, yours too.

0:40:32 > 0:40:33And faster than you think.

0:40:36 > 0:40:38GUNSHOT

0:40:43 > 0:40:45You've shot your bolt, Stromberg.

0:40:45 > 0:40:46Now it's my turn.

0:40:46 > 0:40:47GUNSHOT

0:40:49 > 0:40:50GUNSHOT

0:40:52 > 0:40:53GUNSHOT

0:40:56 > 0:40:59Now for an example of his famous charm.

0:40:59 > 0:41:03There aren't many stars who would tolerate being told that an element

0:41:03 > 0:41:08of their work is appalling, but Roger doesn't even bat an eyelid.

0:41:09 > 0:41:11The script itself, I mean,

0:41:11 > 0:41:13it's deliberately appalling, isn't it, really?

0:41:13 > 0:41:15Every other line, you've got a gag.

0:41:15 > 0:41:19And you say it in such a way, which, er, just about saves it.

0:41:19 > 0:41:22Well, that's it. The whole point is, this is a romp.

0:41:22 > 0:41:23It is fun, it's entertainment.

0:41:23 > 0:41:27The problem today, I think, with the vast number of films,

0:41:27 > 0:41:28they are not entertaining.

0:41:28 > 0:41:31- Yeah.- I like, when I go to the cinema, to be entertained.

0:41:31 > 0:41:33I do not want to come out feeling miserable.

0:41:33 > 0:41:36And I think a Bond film, you usually come out having had

0:41:36 > 0:41:40a good couple of hours of laughter and action.

0:41:40 > 0:41:43Ian Fleming, who wrote the book, originally thought of you,

0:41:43 > 0:41:46actually, as the perfect James Bond.

0:41:46 > 0:41:47One of the producers told me that.

0:41:47 > 0:41:51Now, Bond is slightly ruthless in the books.

0:41:51 > 0:41:54Erm, he's certainly very, very vicious.

0:41:54 > 0:41:55He's a man of action.

0:41:55 > 0:41:57He adores beautiful women.

0:41:57 > 0:41:58What about you?

0:41:58 > 0:42:01Well, that's why he thought I would be right for the part,

0:42:01 > 0:42:04- because that's what I'm like! - You could have fooled me!

0:42:05 > 0:42:07- What are you like?- Er...

0:42:07 > 0:42:09Oh, it's an acting part, isn't it?

0:42:09 > 0:42:12You know, they do say I don't act.

0:42:12 > 0:42:15But really, you know, I'm the world's worst coward and, of course,

0:42:15 > 0:42:16I look terribly brave.

0:42:16 > 0:42:19- I mean, that is acting.- Yeah.

0:42:19 > 0:42:22The rumours are you were contracted to do three Bonds.

0:42:22 > 0:42:23- Mm-hmm.- Er, this is your third.

0:42:23 > 0:42:27And the rumours are that there's a bit of hustle going on now about you

0:42:27 > 0:42:29doing any more. Erm, what's the truth about that?

0:42:29 > 0:42:31Are you going to do another Bond, or what?

0:42:31 > 0:42:33Well, we're negotiating.

0:42:33 > 0:42:35But unfortunately,

0:42:35 > 0:42:38I was swimming a couple of weeks ago and got an ear infection,

0:42:38 > 0:42:39and I don't hear too well.

0:42:39 > 0:42:42- What's the problem, do you not want to do it again?- No, no, no, no.

0:42:42 > 0:42:44It's a problem of dates,

0:42:44 > 0:42:48that I really want to know when we're going to start and...

0:42:48 > 0:42:53And I have to lock out six months to a year of my career, or my life,

0:42:53 > 0:42:54to make the Bond film.

0:42:54 > 0:42:57- Mmm.- And so I want to know when exactly it's going.

0:43:00 > 0:43:03The dancing around Roger's contract would of course continue

0:43:03 > 0:43:04for four more films,

0:43:04 > 0:43:07in which the humour quota increased progressively.

0:43:09 > 0:43:11Moonraker sent Bond into space

0:43:11 > 0:43:15in an attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars.

0:43:15 > 0:43:20To some, that was more believable than a motorised gondola travelling

0:43:20 > 0:43:24through Venice, and a double-taking pigeon.

0:43:25 > 0:43:29And in Octopussy, where Bond disarms a nuclear bomb

0:43:29 > 0:43:31dressed in a clown costume -

0:43:31 > 0:43:35it seemed to represent where the franchise had found itself.

0:43:38 > 0:43:41I've a feeling the scriptwriters have written more and more humour,

0:43:41 > 0:43:46to accommodate your interpretation of the part. Would you agree?

0:43:46 > 0:43:49Er, I suppose you have to make it funny if I'm in it!

0:43:49 > 0:43:51No. It's, er...

0:43:51 > 0:43:53Quite often,

0:43:53 > 0:43:55since I've been doing it,

0:43:55 > 0:43:57and they may have done it with Sean as well -

0:43:57 > 0:44:00I don't know, I wasn't there - but...

0:44:00 > 0:44:05A joke may be indicated in a script that doesn't work within the context

0:44:05 > 0:44:08of the scene when you're playing it, or the set, and so...

0:44:08 > 0:44:10Be it Guy Hamilton, or Lewis Gilbert,

0:44:10 > 0:44:12or John Glen now directing.

0:44:12 > 0:44:15And so, you know, "What do you want to say here?"

0:44:15 > 0:44:18And, "Do you have any ideas?" And I say, "Have you got any ideas?"

0:44:18 > 0:44:20And we probably do six or seven takes,

0:44:20 > 0:44:21throwing in different punch lines...

0:44:22 > 0:44:26..which I enjoy. I mean, that's an inventive part of playing it.

0:44:29 > 0:44:30That'll bring tears to your eyes.

0:44:37 > 0:44:38Stinging In The Rain.

0:44:38 > 0:44:41That's not funny, 007.

0:44:41 > 0:44:43Do you get an extra salary for the writing?

0:44:43 > 0:44:47No, but it's a good idea.

0:44:48 > 0:44:52Roger, I wonder if you have made Bond less lethal.

0:44:52 > 0:44:56He seems to me now to be less of a cold killer, more reluctant.

0:44:56 > 0:44:58I know he's still licenced to kill, more reluctant to kill.

0:44:58 > 0:45:00Do you sense that, as you pass through the films?

0:45:00 > 0:45:04Well, I always played it with a certain reluctance to kill

0:45:04 > 0:45:08because my only key to playing a Bond

0:45:08 > 0:45:10that I had from the books

0:45:10 > 0:45:13was at the beginning of one of Fleming's stories

0:45:13 > 0:45:17where it said, "Bond was on his way back from Mexico,

0:45:17 > 0:45:20"where he had eliminated somebody.

0:45:20 > 0:45:23"He didn't like killing particularly,

0:45:23 > 0:45:26"but he took a pride in doing his job well."

0:45:26 > 0:45:29And that's my key to it, I don't like killing.

0:45:29 > 0:45:31As these films go on, they get more and more spectacular,

0:45:31 > 0:45:33no doubt about it, with Octopussy.

0:45:33 > 0:45:37You have the most incredible train and plane chases

0:45:37 > 0:45:40in which you are obliged to cling to both.

0:45:40 > 0:45:43How do you manage to do it? It's no secret that you're past

0:45:43 > 0:45:45your 21st birthday.

0:45:45 > 0:45:48Am I? I didn't know that!

0:45:48 > 0:45:51How do I manage to do it? I tell you, I have glue on my shoes,

0:45:51 > 0:45:53that's how I stick on planes and trains.

0:45:53 > 0:45:57But it must be quite an exertion for a man who perhaps would prefer

0:45:57 > 0:45:59to play chess or do the Times crossword.

0:45:59 > 0:46:04No, yes, well, I don't know, I suppose I keep myself in shape,

0:46:04 > 0:46:05I always have done.

0:46:05 > 0:46:09As a man, Roger, you are rich, you are famous,

0:46:09 > 0:46:11and you look amazingly comfortable.

0:46:11 > 0:46:13Is life really that good?

0:46:13 > 0:46:16- Yes. I've been very lucky. - Anything missing?- Hmm?

0:46:16 > 0:46:18Is there anything missing?

0:46:20 > 0:46:23Well, I suppose, from the ego point of view,

0:46:23 > 0:46:28it would be nice to be, sort of, getting wonderful reviews

0:46:28 > 0:46:32in a marvellous play somewhere, but that is not the path I took.

0:46:33 > 0:46:38When I had the choice between Hollywood

0:46:38 > 0:46:41and Stratford, I took Hollywood.

0:46:41 > 0:46:42I was greedy.

0:46:45 > 0:46:48There were, of course, other films between the Bonds,

0:46:48 > 0:46:51like the military adventure The Wild Geese,

0:46:51 > 0:46:54which saw Roger comfortably holding his own

0:46:54 > 0:46:58alongside acting greats Richard Burton and Richard Harris.

0:46:58 > 0:47:02Oh, and another hit, The Cannonball Run,

0:47:02 > 0:47:06where he wholeheartedly embraced his talent for comedy

0:47:06 > 0:47:09and spoofed himself completely,

0:47:09 > 0:47:14playing a character who claims he is the actor Roger Moore.

0:47:14 > 0:47:16Roger Moore.

0:47:16 > 0:47:19I'm looking at my son, Seymour Goldfarb Jr,

0:47:19 > 0:47:21son of Seymour Goldfarb,

0:47:21 > 0:47:26God rest his soul, and heir to the Goldfarb Girdles fortune.

0:47:26 > 0:47:28And what is he doing?

0:47:28 > 0:47:32Walking around, acting like he was some goy movie star

0:47:32 > 0:47:33named Roger Moore.

0:47:33 > 0:47:36And for this I sent you to the best schools?

0:47:36 > 0:47:39And now, this.

0:47:40 > 0:47:44The sleep-in maid found it under your pillow this morning.

0:47:44 > 0:47:45What is the meaning of this?

0:47:45 > 0:47:47BOND THEME PLAYS

0:47:47 > 0:47:49The meaning, Mother dear, is a quick death.

0:47:49 > 0:47:52I warned you not to interfere in my affairs.

0:47:52 > 0:47:54Seymour, put that away, it's liable to go off.

0:47:56 > 0:48:00I'm terribly sorry, Mother, but you know too much.

0:48:00 > 0:48:02- No.- Zei gezunt, Mama.

0:48:05 > 0:48:08When it came to Roger's final Bond outing,

0:48:08 > 0:48:10A View To A Kill, many people,

0:48:10 > 0:48:16including himself, felt that at 56 he was possibly past his best,

0:48:16 > 0:48:20and age wasn't the only difficult thing he had to contend with.

0:48:20 > 0:48:25There was another problem in the shape of a rather tricky co-star,

0:48:25 > 0:48:26Grace Jones.

0:48:30 > 0:48:35I'm afraid my diplomatic charm was stretched to the limit with Grace.

0:48:35 > 0:48:38Every day in her dressing room, which was adjacent to mine,

0:48:38 > 0:48:40she played very loud music.

0:48:40 > 0:48:42One day, I snapped.

0:48:42 > 0:48:43I marched into her room,

0:48:43 > 0:48:46pulled the plug out and then went back to my room,

0:48:46 > 0:48:49picked up a chair and flung it at the wall.

0:48:49 > 0:48:50The dent is still there.

0:48:53 > 0:48:59On December 3rd, 1985, 12 years after Live And Let Die,

0:48:59 > 0:49:03Roger announced that he was retiring as James Bond.

0:49:03 > 0:49:05The end of an era.

0:49:05 > 0:49:07He was then 58, and said,

0:49:07 > 0:49:12at the prospect of more bullets and bombs and girls half his age,

0:49:12 > 0:49:15it was starting to get a bit daft.

0:49:17 > 0:49:19I was beginning to get a bit long in the tooth.

0:49:21 > 0:49:23- You felt it?- Well...

0:49:24 > 0:49:27..I didn't feel it, but I felt I looked it.

0:49:27 > 0:49:29You'd been blown up and banged about enough

0:49:29 > 0:49:33and it just started to seem like hard work.

0:49:33 > 0:49:36Well, it was Love In The Afternoon. You start, you know...

0:49:36 > 0:49:38If they're going to have a leading lady

0:49:38 > 0:49:39that really matches up to you in age,

0:49:39 > 0:49:42she is already going to be a grandmother,

0:49:42 > 0:49:45and that's not quite what James Bond is about!

0:49:49 > 0:49:51He'd kept the franchise going,

0:49:51 > 0:49:54created a new generation of Bond fans,

0:49:54 > 0:49:58and generated millions of pounds for the British film industry.

0:49:59 > 0:50:04But after all those years in the tuxedo, it was time for a change.

0:50:07 > 0:50:13# Because I'm free, nothing's worrying me. #

0:50:17 > 0:50:21The stage was beckoning, and in 1989,

0:50:21 > 0:50:24it was announced that Roger was to join a cast

0:50:24 > 0:50:29that included Michael Ball in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical,

0:50:29 > 0:50:30Aspects Of Love.

0:50:32 > 0:50:34Can you give us a quick tune?

0:50:34 > 0:50:37- Give us a song.- Gerr-off.

0:50:37 > 0:50:38Just a hum, even.

0:50:38 > 0:50:40# Hmmm. #

0:50:40 > 0:50:43That's it, that's my range.

0:50:46 > 0:50:51His reluctance to sing at that press conference perhaps provided a clue

0:50:51 > 0:50:53as to what was going to happen next.

0:50:54 > 0:50:57On to some showbiz news now, because Roger Moore has announced

0:50:57 > 0:51:00that he's to leave the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's

0:51:00 > 0:51:02latest musical, Aspects Of Love.

0:51:02 > 0:51:03The show is already a sell-out.

0:51:03 > 0:51:05It's due to open with a royal premiere in front of the Queen

0:51:05 > 0:51:07in less than four weeks' time,

0:51:07 > 0:51:10but now it's lost one of its biggest stars.

0:51:12 > 0:51:16It could have been a major career embarrassment,

0:51:16 > 0:51:19but Roger was refreshingly open about why he dropped out.

0:51:22 > 0:51:24I'd booked a seat and everything...

0:51:24 > 0:51:28- Did you get the money back? - Well, yes, I demanded my money back!

0:51:28 > 0:51:31..because you were going to sing,

0:51:31 > 0:51:33- and what happened? - Oh, I got cold feet.

0:51:35 > 0:51:37But that's not like you.

0:51:37 > 0:51:39You usually take your chances at everything.

0:51:39 > 0:51:42No, yeah, but other people were relying

0:51:42 > 0:51:45on notes that I might be singing to come in, you know...

0:51:47 > 0:51:49Singing Lloyd Webber is not like

0:51:49 > 0:51:52singing Another Bride, Another June in pantomime,

0:51:52 > 0:51:55singing Lloyd Webber is opera,

0:51:55 > 0:52:00and I did not have the experience or the courage to do it.

0:52:00 > 0:52:02Did it give you an awful lot of heart-searching?

0:52:02 > 0:52:05because I wouldn't have thought you're the kind of person

0:52:05 > 0:52:08who accepts something and then says, "No, I can't do it."

0:52:08 > 0:52:11Well, I didn't think I could do it in the first place, you see!

0:52:11 > 0:52:13It was Andrew saying, "You can do it."

0:52:13 > 0:52:18He saw me on Dame Edna, singing with Denis Healey.

0:52:20 > 0:52:23And I think he...Denis Healey would have been right for the part!

0:52:28 > 0:52:31Aspects of Love in Roger's personal life

0:52:31 > 0:52:33were also going through a change.

0:52:34 > 0:52:38A diagnosis of prostate cancer in 1993

0:52:38 > 0:52:43prompted him to think hard about his future, and, as he said,

0:52:43 > 0:52:45make some hefty decisions.

0:52:46 > 0:52:50One of them involving the end of his marriage to Louisa

0:52:50 > 0:52:56and marrying for the fourth time to Christina Kristina Tholstrup,

0:52:56 > 0:52:58a Scandinavian socialite.

0:52:59 > 0:53:04Another major decision was to take a step back from acting

0:53:04 > 0:53:09in favour of a new role as a goodwill ambassador for Unicef,

0:53:09 > 0:53:12the United Nations' children's fund.

0:53:14 > 0:53:18His friend Audrey Hepburn had asked him to get involved,

0:53:18 > 0:53:22and, after travelling around the world's most glamorous locations

0:53:22 > 0:53:25playing Bond, now he was visiting

0:53:25 > 0:53:28some of the toughest places on the planet,

0:53:28 > 0:53:33trying to raise awareness of the problems faced by children.

0:53:39 > 0:53:42The reason I became involved with Unicef was, A, you know,

0:53:42 > 0:53:48an interest in children and in their needs,

0:53:48 > 0:53:51and I'd done a number of things for Unicef,

0:53:51 > 0:53:53and things that were related to Unicef.

0:53:53 > 0:53:57But I got a lot of facts and figures,

0:53:57 > 0:53:59and I thought, "This is..."

0:53:59 > 0:54:01you know, "They're just facts and figures."

0:54:01 > 0:54:05You know, the fact that 40,000 children die a day.

0:54:07 > 0:54:08- A day?- Yes.

0:54:08 > 0:54:11Every four seconds...

0:54:12 > 0:54:14..a child dies, and while we've been...

0:54:14 > 0:54:17Since you asked me that question, three have died.

0:54:17 > 0:54:20It's a frightening thought.

0:54:20 > 0:54:24Anyway, I wanted to see for myself what conditions were,

0:54:24 > 0:54:27and the only way I could do that was to be an official representative,

0:54:27 > 0:54:29and so I signed up...

0:54:31 > 0:54:33..in New York,

0:54:33 > 0:54:38you know, got the UN passport, the laissez-passer, and my button.

0:54:38 > 0:54:42And a contract - I get paid a dollar a year,

0:54:42 > 0:54:44but it's free of tax.

0:54:44 > 0:54:47And off I went to Central America.

0:54:47 > 0:54:50And part of the things that I was doing

0:54:50 > 0:54:52was presenting the media awards,

0:54:52 > 0:54:56something that Unicef gives the members of the press and television

0:54:56 > 0:55:00who have brought the plight of children to the world's attention

0:55:00 > 0:55:02during the previous year.

0:55:02 > 0:55:05So I would have, in various countries,

0:55:05 > 0:55:08prepared speeches from Unicef with the Unicef message.

0:55:08 > 0:55:14And I found after the second country, I just...

0:55:14 > 0:55:16Those words were words,

0:55:16 > 0:55:19and I then had to speak from what I saw.

0:55:19 > 0:55:21I used to watch Audrey Hepburn,

0:55:21 > 0:55:26and I always felt that she slightly overdid it

0:55:26 > 0:55:31in her fundraising speeches, until I ended up

0:55:31 > 0:55:34in a hospital in Salvador, visiting...

0:55:36 > 0:55:38..and I realised that she underplayed it.

0:55:38 > 0:55:41It became one of the toughest things I've ever faced in my life...

0:55:44 > 0:55:50..to see what man can do not only to fellow man but to children,

0:55:50 > 0:55:55and to see the victims of... kids that have trod on mines,

0:55:55 > 0:55:57that have trod on grenades.

0:56:00 > 0:56:02And you suddenly say, you know,

0:56:02 > 0:56:06this life is fairly lousy, that people can do this.

0:56:06 > 0:56:09So it gives you more reason,

0:56:09 > 0:56:12more passion to get out and do the fundraising.

0:56:14 > 0:56:19And Roger later explained how visiting impoverished warzones

0:56:19 > 0:56:21changed his view of himself.

0:56:24 > 0:56:26Small, insignificant,

0:56:26 > 0:56:33and rather...rather ashamed that I had travelled so much making films

0:56:33 > 0:56:36and ignored the poverty and hardship that was going on around me.

0:56:36 > 0:56:38Was it a wake-up call?

0:56:38 > 0:56:39Oh, very much so,

0:56:39 > 0:56:44and I was exceedingly grateful to Audrey for having steered me

0:56:44 > 0:56:45in the right direction.

0:56:45 > 0:56:49The one thing that I now am so violently opposed to,

0:56:49 > 0:56:54you know, the use of weapons and mines,

0:56:54 > 0:56:57that I didn't like that image of me going around the world,

0:56:57 > 0:56:59holding the Walther PPK.

0:56:59 > 0:57:01And it's...

0:57:03 > 0:57:06It appears rather heroic,

0:57:06 > 0:57:07and it's not.

0:57:10 > 0:57:13The Licence To Kill may not have been heroic,

0:57:13 > 0:57:17but Roger's long association with Unicef certainly was.

0:57:18 > 0:57:23And he was suitably recognised for that work by a grateful nation,

0:57:23 > 0:57:28first with a CBE in 1999 and then with a knighthood four years later.

0:57:29 > 0:57:32It's a recognition of Unicef

0:57:32 > 0:57:35and the thousands of volunteers that are in Unicef

0:57:35 > 0:57:37who never get recognised at all.

0:57:37 > 0:57:40It's just happened I have a name that became popular.

0:57:43 > 0:57:46There's no arguing with that,

0:57:46 > 0:57:51and just how popular Roger was became even more abundantly clear

0:57:51 > 0:57:54with the sad announcement in May this year

0:57:54 > 0:57:57that he had died at home in Switzerland

0:57:57 > 0:58:00after a short battle with cancer, aged 89.

0:58:03 > 0:58:08The wave of affection expressed for this charming man was overwhelming

0:58:08 > 0:58:10and came from all corners of the globe.

0:58:11 > 0:58:17Perhaps not our best actor, but certainly one of our best loved,

0:58:17 > 0:58:18and a true national treasure.

0:58:21 > 0:58:24Roger was adored for the twinkle in his eye,

0:58:24 > 0:58:26the joy his performances gave us,

0:58:26 > 0:58:29and of course that irreplaceable sense of fun.

0:58:31 > 0:58:34The song was right -

0:58:34 > 0:58:36nobody does it better.

0:58:36 > 0:58:40So, let's raise a glass, and an eyebrow,

0:58:40 > 0:58:42to the great Sir Roger Moore.