Program: ‘Live and Let Die‘ (1954)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 4 May, 2019
Synopsis: “Bond tracks down monstrous Mr Big in Harlem. Big is importing priceless gold coins to finance Russian spy operations and captures Bond. Beautiful, mysterious Solitaire is also a prisoner.
Bond escapes. Solitaire follows. They pursue the source of the gold, first to Florida where Solitaire is captured by Mr Big’s minions.
007 continues on to Jamaica. But can he survive the barracudas? Will he rescue Solitaire, recover the treasure and bring Mr Big to justice? Well, there’s a fair chance. He is James Bond!”
Program: ‘Moonraker‘ (1955)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 31 March, 2018
Synopsis: “It’s 1954 and British patriot Sir Hugo Drax has built an atomic rocket, Moonraker, vital to Britain’s defences. It’s ready for a trial launch. But after a double-murder, James Bond goes undercover at Moonraker’s secret base. He and agent Gala Brand discover possible treachery. Can they prevent a catastrophe?”
Program: ‘Thunderball‘ (1961)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Date: Saturday, 10 December, 2016
Synopsis: “It’s 1959. Blackmail. The western world is in jeopardy. Can James Bond prevent nuclear disaster?
SPECTRE’s pilot hijacks a Vindicator bomber carrying two atomic bombs. Once its cargo is delivered to the Bahamas, he is killed and the bombs are secreted on board the cruiser Disco Volante. The British Prime Minister receives a letter from criminal mastermind Ernst Blofeld – two major cities will be decimated unless a huge ransom is paid.
Operation Thunderball attempts to recover the nuclear weapons.
M assigns 007 to the Bahamas. He joins forces with CIA’s Felix Leiter. Bond meets Domino – mistress of Blofeld’s second-in-command, Largo and sister of the dead pilot – and recruits her to spy on Largo.
The ransom deadline nears. After an undersea battle Bond locates the bombs en route to the first target. Will nuclear disaster be averted?”
Program: ‘Diamonds Are Forever‘ (1956)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 25 July, 2015
Synopsis: “Fleming’s fourth Bond novel is especially dazzling. Its dark humour encompasses millions of pounds worth of diamonds smuggled out of British mines in Africa. Responsible? Somebody known as ‘ABC’. James Bond is sent undercover by MI6 to New York to follow the pipeline. Masquerading as a courier he meets enticing, ice-cold, Tiffany Case. She stands between Bond and gang-bosses whose criminal diamond business stretches from Sierra Leone, via London, to the gambling tables of Las Vegas.
Bond infiltrates the mob. Horse-racing scams, a car chase, a rigged card game, pursuit by locomotive – Bond and Tiffany endure all. Eventually flown to West Africa, Bond unmasks the ultimate villain.
Archie Scottney’s dramatisation parades a bizarre collection of mafiosi monsters.”
Program: ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service‘ (1963)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 3 May, 2014
Synopsis: “James Bond seems more interested in gambling at the Casino Royale than tracking down elusive SPECTRE chief Blofeld. Then he meets Tracy, emotionally disturbed daughter of mafia boss Draco.
Now he has a double motive: seek and destroy Blofeld, and prevent Tracy killing herself.
Impersonating a College of Arms official Bond infiltrates Blofeld’s Swiss mountain-top lair. He learns that Blofeld and aide Irma Bunt are brainwashing young women. Why? Is biological warfare involved? Backed by ‘M’ and Draco, Bond mounts an air assault. But can he pin down monstrous Blofeld? And what will happen to Tracy? “
Program: ‘From Russia With Love‘ (1957)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 21 July, 2012
Synopsis: “It’s 1955 and the Russians plan an act of terrorism. Choice of target? James Bond. To be ‘killed with ignominy’: a major sex scandal will leave his reputation, and that of MI6, in tatters.
Colonel Rosa Klebb of the KGB devises a plan to lure Bond into their trap, using beautiful Corporal Tatiana Romanova as bait – plus a Spektor, the latest Russian decoding device. MI6 learns that Tatiana wants to defect and ‘M’ orders Bond to Istanbul. When Tatiana makes contact she seems to be in love with him – but is she? Either way, he soon falls for her and they leave Istanbul together, accompanied by larger-than-life Darko Kerim, Head of British Intelligence in Turkey. The climax of the drama includes a surprising confrontation between Bond and the murderous Rosa Klebb. “
Program: ‘Goldfinger‘ (1959)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 4 April, 2010
Synopsis: “Auric Goldfinger is not only a cheat at canasta and golf, he’s also an international criminal on a massive scale. His obsession: gold. James Bond is charged by the Bank of England and MI5 to discover what Goldfinger is actually doing with his vast hoards of gold. Is he somehow connected with SMERSH – the feared soviet spy-killing organisation? When 007 becomes an undercover member of Goldfinger’s team he soon learns that the madman’s plans are more grandiose than even ‘M’ could possibly have imagined. Amazingly, robbing Fort Knox is on the agenda – and mass murder… “
Program: ‘Dr. No‘ (1958)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: Saturday, 24 May, 2008
Synopsis: “Bond is sent to investigate a strange disappearance on the island of Jamaica, and discovers that the heart of the mystery lies with a sinister recluse known as ‘Dr No’.”
Program: ‘You Only Live Twice‘ (1964)
Channel: BBC Radio 4
Original Air Date: 1990
Synopsis: “James Bond’s wife, Tracey, has been murdered by his deadly enemy Blofeld.
Agent 007 has gone completely to pieces and is drafting his resignation. But ‘M’ is prepared to give him one last chance to prove himself – on a mission which will lead him to a fatal encounter in a Japanese Garden of Death. “
Program: ‘Moonraker’ (1955)
Channel: Springbok Radio
Original Air Date: Late 1950’s
‘Moonraker’ was the first of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels to be adapted for radio.
Starring Bob Holness as the titular character, the novel was adapted by the Durban Repertory Theatre for broadcast on SABC’s Springbok Radio.
No extant copies are known to exist, and it’s original air date is unknown. It variously reported as having aired in 1955, 1956, 1957 or 1958.
Bond on the Box 