This document is a dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol for the degree of MSc in International Security. The dissertation examines the media's perception of the British intelligence community compared to reality. It acknowledges popular fictional depictions like James Bond but argues these create a false narrative. The dissertation will examine the theoretical basis for this discrepancy, compare expectations to reality, and analyze why the intelligence community supports some inaccurate media portrayals. It provides context on the history and roles of British intelligence agencies like MI5 and MI6 and how their image has changed over time and due to events like 9/11.

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James Bond, Fast Cars and
Guns: De-mythologizing the
media’s perception of the
capabilities and behaviour of the
British Intelligence Community
post 9/11.
Candidate Number: 21434
Academic Year: 2015/16
A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements
for the award of the degree of MSc in International Security in the Faculty of Social
Sciences and Law.
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Word Count:14,609

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Acknowledgments
It was a momentous occasion for both myself and my family when I submitted my
original dissertation for my undergraduate degree. However, not content with only
submitting one dissertation in my academic career, I decided to do it again, although
I was most definitely not without help! This dissertation would not have been possible
without the support of my Mum, once again; my extremely helpful girlfriend Alex who
provided much needed moral support when times got stressful; my course mates;
my friends, particularly “Gangle”, “Crim”, “Ox-man”, “’Allstar”, and “Bear”. I would
also like to thank my supervisor Dr Paul Higate and my two sources “S” and “J”.

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Abstract
The British intelligence community faces new challenges in maintaining the security
of the United Kingdom such combating as cyber terrorism, domestic jihadism, and
international crime. As well as this, the organisations must also deal with the internal
issues of diversity and transparency within the intelligence community.
Misconceptions regarding the security services are still present in both the popular
media and also in the perception of the public. With the end of the Cold War, the
cessation of hostilities in Northern Ireland, and the “War on Terror”, the global face of
international politics has changed dramatically and so too has the face of the security
services. This dissertation will argue that the popular media deliberately creates a
false narrative of the security services in order to make espionage seem more
exciting than it is in reality. A second argument will demonstrate how (in) accurate
official government policy is compared to reality, while my third argument will seek to
answer why the British Intelligence community actively supports inaccurate
depictions of the services.

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Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………… p.3
Table of Contents……………………………………………………...p. 4
Table of Drawings, Photos,Illustrations…………………………….p. 5
Introduction……………………………………………………………...p. 6
Literature Review……………………………………………………….p. 9
Chapter 1: The theoretical basis behind the popularity of intelligence and
the media………………………………………………………………..p. 13
Chapter 2: Expectation vs. Reality…………………………………… p. 22
Chapter 3: Perceptions of the British Intelligence Community vs. The
Reality…………………………………………………………………….p. 43
Conclusion………………………………………………………………..p. 49
Bibliography……………………………………………………………… p. 51
Appendices A……………………………………………………………..p. 60
Appendices B……………………………………………………………..p. 61

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Table of Drawings,Photos,Illustrations
Fig.1 A comparisonof Bond girls Halle Berry and Ursula Andress 40
years apart…………………………………………………………… p.21
Fig. 2 Daniel Craig on the beach in Casino Royale……………... p.21
Fig. 3 An extract of the SIS recruitment guide for 2014………… p.27
Fig. 4 Infographic on the amount of alcohol consumed by Daniel Craig’s
during his portrayal of Bond………………………………………… p.37

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Introduction
Famous, infamous, fictional, or not, the United Kingdom has produced a host of secret
agents, both real and fictional, over the last several hundred years who have left a deep
impact on the nation and the public psyche. Individuals such as Sidney Riley, the Cambridge
Five, Ian Fleming, and countless others that have inspired a vast body of literature and films.
Yet it must be remembered that, much like espionage in the real world, fictional depictions of
the intelligence services are constantly evolving. Unlike world seen in the works of John le
Carré or Ian Fleming, more modern examinations of the intelligence community often focus
on the concept of electronic surveillance. This recent advance in technology that has seen
the rise of computers, mobile phones, and social media being utilised en masse by the
public and the subsequent exploitation by the intelligence community has been the subject of
much controversy, made especially apparent in the wake of the Bradley Manning and
Edward Snowden information leaks (Macaskill & Dance, 2013). According to some aspects
of the media, gone are the days when vital information was smuggled in and out of nations
on tiny pieces of microfilm. Yet, the concept of a technologically advanced security service
fits very much in with the current zeitgeist and promotes the idea that spying has now
irrevocably changed; an exciting prospect to both the public and film makers. However, this
is not entirely correct with both terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and MI6 resorting to using
written communication and hidden “dead drops” in order to securely transport information; a
far more primitive and far less thrilling reality than the media would like to suggest (Bogart,
2013) (Walsh, Norton-Taylor, MacAskill, 2006).
While the inner workings of most spy agencies are predominantly classified and away from
public view, the concept of espionage and spy agencies has been of great interest to the
public for centuries. The United Kingdom is also no stranger to the world of spying and
espionage. While spies have operated since time immemorial, intelligence officers such as
Colquhoun Grant became famous for their brave exploits during the Peninsula War (Haswell,
1969: 1-294). However, it was the “Great Game” that took place in India and Afghanistan,
written about by Rudyard Kipling, which brought spying to the attention of the masses
(Morgan, 1973: 55-65). Although the Russians were seen as the primary antagonists within
this war of espionage the beginning of the twentieth century saw the Germans added to the
list of hostile spies working against the crown, resulting in the decision to create a competent
organisation that could deal with the problem of German espionage.

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It was also at this time that the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Security Service,
now more commonly referred to as MI6 and MI5 respectively, were established. Initially, both
organisations were staffed by two military officials in a cramped office, designated as the
Secret Service Bureau. Left to their own devices, RN Captain Mansfield Smith-Cummings
chose to focus on external threats to the realm while Captain Vernon Kell were charged with
were defending the realm from internal threats (Andrew, 2010: xix). However, owing to the
sheer force of personality exhibited by both men as well as the monumental stress put upon
them, it was eventually decided to create a specific department for each task. Smith-
Cummings became the head of SIS while Kell became head of MI5. With the start of the
First World War both organisations grew rapidly and then further expanded after the rise of
communist Russia. Despite the importance of these organisations for many years the
agencies officially did not exist (Corera, 2013:1).
The outbreak of war in 1939 saw the two agencies begin to demonstrate their value to the
British government. Despite an embarrassing failure at Venlo in late 1939, the creation of
Special Operations Executive (SOE), the establishment of the British Special Forces, and
the special relationships born by co-operation between non-communist nations allowed both
agencies, (SIS in particular) to grow in size and influence. However, WWII also saw the
emergence of the “Cambridge Five” spy ring as well as the utilisation of former members of
the Nazi Secret Service and Gestapo (Helm, 2005). Numerous mistakes were made during
WWII and the early years of the Cold War with Corera writing that:
“This was also a service which was clubby, amateurish, penetrated by enemies and
prone to mishap. Its secret wars were betrayed by its most painful traitor in the
beguiling guise of Kim Philby” (Corera, 4).
The further humiliation of Philby’s betrayal resulted in a severe lack of confidence in the
British intelligence agencies by both the government and the British public. By remaining
opaque to the press and with no contemporary fictional characters to improve the image of
the community this reputation would largely exist until the early 1970’s (Andrew, 319-644).
Despite the British intelligence failures of SIS and MI5 during the Second World War, the
codebreakers at Bletchley Park remain universally celebrated. Although the facility was
owned by SIS, it was officially operated by the Government Code and Cypher School
(GC&CS) (Morrison, 2012). This department’s work in cracking the German and Japanese
cypher codes have been credited with shortening WWII and saving countless lives. The Cold
War saw the evolution of the Government Communication Head Quarters (GCHQ) into a
much larger and even more secretive organisation than it already was, with GCHQ
remaining largely ignored by the British public until very recently (Aldrich, 2010: 1-10). The

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lack of a fictional representative in the media and the highly secretive nature of the
organisation’s work has led to the growth of a sinister reputation. The recent scandals
involving whistle-blowers Edward Snowden and Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning have thrust
GCHQ into the spotlight, causing controversy within the British public as to the organisations
intentions (Russon, 2015).
As the Cold War came to a close, both agencies diverted their attention towards counter
terrorism and fighting international crime. In some instances, SIS officers found themselves
working with former Soviet adversaries in this endeavour, as opportunistic criminals
attempted to sell narcotics and weapons to whomever would buy them. (Grey, 2015: 1-85)
(Corera, 320). Now left without an ideological enemy, the media and films swiftly turned their
attention to the rise of free-lance criminals, mercenaries, and the like while promoting the
concept that Russia was no longer a sinister threat to western security. However, as the
1990’s wore on, more attention was devoted towards areas in the Middle East such as
Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq, although still largely focusing on counter terrorism and criminal
activities. MI5 was also still allocating significant resources to combating the IRA. While the
Good Friday Agreement in 1998 largely neutralised the threat of the IRA, the 9/11 terror
attacks prompted British intelligence to focus the majority of their work towards fighting
global jihad in support of the US led “Coalition of the Willing” (BBC, 2016).
While the British were enthusiastic to provide support, relations between the CIA and the
British Intelligence community that had once been friendly were soured by the actions of
Vice President Cheney and Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The two politicians, who in an effort
to find evidence of WMD in Iraq, claimed that the CIA were being disloyal when the agency
failed to find politically acceptable evidence. (Blumenthal, 2006: 27-30). The Bush
administrations’ fondness for pushing through extreme legislation such as the P.A.T.R.I.O.T
Act and vocally demanding intervention prompted the former head of SIS to state:
“The problem was the [Vice-President Dick] Cheney crowd was in too much of a
hurry, really. [And President] Bush never resisted them quite strongly enough”
(Suskind, 2008: 193)
The subsequent mishandling of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iran as well as subsequent
terror attacks in Madrid, London, and Glasgow resulted in the British intelligence community
looking for both home grown terrorists and jihadists who had travelled to training camps
abroad. The bungled shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and the subsequent cover-up
caused a scandal for the police and intelligence services, damaging the agencies
reputations (Hughes, 2008). The public trust in the agencies was further damaged by the
revelations of mass surveillance in 2013 (Hopkins, 2013). This lack of trust in the intelligence

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services could not come at a worse time as nations such as Russia and China are now
becoming of greater concern to the British government. The lack of confidence in the
intelligence community, exacerbated by negative media portrayals, could negatively affect
British Intelligence in combating these threats.
With current events prompting alarm in many in the field of politics, intelligence, and
international relations there is little doubt that the British intelligence community will be
extremely busy in the next few years. This has recently been seen by the latest recruitment
drive by the intelligence services, with a high demand for those who speak Russian and
Mandarin Chinese (Tweedie, 2009) (Pozniak, 2009). However, it may not be as easy to hire
new recruits as originally hoped owing to the negative publicity that has dogged the
intelligence community for the last few years. Despite this, the spy genre is as popular as
ever; the last four James Bond films drawing profits of billions of dollars, suggesting a
paradoxical opinion exists within the British public (Cunningham, 2015) (The Numbers,
2016).
This thesis will argue that the media has and will continue to play a decisive role in the
creation of an inaccurate perception of the British intelligence community. Owing to the
Intelligence Community largely avoiding official interaction with the press, the examples of
the intelligence services shown on film are likely the only direct interaction many of the public
will have. Secondly, it will further argue that since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 British film and
television programmes have for the most part continued to advance a particular narrative
which, despite its inaccuracies, is sometimes encouraged by the intelligence services for
their own ends in order to improve the community’s public image. To support this argument, I
will examine particular examples of literature that are based on the history and study of the
intelligence services, the theoretical basis of how and why the media is so important in the
creation of public perception, a comparison between the fictional world of the intelligence
services and the real world, and finally why the intelligence community is either pleased or
displeased in how they are represented in the media.
Literaturereview
In order to successfully examine this area of international security it is important that a wide
variety of sources be used to support the argument made in this dissertation. As well as
primary source data that has been gathered, secondary sources were vital to various
aspects of the research questions presented. More specifically, the qualified opinions by
thought-leaders in the IR/IS field on current affairs, academic theories as well as aspects of
popular culture were researched to buttress the dissertation’s argument. However, caution
was taken when examining literature based on the security services, media theory, and

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intelligence theory due to certain factors. For example, in order to write an accurate account
of an intelligence service the author must be allowed to examine the archives of the
organisation they wish to study; a request that will only be granted if the author is trusted and
considered reliable (Walker, 2003). This immediately biases the author in favour of the
organisation they wish to write about not only because this may guarantee future access to
files – possibly for a new publication – but also maintains the author’s reputation as a reliable
contact. There is also the question of legality, as including information protected by the
Official Secrets Act (1989 – 2007 amendment) is strictly prohibited, resulting in information
being kept secret from the public and therefore leaving the author unable to be entirely
factual about the incident.
One of the strongest sources on the Secret Service used in the dissertation is “The Defence
of the Realm” (2010) by Christopher Andrew, a professor of modern and contemporary
history at Corpus Christie College, Cambridge University (Williams, 2009). The biography of
MI5 provides a valuable and extremely detailed insight into Britain’s domestic intelligence
service from its inception to the modern day and describes both the successes and failures
of both the agency and the staff. Supported by numerous examples of primary and
secondary sources, with many primary sources provided either by serving or former
members of the service - as well as being allowed access to the MI5 archives – Andrew has
compiled a valuable and comprehensive history of the service. However, there are
limitations to both the work and the author. Firstly, Andrew, although greatly interested in the
field of IR, is primarily a scholar of history which could affect his opinion on certain events.
Secondly, in order to be able to legally access the MI5 archives, Andrew was inducted into
the Service as an honouree member. In this scenario there could be a danger of bias, a
danger further exacerbated if the rumours of Andrew recruiting students for the service
during his tenure is true (Walker, 2003).
A second book on the intelligence community, however written without official co-operation
from SIS is “MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service” (2012) by Gordon Corera is
written with a similar intention to that of “The Defence of the Realm”. Instead of focusing on
the inner mechanisms of MI6, Corera instead focuses on the human factor of intelligence
and attempts to demonstrate the links between the personalities of both spies and spy-
masters. The book examines the link between the reality of MI6 and the link to popular
culture and notes the accuracies, falsehoods and popularity of the genre inside the security
services themselves. However, it should be noted that Corera, much like Andrew, was
primarily educated in modern history and US policy and is not a dedicated IR analyist.
Furthermore, Corera’s work as a journalist for the BBC has caused some to raise concerns
about the author’s supposed bias and impartiality towards the government (Cusick, 2013).

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A third biography on the intelligence services in this thesis is “GCHQ: The Uncensored Story
of Britain’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency” (2010). Authored by Richard Aldrich, a
professor of International Security at the University of Warwick, the book provides a
comprehensive history of GCHQ from its origins at Bletchley Park to the aftermath of the
conflicts in the Middle East that have now become international threats. As well as carefully
documenting the organisations history, Aldrich addresses the claims of both those that
believe that GCHQ is invasively monitoring citizens for Orwellian purposes while also
presenting GCHQ’s argument that the organisation does not have the staff or storage space
to deal with such information. Aldrich also presents the moral and ethical viewpoints of both
those critical of GCHQ and of the organisation itself, attempting to balance the discourse.
Although written too early to account for the Manning/Snowden leaks, the source still
provides a highly useful foundation for examining the activities of modern
telecommunications intelligence. While some critics have claimed that Aldrich should have
cast a more critical eye towards GCHQ, reviews are almost unanimously glowing (Campbell,
2010) (Lownie, 2016).
As well as utilising academic works centred on the organisations and the characters within
them, it was also crucial that the theoretical approaches and theories be examined such as
constructivist theory, feminist theory, gender identities, and masculinities to be examined. A
more direct analysis of the relationship between popular culture and espionage can be seen
in the works of Jutta Weldes and Christina Rowley. The essay “So, How Does Popular
Culture Relate to World Politics?” (2015) examines how popular culture can and has been
used to promote a particular narrative surrounding an event or and organisation. The
examination of how popular culture is used during times of war and peace to cultivate hard
and soft power politics is particularly useful when examining the formation of the identity of
British intelligence officers in popular culture.
Finally, two works that have been utilised extensively to examine the theoretical basis of
James Bond are “The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader” (2014) and “Revisioning
007: James Bond and Casino Royale” (2009) both works edited by Christopher Lindner.
Both of these books contain numerous academic essays written especially for these
publications and examine not only the many factors that made Casino Royale such a radical
departure from previous Bond films and what implications this has as well as examining how
gender, masculinity, and the human body are utilised in the James Bond film to illustrate a
particular ideology. While the Critical Reader was largely praised when it was first published
in 2003 Lindner was criticised for not including a biography of Ian Fleming and for lacking
perspective on the modern Bond films. However, the second edition sought to rectify these
criticisms with several new chapters with original content. Revisioning 007 was met with

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positive reviews being highly praised for its original examination of feminist and gender
theory within the film.

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Chapter 1: The theoreticalbasis behind the popularity of
intelligence and the media
The world of intelligence is a murky one that can involve deceit, mundanity, extreme
psychological pressure, and all for little reward. Why then, does the world of
espionage often make for such engrossing fiction, and in doing so how does this
affect the British Intelligence Community? Although only recently acknowledged
within the field of International Relations (IR), the examination of how popular culture
interacts within world politics should be examined more closely as both popular and
social media is becoming more and more a staple of everyday life; a factor that will
inevitably impact the intelligence community (Weldes & Rowley, 2015: 19). It is not
surprising therefore, that various constructivist theorists of IR have taken an interest
in the spy genre, particularly after 9/11 in which both real life intelligence practices
and media representations of the intelligence community changed dramatically
(Scott & Jackson, 2004: 1). Weldes and Rowley write:
“While popular cultural constructions are not the only sites in which identities,
practices, institutions and objectives are discursively constituted, they are
some of the most important. Popular culture is especially significant because
we are all immersed in these discourses in our daily lives; they constitute our
everyday common sense” (Weldes & Rowley, 19)
If Weldes and Rowley are to be believed, popular culture has and will continue to
have a significant impact on the British intelligence community either through the
potential recruits popular culture will inspire, the perceived behaviours that are learnt
by both intelligence officers and their targets, as well as the general populous of the
nations the services operate in. Weldes goes further and describes popular culture
as a tool of geo-politics and international relations:
“Popular culture thus helps construct the reality of international politics for
officials and non-officials alike and, to the extent that it reproduces the content
and structure of the dominant foreign policy discourse, it helps produce for
foreign policy and state action” (Weldes, 1999: 119)
Weldes postulation that popular culture not only dictates domestic norms and
behaviours but also represents a particular message regarding geopolitics

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demonstrates the enormous power of the artificial creation of public perception. By
successfully manipulating popular culture certain stereotypes and norms could be
established despite having very little factual basis, allowing an administration or
government to play on the perception of the populous. The establishment’s use of
popular culture as a geopolitical tool could potentially allow fictional characters – if
popular enough – to demonstrate a nation’s hard or soft power capabilities (Weldes
& Rowley, 14).
A perfect example of this geo-political popular culture tool is James Bond. At first
glance the glamour and excitement of Bond’s life explains why the James Bond
franchise would be immensely popular in post-war Britain. However, the massive
success of the franchise throughout the globe and its subsequent influence on the
perception of the British intelligence community is important to understand if an
examination of the intelligence services and the media is to be understood. Despite
being written by Fleming as almost a farcical past-time, the author did have a clear
idea of who he wished his target audience to be, namely the highly educated middle
class (Bennett and Woollacot, 2014: 13). Yet, the readability of his work and the
fantasies it inspired in its readership – the epitome of Britishness that is paid to drink,
womanise, gamble and still be considered a patriotic hero – led to a much more
diverse following (ibid, 19). Fleming later described how Bond was marketed to both
a lower and middle class readership:
“In hard covers my books are written for and appeal principlally to an ‘A’
readership but they have all been been reprinted in paperbacks both in
England and America and it appears that the ‘B’ and ‘C’ classes find them
equally readable, although one might have thought that the sophistication of
the background detail would be outside their experience…” (Pearson, 1966:
299)
Although initially marketed to those that could afford – or at least understand –
Bond’s lifestyle and could also realistically comprehend working for the intelligence
services, namely middle class Oxbridge graduates, the novels unknowingly catered
to two purposes: to imagine a geo-political scenario where Britain was still a major
power and to allow the lower class readers of Britain to imagine a lifestyle that was
largely impossible to obtain. Combined with the Suez Crisis and the deepening

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tensions of the Cold War this resulted in Bond becoming, initially at a national level,
an extremely popular figure (Bennett and Woollacot,19) (Denning, 56-57). However,
it was largely thanks to President Kennedy claiming that the Bond novel “From
Russia, With Love” (1957) was his favourite fictional work that led to the series
gaining serious international fame (Booker, 1969: 179). The period of international
change that marked the United States’ ascendency to power in place of Britain as
well as the cultural evolution that was taking place was instrumental in creating the
climate that Bond would inhabit and grow famous in.
The character of James Bond, when examined from a theoretical approach, is
fascinating to examine not only from a psychological point-of-view but also from an
IR theory perspective. Firstly, the foundations of why the character still appeals to
modern audiences is complex. Written by a man who spent only six years in
intelligence during WWII and had not seen active combat, Fleming created a
character that had seen combat, was a veteran in the intelligence field, and operated
almost exclusively against communist advisories (Rankin, 2011: 1-416). While not
unusual traits to see in an action hero written in the early 1950’s, the environment
that Bond inhabited now is seemingly long gone. Clopton writes that in the formation
of identity
“[E]stablishing identity is a process in relation to other identities which is
dynamic in nature. The logics of equivalence and difference are called upon in
this process of relational identity formation” (Clopton, 2014: 9)
However, despite the radical geo-political shift that both East and West have
undergone since Perestroika Bond has still retained his relevance. David Cannadine
considers Bond to be the perfect example of examining real world geo-politics with
IR theory, writing:
“[T]he Bond corpus provides many opportunities for considering aspects of
the popular perception of the world of intelligence, for example the stress on
covert operations and on human intelligence, rather than on signals
operations. Furthermore, both novels and films drew on current fears in order
to reduce the implausibility of the villains and their villainy, while they also
presented potent images of national character, explored the relationship
between a declining Britain and an ascendant United States, charted the

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course of the Cold War, offered a changing demonology, and were an
important aspect of post-war popular culture, not only in Britain but also more
generally, particularly after the Americans created and financed the filmic
Bond” (Cannadine, 2002: 137)
Therefore, Bond can be seen not only as in insight into the intelligence community
but also into the psyche of the typical western audience member. As real world geo-
political events occur, Bond has to react to a new threat; as society evolves in
outlook, so too does Bond. By constantly adapting, both character and subject
remain relevant to the target audience. However, Bond can only be expected to
adapt to a certain degree, as to stray too far from Bond’s original personality would
de-legitimise his global standing. Collin writes:
“As played by Craig, Bond is a flawed creature from another age, weighed
down by his past and at odds with the present… That no one would invent
him today, though, turns out to be both the source of his effectiveness, and
also what makes him worth preserving. He hits the parts a more enlightened
hero couldn’t reach” (Collin, 2015)
The more unpleasant aspects of Bond’s personality such as his penchant for alcohol,
brutal violence, and womanising could be comparable to a western capitalist neo-
liberal agenda in that while rampant consumerism and ruthless violence is utilised by
the hero it is still for the greater good (Denning, 2014: 56-76). With Britain’s
continuing decline in global power and influence the demonstration that a British
character can still be the one to “save the day” despite all of his professional and
personal failings serves as a psychological prop for post-Cold War British society.
A further aspect within the intelligence community that can be examined is the
concept of the female spy and the growing presence of female spies in the media.
While originally seen as little more than secretaries or sex objects – both in the real
world and the media – the representation of female intelligence officers in more
modern portrayals deserves examination (Corera, 4). Although most modern media
representations of spies in western culture are male, heterosexual, and masculine,
Rosie White argues that this perception is misleading, claiming that although the

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fictional spy is most often gendered as male, the covert aspect of espionage involves
traits often seen as feminine such as disguise and dissimulation, while spies are
masculinised as observers and agents. The spy is therefore seen as hermaphrodite
figure within popular culture, destabilising the status quo of gender identity and
becoming highly subjective” (White, 2007: 2)
Rather than a love struck secretary as portrayed in the earlier Bond canon, the re-
imaged character of Eve Moneypenny first seen in Skyfall (2012) is entirely alien
from how the character was originally written. John Sutherland argues in the original
Bond stories:
“[T]hat the ideologies of sexism and imperialism are inscribed within the very
form of the Bond novels… As the relations between Bond and the villain and
between Bond and the girl develop and move towards their resolution, a
series of collateral ideological tensions is thus simultaneously worked through
and resolved. It is in this way that the Bond novels achieve their ‘ideological
effect’ – the effect, figuratively speaking, of placing the women back in
position beneath men and putting England back on top” (Sutherland, 1978:
176)
Yet, it is only recently that this dynamic has begun to change in the Bond films.
Hosack writes in regards to the more modern portrayal of the Bond girl that:
“She [Eve Moneypenny] proves a new breed of Bond Girl. She fights, shoots,
and banters, each scene presenting her with a great deal of physical agency.
Although her and Bond get along in an expectedly flirtatious way, her
presence in the context of the chase scene automatically undermines Bond’s
masculine authority” (Hosack, 2015: 26)
A further revelation is that unlike the last feminine character who was a match for
Bond, Vesper Lynd, Moneypenny remains loyal to the hero and the cause which they
serve. Tincknell reports that:

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“In fictional spy narratives female agents are almost always double-agents.
Their untrustworthiness for the state is, then, systematically linked to their
availability to the central male character and to the threat desire poses for
him. This anxiety, although represented in the terms of the genre’s overt
concern with protecting national (or Western) power interests, can also be
understood as a symptom of the threat femininity poses to the stability of
masculinity” (Tincknell, 2009: 101)
The film-makers’ decision to abandon conventional approaches to femininity serves
as a reminder that times have changed as have attitudes in the post-Cold War era
and highlight the important role that women have had both in IR and in the
intelligence community.
Famous for the inclusion of beautiful women amongst its cast, the more recent Bond
films have taken a new approach to the so-called male gaze. In Casino Royale
(2006) the male gaze is reversed as is the importance of women being influential to
Bond’s style. When getting dressed for the poker game central to the film’s plot,
Bond is shocked to discover that the previously unreceptive Vesper Lynd has had a
jacket tailored specifically for Bond that is a perfect fit. Audrey Johnson explains that
not only does this cement Bond as being a masculine fashion icon, it also takes a
clichéd concept and reverses it:
“This scene plays the viewer against the viewer expectations that Bond would
be the shaper of identity rather than the one shaped. Audience are familiar
with the plot in which the plain woman undergoes a makeover that helps her
discover her beauty and femininity, courtesy of her male partner, after which
they fall in love in actuality… What we see instead is that it is Bond who is
transformed and sees his own beauty” (Johnson, 2009: 125)
The film’s decision to switch gender roles is indicative of the changing attitudes
towards masculinity and gender in the 21st century, a continuing theme in the newer
Bond films. However, there is still a subtle hinting that emphasised the masculinity is
still supposedly required to work in espionage. Rather than a scene that focuses on
the physical, this scene allows a brief glimpse into Bond’s psyche and also

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demonstrates how Bond has met his mental and physical match. A more famous
scene in Casino Royale is Bond mirroring Ursula Andress’ – and later Halle Berry’s -
iconic scenes where the audience is treated to a lingering shot of a bikini clad
woman rising out of the surf, which instead has the titular hero rising from the sea,
displaying the characters impressive physique. The focus on the hero rather than the
“Bond girl” that is introduced immediately after the character emerges from the
waves emphasises the need for the audience’s attention to be on Bond rather than a
minor character who looks attractive.
Tremonte and Racioppi write:
“Throughout Casino Royale the vicious physicality of the assaults against
Bond (and his body) is juxtaposed against a sensuous and eroticised Bondian
body in many scenes of the film. The hypervisibility of Bond’s body – in
motion, specularised, under threat – throughout Casino Royale helps to
reinforce the roles of masculinity in the international and gender orders”
(Tremonte & Racioppi, 2014: 185)
A further example of the male gaze being distorted and converted is during Bond’s
interrogation by the film’s villain, whereby the character is stripped naked and has his
genitals beaten. Unlike previous incarnations of Bond, the audience is allowed to
watch the torture unfold, with Bond’s suffering increasing by the minute. However,
the audience is not shown Vesper’s interrogation; it is merely heard. This breaks a
trend in film, where the hero is forced to reveal his secrets or his female companion
will be tortured in front of him (Kord and Krimmer, 2011: 111-134). In breaking this
trend, Johnson writes that:
“Traditionally, the intellectual has been identified as the province of men and
‘the masculine,’ while the bodily concerns have been identified with the
women and ‘the feminine,’ so that the emphasis on Bond’s body throughout
the film subtly feminises the character not just through the body’s display but
also the way this Bond is identified with and through his body. At the same
time, the paradoxical presentation – that is the male body presented in the
way we expect a female one to be – opens a space that separates the
biological sex of the body (male) from the way it is gendered (masculine) and

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reveals that the equation of sex and gender is a matter of performance”
(Johnson, 119-120)
The increased feminisation of the male body as well as the decline in the over-use of
the male gaze in modern spy films can be seen as both influencing and being
influenced by the more socially liberal climate of declining sexism and misogyny.

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Fig 1. Bond girls Halle Berry and Ursula Andress, 40 years apart
(TheBondSocialMediaProject.com)
Fig 2. Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006) where the similarities between the shots
of Berry, Andress, and Craig are apparent (Collin, 2015)

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Chapter 2: Perceptions ofthe British Intelligence Community vs.
The Reality
American film producer Robert Evans once claimed that “There are three sides to
every story: your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying” (The Kid Stays In
the Picture, 2002). This quote can very much be applied to the intelligence
community and its depiction in the media. The British Intelligence services have
often been stereotyped as being the next step for bored or overly patriotic Oxbridge
graduates, who are white, middle class, and in nearly all cases men. Is this still the
case? Not only do the potential threats to the UK, such as jihadists, indicate that
recruiting purely from this microcosm of society is a particularly arrogant means of
recruitment, it also ignores the societal evolution of British culture over the past five
decades. Using both personal anecdotes from those inside the intelligence
community as well as empirical data from the government, the intelligence
community, and academics it will be argued that the media has created a false
narrative surrounding the intelligence services that has both hindered and helped the
intelligence community through the evolution of this narrative.
To support this hypothesis an attempt was made to record the views of those inside
the British Intelligence Community. While I was only able to secure two interviews
with these persons, the insights and opinions expressed allow a deeper examination
of the Intelligence Services and their respective ministries, voicing opinions that may
differ from the official statements. Although it is not possible to draw definite
conclusions from such a small sample size, the findings should still be seriously
considered. Factors such as race, gender, sexual identity were examined as well as
scrutinising the feelings of those interviewed on social lives within the community, on
how alcohol, medication, and narcotics are viewed, whether their jobs met with their
expectations, what their perceptions are of the other branches of the security
services, and whether they have ever felt endangered by their profession.
Throughout this chapter the sources will be identified by the monikers “Intelligence
Officer” and “Civil Servant”.
Owing to a combination of factors such as media portrayals of the intelligence
services, a necessary lack of transparency on the inner workings of the
organisations, and individual pre-conceptions of the intelligence services, a newly
accepted officer or even a member of the public could have vastly different

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expectations of how the intelligence community acts and operates rather than how it
performs in reality. Issues such as class, education, and race are often displayed in
the media as a common phenomenon however this is not always the case. In a
recent article an SIS recruitment officer complained that many potential applicants
“cancelled themselves out” because of pre-conceived notions of the environment
they would be working in (Whitehead, 2015). Another intelligence officer confessed
that originally:
“Shami, an MI5 surveillance officer, thought he never had a chance of being
recruited. He'd never been to university. ‘My understanding was that you had
to be upper class, academically bright and white male generally. I just felt I
had nothing to offer.’” (BBC, 2012)
The stereotype of the white, Oxbridge educated male has long been presented by
the media and has historical merit (Thomas, 2010: 1-479). The real Soviet agents
Philby, Maclean, Burgess, Blunt, and Cairncross were referred to as “Cambridge
Five Spy Ring” while James Bond is often fond of reminding people that he is highly
educated (Corera, 87-256). Oxford also hosts its fair share of intelligence community
recruits such as John le Carré and his literary creation George Smiley, while at least
four heads of SIS have also hailed from the university (Anthony, 2009) (Edwards,
2013). While the Intelligence community still actively recruits from these two
universities, the notion that all recruits must come from “ancient universities” is
decidedly in the flavour of the Cold War rather than in the staffing of the modern
agencies. Starting during the 1990s and far becoming the norm after 9/11 the
intelligence services began promoting the importance of meritocracy. When asked
whether class or education was still needed to progress to the upper echelons, the
Intelligence Officer remarked:
“Not that I’ve personally noticed; this may come from not having time to take
notice. Hiding behind smart attire generally blurs the lines for most… The
organisation is also very balanced. [M]y manager on paper is paid better,
higher grade, higher rank and more experienced than I’d likely attain in 10
years, yet in the meeting room we’re equals, my opinion holds equal weight,

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my expertise is recognised and I feel valued as an officer for the government”
(Intelligence Officer, 2016)
Rather than the clubby quasi-nepotism that the intelligence community is often tarred
with – especially SIS – the intelligence community has seemingly learned some hard
lessons from the Cold War, namely that elitism and snobbery can be extremely
counter-productive in attempting to cultivate a loyal and able staff. The Civil Servant
also confirmed that in his experience, the “Old Boys Club” was quickly becoming
irrelevant; competence being valued more than social class or the pedigree of one’s
university. The idea of meritocracy, while seen in the media is still often paired with
the level of the character’s education.
Another misconception of the British intelligence community is possibly the most
infamous; the licence to kill. Although liberally employed by James Bond and at his
discretion, the ability to assassinate does rarely fall into the remit of the British
Intelligence Services. All British intelligence organisations are required to operate
within British law which precludes assassination, however Section 7 of the
Intelligence Services Act 1994 allows the Foreign or Home Secretary to give
clearance to any British intelligence service to act in an illegal manner. Despite this
ability to potentially kill anyone considered a threat to the security of the nation, this
power has supposedly been looked upon with derision by members of the
intelligence community. Speaking in regards to frequent rumours of planned
assassinations, former Director General of SIS Richard Dearlove denied any claims
that the service had ever ordered or used assassination for their own ends. He
further asserted that in his 38 years in SIS he had never heard of an assassination
being ordered (Allen, 2008). Morten Storm, a former spy for SIS and MI5 reported
that a British intelligence officer whom he worked with specified that:
“We [MI5] do not involve ourselves in encouraging people to participate in
jihad and we don’t involve ourselves in killings abroad. Our objective is to
gather intelligence.” (Gardham, 2012)
This is a far cry from James Bond who historically was required to assassinate two
people before being confirmed for Double-0 status (Casino Royale, 2006). If the rest
of the Double-0 section is taken into account, then at least twelve different people
have been assassinated by British intelligence in the rebooted James Bond universe

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before the hero is even accepted into the agency. This representation not only
distorts the view of the intelligence services but also distorts its methods and
practices. Real life comparisons to the filmic intelligence services are closer to that of
the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) “Special Activities Division - Special
Operations Group”, a Special Forces unit that operates in plain clothing and assists
the CIA in operations that include kidnap, rendition, and assassination (Woodward,
2001) (Whitlock & Miller, 2010) (Haynes, 2010).
The popular media’s representation of a British intelligence officer and their
personality seems to straddle a peculiar duality, namely either that of a darkly
charismatic manipulator or a grey blur, seemingly almost without personality. It is not
surprising that these two stereotypes have been largely born out of James Bond and
George Smiley, respectively. However, while it has been claimed that all stereotypes
are true, it is farcical to suggest that the entire British intelligence community is made
up of only two personality types. Despite the growing lack of realism that occurred
during the growth of the Bond franchise the geopolitics of James Bond has advanced
with the times, suggesting that as has been seen throughout society, the characters
personality will also adapt. However, Bond’s has remained mostly consistent (Collin,
2015).
While the ability to be charming, ruthless, and extremely calm under pressure would
at first be regarded as positive factors in espionage, numerous psychologists have
concluded that James Bond’s personality is closely linked to the so-called “Dark
Triad”; Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (Kaufmann, 2010) (Jonason,
Li, & Teicher, 2010: 111-120). While these traits would possibly be better suited to
military Special Forces, British intelligence have stated they would prefer a more
emotionally dependent employee:
“James Bond would probably not be successful in joining SIS, if he were to
apply… The service he represents is not the modern reality. Teamwork is
central to SIS’s ability to deliver intelligence, and heroes working alone rarely
achieve much” (Ashton, 2015)
The difference between James Bond and an actual employee of the intelligence
services is made clearer by the recruitment advertisement SIS placed on the
Mumsnet website, specifically stating that:

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“[W]e bring a very human approach to gathering secret overseas intelligence,
our work is all about people. This is a place where qualities like creativity,
insight, curiosity, empathy and intuition are valued just as highly as intellectual
ability and analytical, logical thinking. We’re a team with a passion for global
affairs and other cultures, countries and languages – and a fascination with
human nature” (Mumsnet, 2016)
While it is apparent that the exotic life of James Bond is unrealistic, it is also equally
clear that unlike the almost nonentity that is George Smiley, modern officers will
have distinctive personalities. The Civil Servant remarked that he was surprised at
how normal the intelligence officers he interacted with were, claimed:
“I found it the same as dealing with anyone else, really... We’ve worked
together as part of a team, sometimes there are things that can’t be said but
as long as you understand the working boundaries there hasn’t been an
issue” (Civil Servant, 2016)
Former intelligence officer Harry Ferguson also confessed that unlike the almost
infallible fictional counterparts certain personality flaws can improve other aspects of
an officer’s behaviour:
“There is no ‘spy type’ that secret service recruiters look for. They look for
independent, self-driven people, who do not fit into a particular pigeonhole.
You would be laughing if you could look around a room, point and say: ‘That's
the type, that's the person.’ The idea is that you get as many reasonably
intelligent and varied men and women into the job as possible… I can forget
people's names two minutes after being introduced to them, but I retain a lot
of seemingly unimportant details which can be terribly important when dealing
with a mass of paperwork on your desk or when you are out in the field trying
to remember what your brief was” (Jenkins, 2014)
The overall perception and reputation of the intelligence community by the general
public can therefore be seen as glaringly inaccurate, exacerbated by the pre-existing
expectations made popular by the media.

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Fig 3. SIS “Fast-track” requirements for recruitment. (The Daily Telegraph, 2014)

28. Page | 28
With the evolution of British society, race and ethnicity have become increasingly
important factors in the British Intelligence Community. While originally seen as
passively racist organisations, the decline of the IRA and the aftermath of 9/11 saw
an epiphany ripple through the British Intelligence Services. British concerns towards
Russia the subsequent rise of China have further resulted in a remarkable shift in
attitude. The head of recruitment for SIS stated back in 2008:
“After its [SIS’s] ‘rather comfortable cold war existence’, the agency faced
different threats, which required it to be "more flexible, more adaptable". That,
he said, required people from more diverse backgrounds” (Norton-Taylor,
2008).
It cannot be denied that all three branches of the Intelligence Community have made
a concerted effort to improve their combined attitudes towards race and ethnicity. On
the website of SIS careers fast track chart, race is shown to not be a factor during
the recruitment process (see Fig. 3), with approximately 10% of SIS staff being of an
ethnic background (Norton-Taylor, 2008). On the official website of the Security
Services, it is proudly reported that “8% [of employees] come from black and ethnic
minority backgrounds (double the percentage of ten years ago)” (Secret Service,
2016a). The Director of GCHQ has also been vocal on the subject of increasing
diversity.
“To do our job, which is solving some of the hardest technology problems the
world faces for security reasons, we need all talents and we need people who
dare to think differently and be different. We need different backgrounds,
experiences, intellects, sexualities, because it is in mixing all of those together
that you get the creativity and innovation we desperately need. As a
technology-driven agency, we have to be a vibrant workplace and welcoming
to all. Dull uniformity would completely destroy us” (GCHQ, 2016)
However, despite the claims that the Services are becoming more ethnically diverse
the process seems to be a ponderous one. While it can only be positive that the
number of MI5 employees of an ethnic background has increased, examining the
official figures as released by MI5 indicates that of a workforce of approximately four
thousand only three hundred and twenty are from an ethnic background (Secret

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Service, 2016a). A former MI5 case officer remarked that in the first few years after
the 9/11 attacks, operational effectiveness was severely hampered by the lack of
ethnic diversity. Originally, there was only one Muslim surveillance officer in MI5
which made observing suspected Islamic terrorists extremely difficult:
“The Islamists would meet round each other's houses or in mosques which
you can't get away with going into. Also, they were living in mostly ethnic
areas and often you would find the only white people on the street were
surveillance officers." (Hopkins & Morris, 2016)
The lack of diversity in the immediate years after 9/11 is highlighted in season 2 of
the series Spooks (‘Mosque’, 2003). Attempting to infiltrate an extremist mosque,
MI5 is forced to employ an Algerian Muslim of suspect loyalties simply because the
service has no other Muslim officers. The Civil Servant was also critical in how slowly
racial diversity was being implemented:
“I think it’s definitely an area that needs to be improved in both the Ministry of
Defence and other areas of government regarding the diversity and inclusivity
issue. So we are predominately white, male, and of a certain age” (Civil
Servant, 2016)
While this lack of diversity does not appear to have occurred due to internal racial
prejudices it does indicate that the security services are still ineffectual in recruiting
ethnic minorities. Although more recent figures indicate that the British Intelligence
community has improved in the area of ethnic diversity there still appears a long way
to go before the intelligence services can truly be considered to be multicultural
particularly SIS and MI5.
Gender has also become an important factor in intelligence in recent years, with an
evolution in thought mostly beginning in the 1990’s and the beginning of the 21st
century. Not only have the attitudes towards women in the intelligence service
changed but so, too, have the thoughts concerning transgendered and male officers.
Although women had been involved in all three branches since the 1930’s or earlier,
the appointment of Stella Rimington as Director General of MI5 in the immediate
aftermath of the Cold War was revelatory for the international intelligence community
but not necessarily for MI5 itself. (BBC, 2003). Andrew writes:

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“Though Rimington was the first female head of any of the world’s leading
intelligence or security agencies, there is no convincing evidence that her
gender had a significant influence on her appointment… She was chosen as
DG [Director General] because there was good reason to believe she was the
best candidate” (Andrew, 774)
Although Rimington only held the post for four years, her appointment inspired Judi
Dench in her portrayal as “M” in the James Bond franchise; a role that lasted 17
years. Unlike her male counterparts who played only a brief role in the plot of the
films, Dench’s “M” is crucial to several plots, is shown to be shrewd and
dispassionate, and is seemingly the only person who understands the psyche of
Bond (Child, 2016). Similarly, in the TV show “Spooks” (2002) a variety of female
officers are seen to be acting professionally and courageously, a representation that
is more accurate than the Bond franchise with official figures showing that MI5 has
lead the way within the intelligence services with 41% of employees being women
with just under half being under 40 years old (Security Services, 2016a). Both SIS
and GCHQ have also reported increasing figures; with a staff of 2,749 SIS counts
36% of its staff as female while GCHQ has 5,564 employees of whom 35% are
female (Ross & Bowcott, 2016).
Arguably the most altered attitudes towards gender are the acknowledgment and
acceptance of transgendered people within the community. Historically, the
intelligence community has not been friendly or even acknowledged transgender
issues, with arguably the most famous cases being the French spy Charles
“Chevalier” d’Eon who fought in the Seven Years War and former MI5 officer and
whistle-blower David Shayler who are typically described as being either “colourful”
or deluded (Conlin, 2010) (Milmo, 2009). However in recent years the atmosphere
amongst those in the intelligence community has relaxed considerably. Transgender
issues are now seen by the intelligence community as being part of the LGBT
umbrella and as such is fully supported by the intelligence services. The Intelligence
Officer stressed that it is not just the younger generation that is openly accepting of
transgender person within the workforce, claiming that:
“Being against any of these core values of diversity puts you into a very small
minority; it’s genuinely refreshing to see men and woman of all ages

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accepting people for who they are. Often older generations can be viewed as
closed minded to issues surrounding LGBT” (Intelligence Officer, 2016)
This attitude is seemingly reflected throughout not only the intelligence community
but also the civil service. The Civil Servant remarked:
“I have come across a few of them and it sort of hasn’t been an issue. There’s
been an acceptance towards people going through that [Gender Re-
assignment Therapy]. It’s a rare occurrence but for me it hasn’t been an issue.
‘Samuel’ became ‘Samantha’ and that was it, really” (Civil Servant, 2016)
It is interesting to note how different generations within the same profession have
adapted to the drive for inclusivity. While the younger intelligence officer was
enthusiastic about the recent change of attitude regarding the LGBT community,
despite not being part of it himself, the older civil servant - while just as accepting -
appears to do so in a very matter-of-fact way. This possibly indicates that for the
older generations within the intelligence services or government, personal issues are
largely accepted provided it doesn’t hinder that person’s ability to work effectively.
However, while transgender people have largely been accepted in the work place
there has been very little positive portrayals of transgendered members of the
intelligence community.
The evolution in thought about women and transgendered people in the intelligence
service has also prompted increased examination of male employees of the
intelligence community and their representation in the media. To explain this shift in
attitude about the male gender and masculinities Cunningham and Gabri write:
“Masculinity, therefore, is not a singular category or ideology. Rather, it is a
fluid category subject to the varieties of human interactions within differing
cultural and embodied context” (Cunningham & Gabri, 2009: 83)
With more tolerant society increasingly becoming a reality, the ways in which the
intelligence community can solve security threats by approaching solutions from
different angles can increase, the Intelligence Officer stating that “It's necessary to
bring many different ways of thinking together to stay one step ahead of the mission”
(Intelligence Officer, 2016)

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In both the real world and the media, the Intelligence Community has primary seen
the occupation of “spy” as a heterosexually inclined profession while those who were
LGBT were seen as a security risk (Kelly, 2016) (Andrew, 86-706). In film, James
Bond is portrayed as the archetypal alpha-male who is decidedly heterosexual.
While certainly appealing to the heterosexual male audience of the Bond franchise,
having numerous affairs are not encouraged by the Security Services. Firstly, the
potential for blackmail and a breach of operation security becomes much more likely.
Joseph Wippl writes:
“One type of indiscretion can get someone into trouble, while the other could
mean a jail sentence. The same goes for case officers. A certain percentage
of case officers have, will have or have had relationships with another partner
outside of marriage. This activity does not or need not compromise their
integrity within the intelligence organization. In a small number of, and
sometimes very embarrassing, cases, however, a security problem could exist
for case officers in a relationship with a foreign national, especially if the
purpose of the relationship is an aggressive attempt by another security
service to compromise or recruit the case officer” (Wippl, 2012: 598)
The desire for relationships to remain “in-house” therefore can be seen as a safer
and potentially less embarrassing way of securing intimacy and sexually activity. As
one former MI5 officer reported:
“With outsiders, we could never be fully ourselves. This, inevitably, often led
to more than friendships. What might otherwise be called office romances
flourished. I met my former partner, David Shayler, when we were both in our
first posting in MI5” (Machon, 2010)
While the prowess of heterosexual case officers such as James Bond and Harry
Palmer are often focused upon in the media, it is only recently that attention has
been paid to LGBT members of the Intelligence Community. Largely thanks to
prejudice and a misguided fear that gay officers would be more susceptible to
blackmail, the ban on LGBT employees in the Intelligence Services existed until
1991 (Kelly, 2016). The climate was not helped in that it was only in 2000 that Britain
allowed LGBT people to serve in the British Armed Forces (BBC, 1999). Arguably

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the most famous incidents involve gay intelligence personnel included the dismissal
of Alan Turing who famously took his own life in 1952 after being removed from his
position at Bletchley Park for being homosexual and three of the Cambridge Five
Spy ring being either gay or bi-sexual. In the media, paranoia towards the LGBT was
exacerbated to absurd levels. In a report from the Sunday Mirror in 1962, shortly
after Soviet spy John Vassall had been discovered to be homosexual, it was claimed
that a suspected homosexual could be identified by how fashionable they were,
being keen to play a variety of sports, and being overly clean. The author stating that
“I wouldn’t tell them my secrets” (Morley, 2016).
Despite an inauspicious history the British Intelligence Community has evolved
considerably in the last several years. Andrew Parker, the current director of MI5,
described to LGBT charity Stonewall why the agency had dramatically changed its
internal management in order to accommodate LGBT staff: “Diversity is vital for MI5,
not just because it’s right that we represent the communities we serve, but because
we rely on the skills of the most talented people whoever they are, and wherever
they may be” (Hunt, 2016: 7). An Intelligence Officer confirmed that Parker was
largely speaking for the majority of the Intelligence Community in these views,
describing how the LGBT networks within allowed many, especially those from an
ethnic background whose family disagree with homosexuality, to be their true selves
stating:
“It's not uncommon for colleagues to reveal their true identity simply through
these support networks, whether they be gay, bisexual or identify as
transgender its met with a great deal of admiration for their bravery”
(Intelligence Officer, 2016)
SIS has also adopted a similar attitude, albeit at a slower pace than their domestic
counterparts. In January 2016, upon receiving the news that the Service had been
ranked 36 in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, the Director-General of SIS
stated:
“This year's breakthrough result reflects our sustained efforts to make SIS a
fairer and more inclusive place to work, not only for our LGBT staff, but for all
our employees... As a Service we have a responsibility to enable all staff to

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flourish and demonstrate their full potential and I am incredibly proud to be
leading a much more diverse Service than the one I joined” (SIS, 2016)
The acceptance of the LGBT community into the ranks of the intelligence community
has begun to been seen in the media. In the recent television series “London Spy”
(2015), the eponymous character is homosexual whilst in the James Bond film
“Skyfall” (2012) when James Bond is threatened with rape by the villain, the hero
merely responds with the quip “What makes you think this is my first time?,” So far,
the service has been true to its word with the LGBT flag being displayed at full mast
outside of Vauxhall Cross on May 17th 2016 in honour of the International Day
Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (SIS, 2016).
Owing to the confidential nature of their profession, it is understandable that an
intelligence officer’s social life will be effected in some way. Not only does the officer
have to be cogent enough to maintain the secrets of his profession from almost
everyone who isn’t a fellow intelligence officer but they must also be constantly
aware of their surroundings. A former officer reported that the high levels of pressure
could affect an officer in a variety of ways:
“The downside can be burnout and neglect of one’s personal life. Some case
officers are out six nights a week, while others are out none. Achieving a
balance is as desirable as it is improbable. The ‘‘great’’ case officer engages
in a great deal of socializing. The flesh must be as willing as the spirit. Some
‘‘great’’ case officers do not drink alcoholic beverages, but they are not
numerous or if religious convictions are involved, they do not last long in the
job. Being able to hold one’s spirits is a definite plus in agent assessment and
recruitment” (Wippl, 599)
While an obvious stress reliever, an officer must always be aware of their
surroundings. Although unlikely, there is always a risk that an officer’s family or
habits could be used by an antagonist to exploit the intelligence officer. The Civil
Servant explained the safety procedures that is always utilised when socialising with
work.

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“If we are out in a team we do ‘Shark Watch’; a member of the team watches
for interaction with other people and make sure nothing untoward is going on”
(Civil Servant, 2016)
Not only does this protect the officers from any subversive characters but it also
allows the Shark Watch to monitor the group’s level of discretion under the influence
of alcohol. The lack of an effective monitor in the TV series Sherlock, leads to an SIS
officer having vital missile plans being stolen from him, ultimately leading to his death
(“The Great Game”, 2010). In James Bond’s most recent forays on screen, the
agent’s legendary alcohol intake is increased again, with Bond managing to
consume 26 units of alcohol during the course of Casino Royale (2006), a habit that
is contrary to both a healthy lifestyle and discretion.
Maintaining this level of discretion at all times can put an enormous strain on the
officer’s romantic and personal relationships, even superficial ones. The intelligence
officer remarked:
“[F]rom my experience [relationships are] extremely strained, you come to
notice many senior grades are in in fact not married due to the constraints of
their job. It’s difficult to maintain relationships if you’re not local to the area
and creating a social circle is entirely impossible without lifting the lid on who
you work for… For most, life generally fits around themselves, partners and a
small selection of close long term friends. You sacrifice a lot of that for your
career aspirations” (Intelligence Officer, 2016)
The senior civil servant commented that he often found that even in the work place,
interaction with intelligence officers were awkward:
“I think they try hard, sometimes, they might over try in trying to get
themselves to appear more approachable when they don’t actually need to…
Wanting to show that they are approachable and that they aren’t hiding
behind a security cloud” (Civil Servant, 2016)
While not applicable to every intelligence officer, this behaviour is a far cry from the
socially confident and cocky James Bond, ever ready with a quip or one-liner.
Instead, those officers who try overly hard to interact normally seem to do so in the

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belief that they are perceived differently to the rest of the civil service employees and
may not be able to work well with others because of this. However, by adopting this
behaviour the atmosphere is altered, resulting in the officers appearing to be unable
to function socially at a normal level.

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Fig 4. An infographic chart describing every alcoholic drink consumed in Daniel
Craig’s first three outings as James Bond (A.V. Club, 2015)

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With each service having their own remit but often having agents, threats, and
sources coincide with each other, Britain’s intelligence community has often seen
considerable acrimony between the three agencies. Historically, the early Cold War
and the period of de-colonization – whereby MI5 officers would serve in
Commonwealth Nations and SIS operatives would work in non-Commonwealth
nations – led to an unfriendly rivalry, with many in SIS considering their counterparts
to be amateurs playing at espionage. (Corera, 344). However, the end of the Cold
War and the post 9/11 world of intelligence has meant that massively increased co-
operation in thwarting terrorist threats are essential. As one officer explained:
“The nature of the world is such that we can’t operate in isolation,” he says.
“So we work very closely with MI5 [the UK’s domestic Security Service] and
GCHQ [the secret listening station at Cheltenham]. It’s that combination of
technical and human intelligence that allows us to answer the questions that
key individuals in Whitehall want to know about.” (Gardener, 2015)
The intelligence community have also assisted other nations in rebuilding or
remodelling their security services, not only in accordance with Britain’s neo-Liberal
stance but also to create willing intelligence partners who can provide cooperation
and intelligence that might not be readily available to the British. In a speech by
Stella Rimmington, she proclaimed:
“We developed links with a number of countries in the former Warsaw Pact-
once we were satisfied that democracy had taken hold and espionage against
us had ceased. Together with our sister service SIS, we provided advice and
support for the reorganised and reoriented security services, particularly to
help them establish a democratic framework for their work. We also began to
exchange information on areas where there were shared concerns - crucially
in countering terrorism” (MI5, 2016)
The decline of the Iron Curtain and the rise on non-state actors – terrorists, freelance
mercenaries, and criminals - posing as security risks would suggest that enhanced
cooperation with both international and domestic agencies would be vital to ensure
security. However, while SIS and MI5 had largely improved inter-service relations by

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the time of 9/11, Annie Machon reported that not all inter-service relationships were
happy ones:
“Despite the intelligence community presenting a united front to the outside
world, culture clashes between the three agencies are commonplace. Staff on
secondment between agencies… from GCHQ to MI6 – can have a rough time
fitting into a new environment, working with colleagues who eye them with
suspicion, as the divisions jockey for power, prestige and resources within
Whitehall” (Machon, 2010).
The Security Service’s insistence on interrogating all terrorist suspects holding
British citizenship while being detained in foreign nations also caused a strain on the
relationship. Often utilising the help of other intelligence agencies that had no qualms
about torture – a practice frequently derided by SIS as highly unreliable – it was felt
by some that MI5 could damage the reputation of the intelligence community. Corera
writes:
“Paradoxically, public perception and reputation is remarkably important for
those that work in the secret world. It is precisely because they cannot talk
much about their work that they worry more about the ways it is perceived by
the public” (Corera, ibid)
The negative reputation of the security services brought about by allegations of
torture, assassination, and the sinister agendas of the various agencies has had a
dramatically negative impact on the staff of the intelligence community. The
Intelligence Officer complained that:
“My view has always remained the same, we live in a world were media will
warp and twist stories to create fear and make profit. A commonly thrown
around phrase is ‘Don’t let the truth ruin a good story’ [,] that’s the long and
short of it and within the organisation we’re trying to be as transparent as we
can to give people a glimpse of what we do. There’s largely a feeling of
frustration in regards to how we may be perceived from the outside that can
occasionally be demoralising for some. We take great pride in what we do and
some [of the public] are naive in the way they view us” (Intelligence Officer,
2016)

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The obvious resentment by the Intelligence Officer towards the media is
demonstrative of how powerful the media is believed to be by the rank-and-file of the
intelligence services. Despite the majority of the intelligence services personnel
joining for reasons such as wanting to serve their country, bring criminals to justice
or save lives (Machon, 2010) accusations about the integrity of the intelligence
services can be regarded as insulting (Freedland, 2015).
Despite the numerous hazards faced in the media representations of the security
services, many former and current intelligence officers claim that unlike their fictional
counterparts, there is very little danger to be faced by the modern employee of an
intelligence service. However, public perception, once again encouraged by the
Bond franchise, Spooks, and other similar representations has promoted the image
of intelligence as an extremely brutal environment. The now infamous interrogation
and subsequent execution of a female case officer via deep fryer in the second ever
episode of Spooks and the multiple deaths of other MI5 officers throughout the
series give the impression that joining the intelligence service is tantamount to a
death sentence (‘Looking After Our Own’, 2002) (Everett, 2011). Describing how
media representation differs from the reality of the service, a former SIS agent wrote
that:
“Despite perceptions, working for the secret service is not a very dangerous
job. In the US it is slightly different because they see themselves as semi-
military and put themselves in danger in a way that British officers don't.
Normally what happens in the services is that the risks are run by the agents
– the people you, as an officer, recruit” (Jenkins, 2014)
The misconception that risk exists around every corner once involved in the world of
espionage and counter-espionage, while seemingly exciting is far from the truth, with
one serving officer reporting that:
“It would be untrue for me to say that all of our work is free of danger.
However, we have a team of security advisors who ensure that both we and
our agents are as secure as we can be. No operation would go ahead if we
had any doubts about our security, or that of our agent.” (Gardener, 2015)
Yet, despite the fact that British intelligence officers do not routinely engage in gun
fights and torture, there is still an element of danger that must be acknowledged. The

41. Page | 41
Gareth Williams incident where an SIS/GCHQ officer was found dead in an
externally locked holdall – allegedly at the hands of Russian security forces –
highlights that on occasion the world of intelligence community can be extremely
hazardous (Clarke-Billings, 2015). When asked if he had ever been or felt in danger
during his career, the civil service employee reported that:
“Yes. Certainly when I first came out of the apprenticeship there was the
Northern Ireland threat which was much more than it is now… You did what
you were told and every-day you would check under the car for suspicious
looking articles that might be a bomb… Now, more recently only when
planning on going to Iraq… Generally, though with what is happening at the
moment, over the last couple of years the security levels have gone up [sic]”
(Civil Servant, 2016)
It is interesting to note that despite the highly publicised attacks carried out by
Islamic terrorist groups in recent years, the source demonstrated that they were far
more concerned about attacks when they first started working for the government in
the Thatcher era than they are currently. While efforts to maintain personal security
are still taken seriously, the perceived likelihood of an attack seemed like a distant
prospect to the source. However, for those working within the intelligence community
the potential for danger is felt much more keenly. The Intelligence Officer confessed
that:
“Dealing with the likes of criminal gangs, terrorists and similar bad people - it’s
not unusual for you to be followed, attacked, be the target of a kidnapping or
even worse. These events are infrequent and a great deal of work goes into
keeping the workforce protected but it’s important to keep your identity hidden
wherever possible” (Intelligence Officer, 2016)
The Officer continued by saying that:
“It’s not uncommon to be approached by foreign intelligence services also and
therefore travel to certain countries is prohibited unless monitored rigorously.
Regular vetting interviews are key at maintaining optimal levels of safety… I
ultimately don’t feel safe walking in and out of work but I think the threat
picture for most of Europe is very similar day to day… Feeling at potential risk

42. Page | 42
is part of what I signed up for and it doesn’t [a]ffect my work” (Intelligence
Officer, 2016)
Despite the acknowledged risk admitted by all sources, both believe that either these
risks are highly unlikely to occur or that their profession is worth taking risks for. At
no point has a comparison been made between real intelligence officers and their
more gung-ho fictional counterparts, highlighting that these events are much more
likely to occur in a CIA led operation owing to the more militarised nature of the
organisation.

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Chapter 3: Why do the intelligence services actively promote
James Bond even when they publicly distancethemselves?
Despite the inaccuracies present in the majority of films and programs centred on the
main agencies of SIS and MI5, the two organisations seem to have accepted or even
encouraged these inaccuracies to continue. GCHQ, the far more secretive and less
filmed organisation, has only recently started to accept the increased attention from
the media. Notwithstanding the consistent warnings to new applicants to the service
that they will not be entering into a career remotely similar to James Bond or Spooks
and frequently dismissing any ideas to the contrary, the influence of the British spy
genre is still apparent where the depiction of espionage lies on a scale between
reality and fantasy. The waters are made darker when the official responses from the
intelligence agencies are considered. Again, owing to the sensitive nature of
espionage, an official response from any intelligence agency will have most likely
been heavily vetted beforehand, if a response is provided at all. Corera reports that
when SIS staff were given a special viewing of the James Bond film “The World Is
Not Enough” (1999), the audience cheered when an explosion rocked the building
the main character was in, apparently due to many staff disliking the new SIS
building. No official comment has yet been put forward to confirm or deny this claim
(Corera, 322).
Despite an almost universal fandom, modern commentators of the James Bond
franchise have stated that the fictional spy bears little resemblance to reality, pointing
out that the more low-key hero George Smiley is a more accurate representation of
an effective spy. This is true even for members of SIS itself, James Blitz reporting
that:
“‘The Service [SIS] has never really gone in for people like Bond,’ says one
person well acquainted with the secret world. ‘Bond is in every sense of the
word an actor. What the real SIS is all about is gathering information on
foreign governments and movements in order to face down threats in the UK.
That is a business that required silence, discretion and waiting around
endlessly in strange places’” (Blitz, 2012)
Blitz continues, reporting that:

44. Page | 44
“‘Among SIS officers, there is a greater reverence for [John Le Carre’s]
Smiley, who is in many ways the founding text,” says one former Whitehall
official. “But SIS has always been happy to assist the Bond people with their
filming.” Another former official concurs. “It is good for morale,” he says,
adding that it would not surprise him if SIS were organising a free screening of
the new film inside its Vauxhall Cross headquarters” (ibid)
While le Carré’s work has been widely read and well received, his realistically
vulnerable hero George Smiley does not have the magnetic pull that his rival James
Bond has. Despite the far more realistic tone of the novels where battles are fought
psychologically in Whitehall corridors against a similar adversary, the violence,
excitement, and women that are seen in James Bond’s missions provide a means of
escape to the bored casual reader. Despite being vastly different in both content and
style, the two spies do have some aspects in common. Both Fleming and le Carré
believed that their main characters were incredibly boring personalities, despite the
contrast between Bond’s hedonistic lifestyle and Smiley’s grey existence (Wolfe,
1987: 8). While this would not typically be a sensible decision for an author to make,
an exciting character would distract from the actual events and spying seen in the
novels (Hellman, 1962).
Yet, even at its most realistic, the events that surround James Bond are shown with
more immediacy and highlight the danger that could overwhelm the hero. Many of
Bond’s exploits in Fleming’s earlier works were directly inspired by the actions of
men in 30th Assault Unit - a small group of eccentrics, mavericks, and specially
selected officers of the British Special Forces. In “Casino Royale” (1953) Bond finds
himself battling against his adversary over a poker table, both of whom know the
other is hostile. While initially this appears fantastical, this event was inspired by an
actual occurrence to one of Fleming’s colleagues during the Second World War
(Pearson, 194-195). In comparison, le Carré’s spies are not charismatic young men
at the peak of fitness nor are they engaging in gunfights with the Soviets. Rather the
characters are more subdued and are instead described thus:
“Smiley also defies the James Bond archetype by combining in his work one
part derring-do to ten parts intellectual endeavour and one hour in the field to
fifty reading reports and files… Most of them [le Carré’s spies] have advanced

45. Page | 45
well into middle age and/or suffer from poor health. None sport the heroic
build and physical stamina of James Bond” (Wolfe, 18-19).
The disparity between the two literary universes can be found in the background of
the authors. While Fleming was in Naval Intelligence during WWII he was
surrounded by highly trained Special Forces instilled with the desire to bring the fight
to the enemy. Conversely, Le Carré began his career in intelligence well into the first
decade of the Cold War where attitudes had shifted considerably in order to keep the
Cold War from becoming hot.
Despite historically being a lesser known organisation than the SIS, recently MI5 has
begun to receive more attention from both analysts and the media. Owing to MI5
being responsible for “The Defence of the Realm” (Andrew, ixx), the organisation’s
remit only extends to the environs of the United Kingdom, unlike the more exotic
locales that officers from the Secret Service are posted to. Despite the value of the
work performed by the organisation, it is not hard to imagine why the general public
has only recently begun to pay more attention to the operations undertaken in the
British Isles. Firstly, the decolonisation of nations in the British Commonwealth
meant that those agents of MI5 who were stationed abroad would be coming back
home, removing any trace of exoticism there. Secondly, even during “The Troubles”
in Northern Ireland which saw a revival in the IRA and its various factions - arguably
the most prescient national security threat before the fall of the Iron Curtain - the
organisation dedicated few resources to this arena. Andrew reports that:
“As late as 1974 only 7 ½ per cent of the Service’s resources were devoted to
Counter-Terrorist operations against both the IRA and international terrorist
groups, whose emergence as a security threat nearly coincided with the start
of the troubles. Until 1992 the lead intelligence role in Britain against the IRA
belonged not to the Service but to the Special Branch of the Metropolitan
police. The end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union
transformed Security Service priorities” (Andrew, xx)
The BBC programme “Spooks” (2001-2011) brought the existence of MI5 back to
public attention and brought with it a diverse and changing cast of morally conflicted
– or ambiguous – characters to the screen. Initially, the show demonstrated that it
was not just Arab terrorists or members of the IRA who were threats to Britain’s

46. Page | 46
internal security. Unusually for a prime-time show, every episode ended without
credits, an effort on the part of the writers to maintain an atmosphere of secrecy
throughout the show (Deans, 2002). Despite using real locations and input from then
current and former MI5 officers, the programme was far from realistic, Alan Judd
writing:
“It [Spooks] was a huge success, shaping a generation of younger viewers. It
did for the intelligence and security world what Top Gear has done for the car
industry – kept it in the public eye, indulged our fantasies, gave a lot of people
jobs and broadened the boundaries of credulity. And it entertained millions.
But it was nothing to do with spying” (Judd, 2011)
The show’s artistic licence notwithstanding, the writing team behind the show
attempted to be topical and relevant as possible, frequently authoring episodes that
were either inspired by or mentioned real world events. In 2005 the show featured an
episode where an Al Qaida cell attempted to attack London while in 2008 Russia’s
conflict in Georgia led to the Russian government being the season antagonists (The
Telegraph, 2008). However, the former head of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller,
has famously distanced herself from the show since the first season citing the
programme as inaccurate. She claimed that:
“I think the only thing I regret about Spooks… is one that it portrays
intelligence as simplistic, that things can be solved in 40 minutes by six
people… The second thing I regret about it is it portrays the service as having
utter disregard for the law, whereas we are very careful that everything we do
has a proper legal basis” (Irvine, 2009)
Despite this criticism the show continued to be popular and saw an increased
number of recruits attempting to join MI5 in the years that it aired, highlighting how
influential even more realistic and cynical depictions of intelligence can attract
positive attention.
Despite being arguably the most important aspect of modern intelligence gathering,
the securing and utilisation of signals intelligence or “Sigint” has been a rather low
key counter-part to the other two branches of British Intelligence. Supposedly lacking
the glamour and intrigue that often permeates the perception of the agencies
dedicated to collecting “Humint”, GCHQ has nevertheless played a vital role in British

47. Page | 47
intelligence gathering, reflected in having a “larger staff than MI5 and SIS combined
as well as enjoying the lion’s share of the secret service budget [sic]” (Aldrich, 1). For
the release of the most recent Bond film “Spectre” (2015), the typically secretive
GCHQ assisted in providing publicity for the film’s premiere, despite that part of the
villain’s plan is to utilise a GCHQ like entity to effectively hold the world to ransom,
one cyber-attack at a time. Marina Hyde explains that even when being used as an
example of villainous behaviour, the sheer popularity of James Bond will result in
interest in the organisation:
“[T]he powerful hold that Bond is axiomatically deemed to have on the British
imagination can hardly have escaped the all-seeing attentions of GCHQ. It
has become unavoidably clear over its recent outings that this movie
franchise is one of those things whose health is regarded as symbiotically
linked with that of the nation” (Hyde, 2015)
Although highly critical of both Bond and GCHQ, Hyde’s claim that GCHQ were
utilising Bond’s iconic legacy to automatically grab the attention of the British public
will have few detractors. A further film on GCHQ that covers the events surrounding
the Katherine Gun leak and trial is currently being filmed and promises to be critical
of the agency (Pulver, 2016). Yet, despite the awesome power that both the
criminals and British intelligence supposedly have in “Spectre”, others are sceptical
of the prediction that GCHQ has a proto-fascist agenda. Fraser Nelson argues:
“Snowden’s dire warnings about a ‘system of worldwide mass surveillance’
gave the impression of our spies somehow being able to scan every email
sent. But they have neither the technology nor the permission: they’re in the
business of scanning bulk data, which is very different. This involves checking
basic details, the internet equivalent of an itemised phone bill, to see who is
contacting whom. From all of this, they look for a pattern. If they spot
something suspicious, and want to read an email or tap a telephone, they
need a warrant” (Nelson, 2015)
Much like Manningham-Buller’s complaint about “Spooks”, GCHQ is still reliant on
the British legal system in order to begin invasive investigatory procedures and is
both technically and legally unable to conduct operations like those portrayed in
“Spectre”.

48. Page | 48
After analysing the British intelligence community and its media representations from
a theoretical, empirical, and analytical approach it is possible to see the current
quandary that the British intelligence service currently finds itself in. Recognising the
importance of utilising women, members of the LGBT community, and members of
ethnic minorities the community is desperately attempting to catch up with the rest of
the British government and British society in order to be more operationally effective
as well as maintaining (or re-gaining) public approval in order to maintain recruitment
levels at an acceptable rate. However, the media representations that provide the
most popular images of the community are either highly critical of the agencies or
harken back to the elitist and prejudicial days of the Cold War, with the poster boy of
British intelligence, James Bond, struggling to catch up. The continual utilisation of
the spy genre by the intelligence services demonstrates the importance of popular
perception within the media and how it remains important to retain the public
confidence in everyday practice as well as continuing its decades long reputation of
being as first an imperial and then post-imperial international power.

49. Page | 49
Conclusion
The image of the security services had remained typically constant before the end of
the Cold War. With the decline of the Soviet Union as an ideological enemy and the
intelligence services becoming more open with the emergence of Stella Rimmington,
both the media approach to the security services and the public perception changed.
The 9/11 attacks resulted in a new demand for intelligence services which was
translated onto the screen. Film franchises such as James Bond, despite being re-
imagined for a new generation and television programmes such as Spooks
attempting to show MI5 as racially and gender inclusive still were inaccurate in that
the majority of the officers shown were white, male, and educated at Oxbridge. The
somewhat heavy handed manner on the part of the intelligence community to
dissuade these notions in order to attract new recruits demonstrates the power that
the media representations of the intelligence community had historically and still
have today, with all three intelligence organisations having to dismiss comparisons
with their fictional counterparts.
The clear difference between modern espionage and the fictional world of James
Bond has led the intelligence community to have recognised the psychological draw
from films and television programmes that can be used to engender an image of
competence, independence, and ability. The intelligence agencies have also been
able to benefit from any feelings of patriotism or idealism engendered by the release
of a new spy film as well as looking to recruit those who wish for a more exciting
career. Although far from accurate, the James Bond mythos has nevertheless been
extremely influential in guiding both the narrative of the security services and
providing the British intelligence community with an aura of being practically
omniscient and omnipotent. British intelligence organisations have benefitted
significantly from the popularity of the spy genre, both through recruitment and
reputation, despite emphasising the difference between filmic espionage and reality.
The staff and the intelligence officers of the secret services are the polar opposite of
James Bond. Yet, unlike the mostly brash and highly visible spies of the fictional
world which are often rewarded by the establishment the majority of successes
within the intelligence community are celebrated quietly and with little fanfare.
Despite having more in common with the officers seen in John le Carré’s novels, the
aura surrounding the intelligence services that has been brought about by the Bond

50. Page | 50
mythology adds an air of legitimacy to the employees of the intelligence community
as perceived by the public. The depictions of SIS in the James Bond universe and
the film maker’s desire to maintain a close relationship with the agencies has also
had a positive effect on the staff themselves – allowing an avenue of escapism from
the realities of intelligence work or possibly even being enjoyed as an object of
derision.
The Bond mythology, whether seen as a help or hindrance to the British intelligence
community has undoubtedly had a significant impact on the public and global
perception of the intelligence services. Not only does this validate the power of the
media over the intelligence community but also demonstrates the power of a media
created cultural icon. The increasing popularity and influence of the Bond mythology
will continue to affect the perception of the intelligence services despite its
inaccuracies whether the British intelligence services agree with its portrayal or not.

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Interview
Civil Servant (2016) Interviewed by Michael Exton, Private Interview, 23rd July
Interview – via Email
Intelligence Officer (2016) Interview Questions [email]
Films

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Casino Royale (2006). Dir. Martin Campbell. Perf. Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi
Dench
Skyfall (2012). Dir. Sam Mendes. Perf. Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris
Spectre (2015). Dir. Sam Mendes. Perf. Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux
The Kid Stays In the Picture (2002). Dir. Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen. Perf.
Robert Evans, Eddie Albert, Peter Bart. Highway Films
TV Series
London Spy (2015). ‘Lullaby’, BBC 2, 9 November 2015, 21:00hrs
Spooks (2003) ‘Mosque’, BBC2, 9th June 2003, 21:00hrs
Spooks (2002) ‘We Look After Our Own’, BBC2, 20th May 2002. 21:00hrs
Sherlock (2010) ‘The Great Game’, BBC 2, 8th August 2010. 21:00hrs
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accessed 29th July 2016

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Appendices A
Interview Questions
1. Race; How inclusive is the workplace in which you operate regarding ethnicity and
multiculturalism?
2. Gender; how do women, men, and Trans people react to each other in the workplace.
Is it as inclusive as described to the media?
3. Sexual Identity (if known); How is differing sexual identity viewed in the
organisation?
4. Class; is there a class divide within the organisation?
5. Social: What are social lives and/or relationships like in the organisation?
6. Drink and Drugs: What is the official stance, what is the real behaviour and what are
the opinions on drink and drug use?
7. Expectation vs. Reality; did you think your job would be what it was when you first
applied? Note: I entirely understand your responses – if you chose to give any – to
this question will most likely be general than specific.
8. What is your perception of the security services; how has your view of these
organisations been changed/remained the same since joining the organisation?
9. Has your job ever made you feel in danger?

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Appendices B
Letter of Consent
By completing this form, the interviewee will have consented to having the information they provided
be used as primary source material in a Master’s Degree levelthesis that may be accessible in the
public domain.
Prior to organising this meeting, the interviewer has approached the school board of ethics and has
secured approval to carry out interviews. This approval was granted on April 8th
2016 and may be
provided to the interviewee in paper or digital form for confirmation, if they so wish.
In order to gain approval, certain ethical and physical conditions have been stipulated that have been
agreed on by the interviewer. Therefore,in order to safeguard the rights and safety of both the
interviewer and interviewee the following conditions will be in place:
1. Before the interview can commence the interviewee must provide written approval that they
consent to divulging any information. Please see the bottom of this form where approval can
be written
2. Once the interview has started the interviewee can back out at any time they wish
3. If the observations of the interviewee are used, that person/s will be anonymised in print
4. Your information will be stored on an encrypted flash-drive. All information after use will be
deleted whether it has been used or not
5. You will not be asked about any information that may affect operational security or be asked
to divulge confidential information. Furthermore, if the interviewee does not wish to answer
any questions they may move on or decline to answer at their own convenience
Upon having read this form and signed it, the interviewee has agreed to the above terms and the
interview may begin.
X
Signature of Interviewer
X
Print Name of Interviewer
X
Signature of Interviewee
X
Print Name of Interviewee

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