Last night, @007 announced two new cast members for Bond 23, Skyfall: Helen McCrory and Ola Rapace.

 

Here are some exciting facts about each:

 

Ola Rapace is Swedish. This makes him 700% more awesome.

Helen McCrory was once in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking. This is not a porn film.

Ola Rapace was married to Noomi Rapace. This also makes him 700% even more awesome.

Helen McCrory played a vampire in Dr Who. But it turned out she was actually a big fish.

"Rapace" means BIRD OF PREY in Italian. Oh yeah. 

Helen McCrory played Cherie Blair in The Queen and Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter. No-one can tell the difference. 

Old Rapace is an anagram of A Coral Ape. 

Helen McCrory is an anagram of Lyncher Comer.

Helen McCrory is married to Damian Lewis. This makes her 700% even more awesome.

 

Here ends today's token Bond 23 update.

 

This is a Roger Deakins sink:

 

 

Yes, this very minute Roger Deakins is currently on the set of Bond 23 (Skyfall) making everyone look amazing.

 

 

This morning, a James Bond Facebook page and a 007 Twitter account appeared in my inbox. Why? Because, of course, today is a big day for the James Bond franchise. Yes, it's 50 years ago today that Sean Connery was announced as the first actor to play James Bond in Dr. No.

 

But it was also the day that Bond 23's title was announced. As everyone expected, it's called Skyfall. A slight let-down, but it's not the end of the world. (Unless Chicken Licken is in it, in which case it definitely is.)

In between the endless (and equally dreadful) Skyfall jokes flying around on t'internet (I was still hoping it would be called 23nal Destination), the following details came out about Bond 23. It's directed by Sam Mendes (we already knew that), stars Daniel Craig in his last contractually-obliged Bond film (we knew that too), as well as Judi Dench as M, Javier Bardem as the bad guy, Naomie Harris as a field agent called Eve and Bérénice Marlohe as a Bond girl. Other cast members include Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and (most exciting of all) Ben Whishaw (hopefully as Q). Ben Whishaw in a Bond film? Now all we need is Romola Garai as Moneypenny.

 

 

As well as all that stuff, we finally found out the plot for Bond 23. Here it is:

Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack. 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

A shady back story for the security chief? Personal costs and old enemies? The Skyfall synopsis sounds a lot like Spooks to me. And that's no bad thing. Now someone get Harry Pearce involved, dammit.

Here's the whole Skyfall family looking chirpy in London:

 

 

 

As the excitment dies down - and people start spreading rumours that Moneypenny's first name might be Eve after all, or that Ralph Fiennes is returning as Blofeld after Craig's comment that Skyfall is "Bond with a capital B" - it's time to continue counting down to the film's release next October the only way we know how... by watching one Bond film a month. Here's our latest BlogalongaBond entry: How to Be a Bond Henchman.