From Bond to Bolly: The Spy Pedigree of Joanna Lumley

For many creatives, the Venn diagram of The Avengers and James Bond represents a "formative playground"—a stylish collision of mod fashion, high-stakes grit, and British wit. Standing at the centre of this cultural overlap is the legendary Joanna Lumley, who recently toasted her 80th birthday (born 1 May 1946).

Before she redefined the "action girl" archetype as Purdey in The New Avengers, Lumley made her mark in the 007 universe. In the 1969 classic On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, she appeared as "The English Girl," one of Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s twelve "Angels of Death"—the brainwashed beauties under the thumb of the SPECTRE mastermind.

The Champagne Connection

While today she is perhaps most beloved for her portrayal of the gloriously chaotic Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous, the DNA of her early spy years never truly left her.

Sophistication and champagne are the ultimate accessories for both British agents and wealthy villains. James Bond’s signature preference for Bollinger eventually morphed into the relentless "Bolly" flow of Ab Fab. It’s a "fabulous" coincidence, though the fact that the UK consumes nearly 50% of the brand's annual supply—bolstered by a Royal Warrant from Buckingham Palace—suggests that life in Britain simply requires a steady stream of bubbles.

Did You Know? The Avengers–Bond Cross-Over

The path between the Steed-led TV series and the big-screen Bond films was a well-trodden one. Lumley wasn't the only one to swap a gadget-filled car for a martini:

• Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale): Cemented her legend as the pilot Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964).

• Diana Rigg (Emma Peel): Played the iconic Countess Teresa di Vicenzo (Tracy Bond) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). In a tragic twist, she married 007 only to be killed in the film's closing moments—sharing the screen with a young Joanna Lumley!

• The "Bond Bloke": Even Patrick Macnee (John Steed himself) got in on the action. He appeared as Sir Godfrey Tibbett, a fellow operative and horse trainer, in 1985’s A View to a Kill before meeting a grim end at the hands of May Day.

The Sound of Secret Agents: Johnson meets Barry

For the musicians among us, the real magic of these shows isn't just in the stunts—it’s in the brass.

The legendary Laurie Johnson (who composed the iconic themes for both The Avengers and The New Avengers) was cut from the same sophisticated cloth as Bond’s musical architect, John Barry. While Barry was defining the sound of the big screen with his surf-guitar twangs and lush orchestrations, Johnson was doing the same for the small screen, using odd time signatures and aggressive, punchy horns to create a sense of frantic urban danger.

Interestingly, the worlds collided in 1969. While Johnson was the musical heartbeat of The Avengers, John Barry was busy scoring On Her Majesty’s Secret Service—the very film where Joanna Lumley made her Bond debut.

Musical Trivia: Laurie Johnson was also a close friend and collaborator of the great Bernard Herrmann (the man behind the Psycho shower scene). In fact, after Herrmann’s death, it was Johnson who helped preserve and conduct much of his unreleased work, proving that the world of high-end film scoring was a very tight-knit circle of geniuses. You can sample some of Herrmann's music online.