Bond celebrations planned for golden anniversary

Sean Connery as Bond in Goldfinger. Photo / AP

Some of the biggest stars from the James Bond films are to take part in a golden anniversary celebration of the series.

Popular Bond Sir Roger Moore, Richard "Jaws" Kiel and Britt Eckland, who played Mary Goodnight in The Man With The Golden Gun, will carry a gold case containing the first box-set of all 22 Bond films on blu-ray as it travels the length of Britain in 007's Aston Martin DBS.

The silver sportscar was one of the originals featured in the last film, Quantum Of Solace.

The case will tour memorable filming locations in the UK from Monday to September 24, retracing the super spy's steps from the highlands of Wester Ross and Argyll (The World Is Not Enough and From Russia With Love) to the Eden Project in Cornwall (Die Another Day), via Stoke Park (Goldfinger and Tomorrow Never Dies) and, of course, Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

The gold case, fitted with a "007 Days" digital timer starting at 10.07am on Monday at Eilean Donan Castle in Wester Ross (the British Secret Service HQ in The World Is Not Enough), will also be carried by Bond girls Eunice Gayson, Tania Mallet and Shirley Eaton as well as the nation's biggest Bond fans and celebrities.

Each location will be presented with a unique gold disc commemorating its involvement and its part of Bond history.

The case will also travel by train, helicopter, boat and on foot, arriving at HMV in Oxford Street in a dramatic stunt on September 24 with the store opening at 10.07am.

Next month sees 50 years since Dr No was released and on October 26 the latest Bond instalment, Skyfall, is released, with Daniel Craig reprising the role of Bond.

- PAA