How Sussex locations played their part as the world celebrates James Bond Day

Everybody around the world will be wanting to claim a slice of the action. The rather nice thing for us in Sussex is that we legitimately can.

It hasn’t quite been From Sussex With Love all the way through, but both West and East Sussex have welcomed Bond… James, Bond during his six decades of international sleuthing, skulduggery and espionage. The world has been shaken (and probably also stirred) as each new film has come out. And Sussex with it.

Look at the filming locations for the Bond films so far, and it’s everywhere you could possibly expect including a place appropriately named Paradise Island. There’s also Hawaii, Miami, Haute-Savoie, Istanbul, Rome, Mexico, California. The list goes on… and on. Think of the world’s sexiest, most glamorous places – and yep, the world’s sexiest and most glamorous spy has been there. But let’s not forget today – October 5, James Bond Day – that to that list you can add Beachy Head and Amberley.

The camera crews came to Amberley Museum for the filming of A View To A Kill, Roger Moore's seventh and final outing as the famous spy (1985). The plot focused on America's Silicon Valley and a grave threat to the San Francisco area, but Sussex was also key to helping the story along – a tale which involved Bond legends including May Day, Miss Moneypenny and Christopher Walken's Max Zorin.

Marking the connection, fans gathered at Amberley five years ago to find out how the film location had changed. More than 30 fans, regular listeners and subscribers to leading podcast James Bond Radio arrived at the museum. Event curator Brian Dobson said: “After visiting the underground mine and being filmed sat in the actual mine carts used in the film, the enthusiasts were treated to behind-the-scenes footage of filming, which to this day has not been shown in the public domain.”

Just a couple of years after Amberley, it was Beachy Head’s turn for a bit of the Bond limelight when The Living Daylights (1987) headed to East Sussex. Bond’s mission was to organise the defection of a top Soviet general. When the general was re-captured, Bond headed off to find out why an ally of General Koskov was sent to murder him. Along the way, in the film’s opening sequence, a jeep went over Beachy Head…

But of course, it’s not just the locations. It’s also the people.

And plenty of people in Chichester will have noted “we saw her first” when Lashana Lynch turned up as MI6 agent Nomi in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021).

West Sussex audiences will remember her for her 2015 appearance in Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre opposite Lenny Henry in Educating Rita. It was a great performance – particularly on the press night when Sir Lenny appeared to start to repeat a speech he had already given, apologised and said he just needed to go off stage for a few moments. Lashana stood there briefly before following him off.

Sir Lenny returned and was word perfect for the rest of the play, winning wide praise for his performance – as indeed did Lashana who seemed completely unfazed. Shaken perhaps, but not stirred…