The fantasy you’ve freed in me: ‘80s Bond meets classic ‘80s TV
Many of you will have seen Sam Rogers’ videos where he brilliantly re-imagines ‘80s Bond films as the most iconic TV shows from that decade. Here, Sam gives a personal introduction to each video and shares his video editing journey.
Film and television have always been my favourite forms of entertainment. Watching certain films and shows repeatedly and then, if possible, viewing behind the scenes media, has always interested me. Video creation followed suit and became a passion of mine from the age of 12, which was around the same time as when YouTube really began to become a leader in visual media. With this new world opening to me, I created my first YouTube channel and put together some ‘interestingly’ made videos on Windows Movie Maker on media that I enjoyed including Doctor Who, Star Wars, Power Rangers and of course James Bond. With focuses leaning towards other types of videos, and my original and backup YouTube channel being deleted on copyright grounds, I was unsure if I ever would do a Bond-related video again (apart from a questionable film ranking video created in 2012).
In 2013 before I started university and still riding the Skyfall/50th anniversary wave I was really interested in creating alternate title sequences and openings with only one working out effectively; a Diamonds Are Forever pre-title sequence with a title sequence featuring George Lazenby. For years, the only person who saw this was a great friend of mine who helped me fully appreciate all the films that I hadn’t seen prior to meeting him and his thoughts on this video meant so much more than some views on YouTube. So rather than share it I just let it lay dormant for seven years.
Cut to 2020: a not so usual year.
I hadn’t uploaded anything to my YouTube channel in years and I started working from home full-time thanks to the pandemic. Although I was incredibly thankful to be in such a position, it was necessary for me to really focus on some things to take my mind off the lack of normality that was suddenly thrust upon us. Enter James Bond on ITV! It’s definitely not unusual for Bond films to be shown on UK television but it was the first time in a while that a large number of films were being shown on primetime television and with people tweeting along to these films, I joined in and started to learn more about the Bond community (something that back in 2007 I couldn’t tap into). Speaking with other fans, listening to podcasts and having the opportunity to write for Licence To Queer truly opened my eyes to the vastness of the community and made me want to become a contributor to that.
After showing a few people my original Diamonds Are Forever video from 2013, I decided to completely remake it, which was such a fun experience. And although I think it could still be improved, I could see how far i’ve developed in these seven years. With such positive feedback I thought i’d make more videos on the side and see how they did such as an alternate “happy” ending to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, alternate songs and credits for The Living Daylights and a small tribute to Tracy Bond.
What’s fascinating about the community is that so many ideas and ‘what ifs?’ are thrown about and sometimes it’s so easy to visualise these things actually being a reality. Catching up on the James Bond & Friends podcasts towards the end of Summer 2020, I not only gained lots of new insights but also inspiration for videos, with one ultimately leading to my 80s crossover project.
I had been subscribed to Calvin Dyson on YouTube for many years and had the pleasure of meeting my fellow northerner at the BFI in London in 2019 (when socialising seemed so easy!). So when he mentioned in a podcast on Diamonds Are Forever about a TV show with Blofeld, Metz and Tiffany on the oil rig I immediately thought about a crossover between Diamonds and The Love Boat! From there I just got to work and looked at how I could make this crossover work, which was incredibly fun to do as both pieces of media are extremely Camp! Putting The Love Boat theme song over clips of Charles Gray’s Blofeld, Dr Metz, Klaus Hergersheimer, Tiffany Case and Mr Wint and Kidd was such a hilarious prospect - and somehow it fit perfectly! The final product is absolutely absurd but was wonderfully received on Twitter and YouTube which I was so humbled by, ultimately encouraging me to move forward with more videos.
With the winter holidays rolling around and restrictions tightening in the UK, I found myself pretty much yearning to focus on something, something bigger than the one video. Again inspiration came from the James Bond & Friends podcast as Bill Koenig from The Spy Command made a nod to the henchwomen in A View To A Kill and referred to them as Zorin’s Angels. Between that, the positive response to my Oil Rig video and my own need for creating a Dynasty video, I decided to make several crossover videos with 80s TV shows and using the Bond films from the 80s specifically to do this. Videos would be published throughout February 2021 and I almost immediately decided to do crossovers for Dynasty, Charlie’s Angels, Falcon Crest, Miami Vice and The Colbys.
As a ‘90s baby I have only heard about many of these TV shows in name and through clips on TV as I wasn’t around to watch them upon initial airing. So I researched and viewed opening titles for several TV shows. I decided that Falcon Crest would be the first of these crossovers due to its reputation, interesting opening and that it began airing in 1981, the same year as For Your Eyes Only. Many people will also be aware that the theme song was composed by Bill Conti who also scored For Your Eyes Only as well as the Dynasty and The Colbys theme songs. Falcon Crest is a show that I probably should look at as I’ve heard that Jane Wyman’s character is a wonderful b*tch and I would LOVE to see it!
Bon-Dynasty was next and, as a huge fan of the original TV show, as well as the surprisingly good reboot, I was extremely excited to get to work on it. One of the most time-consuming edits to make (I blame the up and down line edits), this is probably my proudest creation in this project mostly because I love the opening titles and felt that I almost made a perfect replica. The cast from Octopussy and A View To A Kill fit in so well here and, as mentioned earlier, I love a good b*tch character so Grace Jones absolutely had to take the Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan end spot in the sequence! I actually began creating this just as I heard the news of Tanya Roberts’ passing and so her part of the credits was finished first and was the basis for the rest of the opening.
After my initial Oil Rig video was released, it had been mentioned that Licence To Kill and Miami Vice could work well together as a crossover and, even with the little knowledge I had of the TV show, I knew that this made complete sense! It’s interesting to view some of these opening title sequences side by side, especially when they were created a few years apart from each other and part of different genres. They’re so different but still scream ‘80s and sometimes scream Camp even more so! Miami Vice, while not being as serious as its James Bond counterpart, still feels more grungy than the grandness portrayed by the Falcon Crest and Dynasty opening title sequences, which both felt more expensive compared to the slightly cheap excessiveness from Miami Vice (arguably making it fit with Licence To Kill even more)!
Charlie’s Angels is another favourite of mine. Although I was more interested in the films starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, the original show is iconic for so many reasons, even reasons outside of Farrah Fawcett’s gorgeous hair. Technically a ‘70s TV show, it continued into the early ‘80s (produced by Aaron Spelling who went on to produce Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed, etc.) and also starred Tanya Roberts as the fifth and final Angel of the show, although it’s a shame she wasn’t able to bring much of her Angel counterpart’s physical toughness to the role of Stacey Sutton! As mentioned earlier, I was eager to create a Zorin’s Angels opening but, during the process of creating the opening, I realised that there wasn’t enough good footage of Papillon Soo Soo and Alison Doody who played Pan Ho and Jenny Flex respectively. Instead, I used their silhouettes along with Grace Jones’s and Patrick Bauchau’s to create a shorter opening. Disappointing of course, but it still conveys what the show could’ve been, with Zorin’s Angels and Scarpine working to defeat the forces of good (maybe they should’ve been Zorin’s Devils, or Angels of Death!).
My final video in this series, ‘Vienna (and many other locations)’ was a last minute addition to the project as I wanted a video purely focusing on The Living Daylights and felt that my planned The Colbys opening with cast from that film and Licence To Kill were a cop out, mostly due to the similarity between those opening titles and the opening titles of Dallas. Dallas is renowned as one of the top soap operas from the ‘80s, so it was quite fitting to give it the crossover treatment. Bond is never in one location throughout the entirety of a film so why not add a funny addition to ‘Vienna’ to make light of that?! And as a side note I absolutely had to get a Necros speedo shot in there because otherwise there would’ve truly been no point (kidding, of course…).
This ‘80s crossover project specifically has taken more time than I initially thought but it has absolutely been worth it. To be so creative with Bond and to receive such lovely positive feedback is so important to me, especially during this weird and uncertain time where everything seems to have stopped… but keeps moving. The Bond community sure does know how to respect each other and the non-toxicity of the community helps solidify my love for the franchise.
Looking ahead to the future, I firmly believe that I’ll be creating more Bond content which I’m looking forward to doing alongside other projects. I’m quite privileged to be able to do this and share my own point of view on things (and as Bond fans know, everyone has a unique perspective on the franchise) so to continue creating short pieces of content that people enjoy (on top of me loving creating these pieces) is truly rewarding.
What I take away from this isn’t just personal pride and accomplishment, but a sense of gratitude. As much as I do this for myself and think of many things independently, there’s always collaboration, whether it’s getting an idea from what someone has said or sharing draft videos with people who can give feedback on them. These videos are truly a love letter to a time that’s so different from now and makes us appreciate what was there as well as the fun of what could’ve been. Now if Betty White and the Village People could make a guest appearance on the Oil Rig show, much like they did on The Love Boat then that would be great ;)
As well as being a lifelong Bond fan, Sam Rogers is also a Marketing Executive with a degree in TV and radio. He lives in Manchester, England.
You can find him on Twitter @SamR_1995
Written in memory of Alfie: man’s best friend but, specifically, mine.
