Freddie Flintoff says James Bond was 'a creepy old bloke' during the Roger Moore era

·Contributor

27 November 2021 at 5:49 am·3-min read

Freddie Flintoff was left cringing by Roger Moore era James Bond film 'Octopussy' recently. (Eamonn M. McCormack/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images)

Freddie Flintoff has been rewatching James Bond recently, but reckons the version of the character played by Sir Roger Moore was "a creepy old bloke you’d warn your daughter about".

The 43-year-old Top Gear presenter told The Mirror he is now "not so sure" about some of the heroes of TV and film he idolised growing up.

"It hit me when I was watching the movies from the 1970s that this was a creepy old bloke who you’d warn your daughter about," said the former England cricketer.

The star said he took particular exception to 1983's Octopussy, in which Moore — aged 55 at the time of the film's release — takes part in several romantic scenes.

Watch: Britt Ekland says Roger Moore was the ultimate James Bond

Flintoff said: “He’s on this bed with an aquarium in the background and a girl in her mid-20s.

"He must be 50-odd, with his hairy back and he’s getting on to mount her. Giving a little wink to the camera, like everyone’s in on it and it’s all right.

“I was taken aback by how out of date it was and how I reacted. How can anybody defend that now? It wasn’t on."

Flintoff said that Moore's Bond looked "completely out of his depth" in some of the fight scenes in his later movies, compared to Daniel Craig in the more recent films.

"I watched Casino Royale and you believe Craig could do something in a fight," said Flintoff. "He looks capable, he looks quite hard and the type of bloke a woman might fancy."

'Octopussy' was Roger Moore's sixth movie in the role of James Bond. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Craig said goodbye to the role of James Bond in this year's No Time to Die, now aged 53 after having spent even longer in the role than Moore did.

Moore, however, was 57 years old by the time his final movie — A View to a Kill — hit UK cinemas.

The gender politics of the James Bond movies have been a constant discussion point, with the early period of the franchise in the 1960s and 1970s particularly containing some truly egregious scenes.

No Time to Die was praised for including some of the franchise's most exciting female characters, including new 007 agent Nomi — played by Lashana Lynch — and Ana de Armas's CIA operative Paloma.

Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in to polish the No Time to Die script and the next trilogy of Bond books will be written by Kim Sherwood — the first female author to take on Ian Fleming's spy.

Watch: Trailer for No Time to Die