 He's on his last leg, sir." Usually among the only familiar faces you will see in a Bond film are the MI6 regulars, often showing up briefly explaining Bond's mission, providing him with gadgets and in the case of Money Penny, some routine flirting. Before 007 is off on his adventure, over the years several actors portrayed these parts and were DM's and Q's and Money Penny's for generations of fans. Of course there were more familiar MI6 faces, like Jaws Robinson being a likeable regular in three of Brosnan's movies, alongside Tanner, M's chief of staff, another familiar face. So instead of ranking the M's and Money Penny's separately, I thought I would make this fun and throw them all on one heap, because, well, doing a ranking of older Q's is just predictable. But how do you weigh off a Tanner versus an M or a Q versus a Money Penny? They are all widely different characters. Simple, they're all allies to Bond, so I just look at the simple factors of how these characters resonated and how likeable they were as a character. Starting with the honorable mention, which I just couldn't help but give to two characters this time around. First off is Caroline Bliss as the Money Penny of the Dalton era, who in my opinion always portrayed sort of a forgotten Money Penny. She never really had the chance to truly shine and I always liked her nerdy, different take on her Money Penny, sort of being in love with Bond, almost in a cute schoolgirl kind of fashion, with that deep sigh that she gives off after Bond asks her to dig up some information. And the same holds for her in License to Kill, still looking out for 007 even if they don't share a scene together, essentially being responsible for sending Q down to the now rogue Bond. The second honorable mention is probably a shocker not to have made the cut, Robert Brown as M. Apart from For Your Eyes Only, he was DM in all of John Glenn's directed movies of the 80s and he also starred briefly as an admiral in The Spy Who Loved Me. It's questionable if he was meant to be that admiral that later replaced Bernard Lee's M or if he is meant to be the same M, but in any case he was very memorable, with arguably his best moment in License to Kill. I always really liked these two characters, but that just happened to be 10 MI6 regulars I ranked higher. As for the dishonorable mention, that would also have to go for an actor playing M in Edward Fox. He starred alongside Sean Connery in The Unofficial Never Say Never Again and basically portrayed a version of M who's a real dick. It's not to crap over Edward Fox, but I just don't like the way this character was written. For one, this is the only instance in the series where M is younger than 007 himself and though the concept sounds great on paper, the execution doesn't work for me. He doesn't trust Bond, doesn't see his value and is constantly outraged at him. Never for a second does he take Bond seriously. Even more surprisingly is at the end of the film when Bond saves the day M suddenly fears for the security of the civilized world and it's like he suddenly realized his value and started to suck up to Bond. He never did it for me. Now on to the ranking. Rory Coneer starred as Bill Tanner from Quantum of Solace up until No Time to Die and probably is the Tanner that resonated with audiences the most as a likeable familiar face in the Craig era. As M's chief of staff, he is of course loyal to M and sometimes at the expense of Bond. But you can't help but feel there also is an underlying friendship between him and Bond present as well or at the very least a deeper respect and admiration for Bond. He also undergones some fun little character development in Skyfall, being completely loyal to M and even saving her life and then later helping Q set up the digital breadcrumbs path completely off record and being completely surprised to see Mallory okay this. To look on his face of the, huh, this guy isn't such a douche after all, it's priceless. To me, Rory Coneer succeeded in turning a character that used to be quite a minor colorless character in the past into an actual fun expressive character. You'll find he's dead and she's only got a flesh wound. There's always an excuse isn't there 00. John Cleese got the star in only two Bond films and I like that he was brought on as a replacement for Q and not as the same character because the filmmakers were perfectly aware that they would never be able to replace Desmond Llewellyn and indeed Cleese brings on his signature comedy style offering a different approach to the quartermaster than Desmond did. My favorite scenes of him are definitely in Dynarday where he is now officially promoted from R to Q and has some fantastic banter with Bond. And also of course worth mentioning is that John Cleese did star and voice his character in the video game Everything or Nothing often regarded as sort of an unofficial 5th Brosnan Bond story. This was all of course before the filmmakers decided to take a different approach with Bond from Casino Royale onwards. Cleese was probably brought on to be the new Q for a long period but even if he was only seen twice, he was a very memorable character. The Moneypenny of the Brosnan era and the one who got to play a version of Moneypenny more stylized to the 1990s. You could say it's somewhat ironic that she is set up as this strong, more independent Moneypenny who isn't going to sit around waiting for 007 to sweep her off her feet. She does end up completely fantasizing about just that, being swept off her feet by Bond. Proving that despite putting up more of a wall, the essence of her way of looking at Bond is still there as it should be. I'm not sure her masturbating to Q's virtual reality is the best way to showcase this but much more interesting to me is the character she portrayed. Her Moneypenny does have the needed flirty banter but also knows Bond on a different level than M.Dos. Totally aware Bond has jammed his way into his physical evaluation and the world is not enough. For me the essence of Moneypenny is perfectly summarized by Lois Maxwell's line of flattery will get you nowhere but don't stop trying. Even if her Moneypenny was written to reject Bond more for GoldenEye, she still gave the character that look of her still enjoying their flirty banter regardless as it should and I like what she did with the part. I know exactly where to put them. The story of our relationship. Close but no cigar. So 007, lots to be done. Ray Fiennes replacing Judy Dent's S.M. has something to it that simply clicked. Not only was Skyfall's end scene perfect introducing a male M again in the classic office on marching the old Bond movies, we also got to see he was worthy of this position. At first as Mallory we are brought in doubt that this guy is just Sean Bureaucrat. Mostly interested in numbers, not knowing what he is talking about with very little experience in practice. We learn later that he does have quite the field experience and we see him in action during the shootout scene, protecting M from getting shot. He also OK's tanners and cues off record actions. Skyfall does very well in building our respect for the character. And then that moment in the end, lots to be done 007. The mission does it. The way it's filmed, it gives me the chills. I would have never considered Voldemort to be M, but in my opinion he lived up to it fully. Spectre and No Time to Die both also gave him a lot to do, helping us as the audience grew more accustomed to him as M. Despite only starring in three movies, two of which he was actually M, he brought back that authority the classic M used to have while also bringing in some of his own to the mix. His M is professional yet flawed. Even when not trusting Barnes' motives, he is first to protect him when it comes to outside forces, knowing Barnes' value all too well, even after he left the service. He was a fantastic M. You never take me to dinner looking like this, James. You never take me to dinner, period. I would, you know. Only M would have me court-martialed for illegal use of government property. Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying. The original Money Penny, serving in the role over the course of 14 Bond films, alongside three different Bond actors and two different M's. For the longest time, Lois Maxmo was the familiar face as Bond entered the office for his mission. And I always felt she had the best chemistry with Connery. And you could totally imagine that these two characters had some sort of fling or close call together in the past, but can't be together because of the way things are. At least Lois Maxwell herself always said that she had this sort of backstory in her mind when she was portraying the character. As the series got on and she started to age, I felt her character changed from the fun flirty secretary to more of the good old granny at the office. Her later movies with Roger Moore naturally had a very different feel to them because of this. And I think it took away from some of the essence of her character. Maybe they wanted Miss Penelope Smallbone to take over originally, but in any case, and as much as I love her, maybe she stuck around a bit too long for her role. That doesn't take away from her likable presence, cementing her as one of the most well-known MI6 regulars. When Ben Wishaw was introduced as a new modern day Q, I liked him and the concept behind the characters straight away. Come to think of it, Skyfall really was the MI6 heavy movie. I think the filmmakers made the right choice casting a younger man as Q. In the old days, in a post-World War II era, it made sense for an older experienced man to have the knowledge on the hardware. But in the modern day, a tech guy specialized in computer hacking and modern day technology feels more natural with this young geeky man portrayed by Wishaw. And it makes for such a fun new dynamic between him and Craig. In all three movies he stars in, his chemistry with Craig is just super fun. And in no time to die, we even went to the extent of seeing his own personal flat and the cats that he mentioned in Spectre. You can say what you want about the Craig era, but I feel they absolutely nailed the modernizing of Q. The original end, starring in the first 11 Bond films. Bernard Lee perfectly served as the only form of authority of 007, sometimes scolding him but also fully respecting and trusting Bond. It's clear that this M and Bond have also been true a lot together. In my opinion, he continued to play the same type of M when he was starring with Lazenby M Moore, but he also brought in some great comedy with some of the endings in the Moore movies. And I also feel Bernard Lee came closest to the M of the novels. To me, he easily is the best male M we ever had. Maybe the biggest chocker in this list, but yes, I am a huge fan of Naomi Harris' modernized version of Money Penny, the only Money Penny where the backstory is actually shown, again, and here it is again, in Skyfall. Believe it or not, I somehow never got any of the rumors spoiled to be that she was going to be the new Money Penny before seeing her reveal in cinema, turning out to be more than just Field Agent Eve, but in fact becoming a character that was here to stay. You know how Lois Maxwell used to mention how she liked to pretend that Bond and Money Penny had some sort of history together? Well in Skyfall we do get to see they indeed had some close shapes, and whether or not they did hook up is all left to our imagination, as it should be. It could or could not have happened, but the chemistry is there. She also brings in that same level of respect that the classic Money Penny's used to have for Bond, secretly helping him as he dies in Spectre, and I like the fact she is also seeing some men on the side and isn't just presumably a single woman's wounding for Bond. Yet we do know that that sexual tension between them is there. It also helps that Naomi Harris is not only a great actress who can do the physical, but also the humor. And she also has great beauty, in my opinion being by far the most attractive Money Penny in the series. Some of you might think I overrated her, only starring in three films after all, versus Lois Maxwell's 14 films, but to me, she is underrated. The only woman to ever play the part of M, and in my opinion the one who did it even better than the men. At the time of GoldenEye the idea of changing M to a woman was quite a progressive move, but I think handled superbly by the writers, first introduced as the evil queen of numbers, not particularly liked by Bond or anyone at MI6 for that matter, but I think as soon as he scolds Bond on his attitude, there develops a respect between them. One that is further developed as the movies went on, with her biggest brazen involvement being in The World Is Not Enough, where she got to do a lot more with her part. Her post-Cold War version of M in the brazen movies is reportedly named Barbara Motsley. Her version of M in the Craig movies is supposed to be a different M. In that universe she had already been M during the Cold War. This different version of M that she played in the Craig movies was confirmed to be named Olivia Mansfield, with obviously Skyfall being D-Film, centered around her character the most, and I really liked the different types of dynamics she had with both the Bond she starred with. That emotional goodbye to her character still gets me to this day, and I was happily surprised to see her cameo inspector. To me, Judy Dance was the M of my generation and definitely holds a very special place, but of course there is one person left holding the most special places of all. Yes, of course, Desmond Llewellyn, the Q of generations of fans, spanning his tenure from the second all the way to the 19th Bond film, providing gadgets to five different Bonds, spanning four different decades. For the longest time, Desmond was the likable, familiar returning face. And where the faces of the Bonds and M's and Money Penis and Directors and producers all changed, Desmond was always there as the lovable Uncle type, always making for the amusing scenes. And where his character started out as nothing more than Butroids, the equipment officer providing Bond with his gadgets, it was director Guy Hamilton with Goldfinger that provided him with his personality of not being a particular fan of Bond because he destroys his equipment. Throughout the years, you can see his respect and love for Bond grow, with License the Kill being his highlight where he got to do a lot more in the field. I've never, ever, ever met a Bond fan who wasn't a fan of Desmond Llewellyn. And a scene that turned out to be his goodbye in the world is not enough, just before he died in a tragic car accident, simply seemed to be meant to be. And that was my ranking of the MI6 regulars. What is your list? Leave your comments and rankings below and don't forget to like and subscribe. See you guys in the next video.