Raven On Podcast

A fresh trailer for No Time To Die dropped last week, just in time for Natalie & Stu - plus returning pod guest Nick Wiggins - to have a chinwag about its contents, and mutter about what we could expect from Daniel Craig's last outing as the superspy. Please enjoy this mini-episode while Natalie continues to beaver away on the main Die Another Day podcast edit! She's totally on top of it, we swear!

Tonight we're going to podcast like it's 1999, because it's time for The World Is Not Enough! Your Millenium bug-infested hosts are ready to let loose with all their opinions on Pierce Brosnan's third Bond outing, including: the extended pre-credit sequence with Thames boat chase; M16's Scottish base; the last appearance of Desmond Llewelyn as Q and the first of John Cleese; the bait-and-switch villain plot; Renard's bullet-powered invulnerability and poor Denise Richards. Also, exactly what did Natalie learn from her brush-with-fame encounter with Shirley Manson at a dodgy Brisbane music festival circa 2004? Enjoy!

Nat & Stu are right at home this week with Tomorrow Never Dies, aka the "media & journalism" Bond movie. Your scrappy hacks revel in the original drama llama Eliot Carver, Jonathan Pryce's OTT to the extreme megalomaniacal news baron, as well as Bond's remote control car, a handcuffed bike ride with the indomitable Michelle Yeoh, and a STEALTH BOAT. Be prepared for some sidenotes on nerdy schoolies experiences, nerdy journalism election-covering experiences, and a few references to that other boat-related 1997 film. Enjoy!

We're into the Nineties now people, so hold onto your Tamagotchis and Spice Girls and Windows '95 operating systems because Nat & Stu are spooling up GoldenEye and setting it to stun. Bond buff Tom Salinsky rejoins the virtual chatter couch for a deep dive on a rejuvenated, post Cold War 007 franchise, complete with Sean Bean, a tank chase, and a hot lady with killer thighs, and we're not just talking about Dame Judi Dench. Enjoy!

Oh, Timothy Dalton, did you have to leave us so soon? No sooner had we established a thirst, but you turn off the water mains forever. Yes, it's time for Nat & Stu to discuss Licence to Kill, Dalton's second and final Bond outing, which scratches Stu's 80s action movie itch so hard it may as well be a rash. Bond's revenge story, in which he goes up against South American drug baron Sanchez, is full of over the top stunts, feminist babes, bricks of cocaine and dollar dollar bills. And sharks. Your intrepid hosts take some tangential detours into jigsaw puzzles and 90s movies, and Natalie misses an extremely obvious pun.

Natalie has got the vapours and Stu has to bring the smelling salts for this one, because we're into the Dalton era. Yes, finally understanding what her mother has been saying all these years, Natalie finds herself deeply into the D. Special guest Chris Spensley joins Nat & Stu to discuss Timothy Dalton's Bond debut, which features a darker shift in tone, plus a surprisingly romantic relationship with leading lady Kara Milovy. Enjoy!

Nat & Stu are joined by guest Scott Driscoll to dive into Roger Moore's final outing as 007, A View to a Kill. It's a puzzling film, with good ingredients such as Christopher Walken, Grace Jones, and that banging Duran Duran theme, but still ends up a bit... soggy... thanks to a confusing plot featuring horse racing, Nazi experiments and microchips. Enjoy!

In this bonus mini-episode, Natalie reveals to Stu that the fight co-ordinator on "Never Say Never Again" was none other than Steven Seagal. That prompts a merry wend through the now-faded action star's bulky filmography. That's literally it. It's just Seagal Talk. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Never say we don't do anything for you! Ahhh, you see what we did there. Yes, Nat & Stu have taken a sharp detour to put Sean Connery's non-canonical return film "Never Say Never Again" through its deeply weird paces. How does it stand up next to Octopussy, the other film of the Year of Two Bonds? Your delightful pair get excited about the fabulous Fatima Blush (or is that Bush?), detour into psychic encounters for... reasons, and talk all things hairpieces and colonics, which feature far more in this film than you might remember. Enjoy!

We mentioned in the main Octopussy podcast that Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator of Fleabag, had been brought in to do a script punch-up on No Time To Die. Well, did you know that our very special guest co-host, Tom Salinsky, was there at the very beginning of the Fleabag story?! Check out this mini-pod bonus to hear all about it, plus a few of Tom's other Bond connections.

Nat & Stu are back and have brought special international corresBondent Tom Salinsky with them for a deep dive into Octopussy, oo-er. The 1983 film saw the return of Roger Moore to ensure a good turnout against the long-touted Kevin McClory Thunderball remake "Never Say Never Again", which was also released the same year. It's full of exotic locales, daring action sequences and terrible jokes. There's also an over-abundance of villains with Octopussy, Kamahl Khan and General Orlov all in the OTT mix. Oh yeah, and Bond is in clown makeup, which Tom believes he can defend. Lots to discuss in this episode, so enjoy!

Wait a second, this isn't James Bond! Well-spotted, keen-eyed detectives - this is in fact a "filler" podcast, recorded to give Natalie a chance to catch up on her James Bond writing and editing. Thank you for your patience! Nat & Stu are joined by guests Dan Beeston and Tom Salinsky for a VERY deep dive into 2005 film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the broader Hitchhiker's universe. There's also side tangents involving Hamilton, Monty Python, and Natalie's Dad's new Netflix obsession. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Eighties, the decade that brought you your hosts, Nat & Stu! Bond comes back down to Earth in "For Your Eyes Only", investigating a plot to hijack a British missile tracking system and sell it off to the Soviets. There's more ski chasing, the two-faced villain Kristatos, the heart-of-gold smuggler Columbo, a smart and deadly Bond girl in the form of avenging Greek/British goddess Melina Havelock, and a deeply unsettling B-plot featuring a teenage girl's sudden and intense desire to jump a 007 old enough to be her father. For Your Eyes Only has risen in appreciation over the years, but is it enough to convince Nat & Stu to give it a good ranking? Enjoy!

What do you mean, Nat & Stu diverged into Disney discussions when they should have been talking about For Your Eyes Only? With their reputation? Well yes, it was bound to happen. Excised for time, here's what happened when Natalie went off on the Disney films she hasn't seen, which turned into a dissection of the Aladdin stage musical, and finally Hamilton. This was recorded a couple of days before the filmed stage production of Hamilton dropped on Disney on July 3. It's worth a watch while you wait for the main For Your Eyes Only pod (a shabby attempt to equate ourselves with the greatness of Lin-Manual Miranda).

Oh, so you think Star Wars is good? Well, did it have any actual sexy times in space? No? Not even one space sex pun? Then clearly the Bond franchise made a good choice in sending its superspy up above the stratosphere. Nat & Stu are joined by special guest Eloise Dundas-Taylor to discuss Moonraker, the most expensive and expansive 007 film to date - even if there are rather a lot of similarities to The Spy Who Loved Me. From gondola hovercrafts, to a batshit plan to create a master race in outer space, to the return of Jaws, your three analysts have it covered. Enjoy!

Would you believe Nat & Stu spoke for three hours about The Spy Who Loved Me? You would? Yeah, it checks out. Anyhoo, here's an extra bit of content about the film that was cut for time, in which Natalie goes through the copious notes she took while watching one of her fave Bond films.

Things get raunchy as Nat & Stu dive deep into one of the best films of the Bond franchise, with Natalie discovering hitherto unknown levels of thirst for Roger Moore's Bond. 2020 is bringing up all sorts of surprises. Your intrepid culture vultures pick over the delicious meat that is The Spy Who Loved Me, including the amazing Triple X, the gloriously ridiculous lair of creepy fish-man Stromberg, the fantastic Lotus Esprit (underwater model), and the mighty menace that is Jaws. The film was so much fun to discuss, a lengthy bit has been chopped out to form a follow up podcast, so keep your eyes out. Enjoy!

Roger Moore's round two is routinely rubbished - but what say Nat & Stu? Can the presence of Dracula and Saruman himself, Christopher Lee, raise the bar? What are the optics and/or politics of having a little person as a henchman? Are the women underserved by the script, or is it just bad acting? Did this film tank solar energy in the popular mind?And how good is that kung fu fight scene? These and many more discussion points are raised in this super-flared edition of Raven Bond. Enjoy!

Why IS Natalie so obsessed with James Bond? That's what guest host Dan Beeston wanted to know during the Live and Let Die podcast. For time purposes, we excised it from the main pod, but here it is as bonus content. Enjoy!

Nat & Stu don their flared safari suits to welcome Roger Moore to the role of James Bond in 1973's Live and Let Die. The pair is joined by Dan Beeston from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast to talk about the first Bond film that had a predominantly African-American cast, but also a heavy tread into blaxsploitation territory. Along the way, Solitaire has a problematic love scene, Bond has a lengthy boat chase, Kananga explodes in several ways, and Bondfind out what it's like to wear Crocs. Enjoy!