James Bond lost his sense of humour and he needs to get it back - even if it means 007 causes offence

007 is known for many things from his wit and charm, beautiful women to evil baddies and a good slice of action in between - but more recent additions to the world’s most successful film franchise just haven’t managed to leave fans with such a big smile.

Bond has never been PC and the further back you go, the more sexist the movies get. But surely any self-respecting script writer knows that the funniest jokes are those that walk the fine line between bad taste and wicked humour ... even in the cancelling era of 2025.

Is this one from Thunderball too much, as Bond plops a shot female assassin down on a seat after dancing with her? “Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She’s just dead.”

Or how about his cultural references that are bound to bring a frown from fans, such as “that’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs” from 1964.

He’s rather unsubtly “keeping the British end up, Sir” in The Spy Who Loved Me, which might have been the best bit about the entire film. And then there’s the baddie who was killed on a beach with a speargun in Thunderball, only to be bid farewell with “I think he got the point.”

007 always had the best lines but he wasn’t the only one. Even the baddies brought a smile to your face no matter how dastardly their behaviour. My favourite starts like this from our hero ... “Do you expect me to talk?” To which Goldfinger answers cuttingly: “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.”

It’s not just me who thinks that everyone’s favourite spy has lost his humorous edge in modern times. One of the strongest Bond villain’s Jonathan Pryce has urged Amazon to bring back 007’s witty humour.

The 77-year-old British actor played megalomaniac media mogul Elliot Carver, in the 1997 Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, starring opposite Pierce Brosnan as the secret agent.

Pryce has noted that the newer Bond films - the most recent of which was 2021's No Time To Die starring Daniel Craig as 007 - were admirable action pictures but hopes that Amazon MGM Studios will bring back the signature tongue-in-cheek gags from the early films that starred Sean Connery and Roger Moore as Bond.

In an exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz at The Penguin Lesson' UK premiere in London, he said: "The recent ones have been great films. They've been great action films, but I think they lost some of the sense of humour that was in the early films. So I’d like them to get back to that.

”Whatever they want to do is fine, but I think for those who really care about James Bond, they should preserve that sense of humour.”

Recently seen on our television screens at Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinbugh, in the last two series of The Crown, Sir Jonathan Pryce will play Stephen Best, the husband of murder club founder Elisabeth. Sir Jonathan has won two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards over a long career which has seen him star in everything from indie films like Glengarry Glen Ross and The Age of Innocence, to huge blockbusters like Evita, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Amazon MGM Studios acquired creative control of the James Bond franchise, after its long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson ceded control.

Amy Pascal and David Heyman will be leading the series as the new producers and Amazon MGM's head of Film, Streaming and Theatrical, Courtenay Valenti, and global marketing chief Sue Kroll took to the stage at CinemaCon to give fans an update on their plans for James Bond. As reported by Deadline, Valenti said: "We are committed to honouring the legacy of this iconic character, while bringing a fresh, exhilarating new chapter to audiences around the world alongside Amy and David."

If we put to one side the fact that James Bond actually died in the last masterpiece, surely when he is resurrected on planet Amazon we can get back to the good old British humour that Ian Fleming always intended.