007 Author: Christopher Wood

Who: Christopher Hovelle Wood
Born: 5 November 1935, Lambeth, London, England
Died: 9 May 2015 France

Christopher Hovelle Wood was an English screenwriter and novelist best known for the Confessions series of novels and films which he wrote as ‘Timothy Lea’. Under his own name, he adapted two James Bond novels for the screen: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977 with Richard Maibaum) and Moonraker (1979).

Wood was the first author to write novelisations of Bond films. His novelisation of The Spy Who Loved Me, renamed James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me to avoid confusion with Ian Fleming’s original novel, has nothing in common with the Fleming book. Similarly, the plot of Moonraker, renamed James Bond and Moonraker, is almost entirely written by Wood, although it does share some similarities with Fleming’s original novel, in particular the villain Hugo Drax. Bond fans generally rate Wood’s novelisations highly. Kingsley Amis wrote in The New Statesman that, despite several reservations, “Mr Wood has bravely tackled his formidable task, that of turning a typical late Bond film, which must be basically facetious, into a novel after Ian Fleming, which must be basically serious. … the descriptions are adequate and the action writing excellent.

Christopher Wood´s 007 production:

• James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me: James Bond novelisation and screenplay (1977)
• James Bond and Moonraker: James Bond novelisation and screenplay (1979)

Others:

• James Bond, the Spy I Loved: Memoirs (2006)
• How to Write the Perfect Bond Film: Article in SFX magazine (2012)

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