This is a list of allies of James Bond who appear throughout the film series and novels. MI6 M M is a Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, and the head of the Secret Intelligence Service. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as 24 films. M has been portrayed by Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, John Huston and Edward Fox. Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny is the secretary to M. The films depict her as having a reserved romantic interest in Bond, although Fleming's novels do not imply such a relationship while the John Gardner and Raymond Benson novels emphasise it more. In the film series, Moneypenny has been portrayed by Lois Maxwell, Barbara Bouchet, Pamela Salem, Caroline Bliss, Samantha Bond and Naomie Harris. Q Q (standing for Quartermaster) is the head of Q Branch (or later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. His real name is Major Boothroyd, but Bond and M never use his name. He has appeared in 20 of 23 Eon Bond films; all except Live and Let Die, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The character was also featured in the non-Eon Bond films Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again. He has been portrayed by Desmond Llewelyn for most of the films, and by Peter Burton, Geoffrey Bayldon, Alec McCowen, John Cleese (first as R in The World Is Not Enough), and Ben Whishaw. Bill Tanner Bill Tanner is MI6's Chief of Staff. Tanner is a Bond ally appearing regularly in the novels of Ian Fleming and John Gardner, as well as in Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun, but did not become a regular cinematic character until the Brosnan and Craig era of films. Among his most prominent cinematic roles was in For Your Eyes Only (1981), in which Tanner was given a bigger part while M was "on leave", due to Bernard Lee's death that prevented him from reprising his role as M in the film. He otherwise has minor roles in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), and appears in two of the four Brosnan films. Tanner appears in four of the five Craig films, taking on an increased role as M's chief aide and a friend