Yet recent versions have featured Bond’s inner torments so prominently that the writer’s hand on the scales is painfully clear - and there are consequently very few laughs. Who wants an introspective Bond? Many highlight the flaws of Roger Moore films; the gags and silliness, the feeble attempts to make us believe that a near-pensioner is executing the extraordinary stunts. But ultimately they are far more fun, and recognisably ‘Bond’ than several of his recent outings.

Granted, some of the greatest Bonds go ‘off piste’. The woefully under-appreciated Licence to Kill follows a vigilante plot, in which Bond ditches his 00 badge and arguably the only thing that ever meant anything in his life to avenge his friend Felix Leiter. In Casino Royale, Bond similarly abandons his MI6 career to travel the world with Vesper Lynd. These were powerful, emotive moments. But the trouble is that every film since Casino Royale has scorned recognised Bond formulae, and the alleged ‘novelty’ is wearing thin.

Pre-Craig Bond films were self-contained episodes which occasionally referenced Bond’s tragic past in subtle fashion, as in For Your Eyes Only, when Bond delivers flowers to the grave of his murdered wife. But following the rebooted Casino Royale the series has never quite returned to ‘business as usual’ - and seems overburdened with emotional baggage.