Just when you thought Daniel Craig was done with playing 007, a new opportunity has presented the James Bond actor with a chance to play the part, despite having said No Time To Die would be his final outing. However, this reprisal isn’t quite what fans would expect, as it’s not in the form of another Bond movie. Rather, it’s in a comedy sketch for UK charity Comic Relief, which pits James against an unexpected adversary.
In the sketch, set to air this Friday night, 007 will be on an unexpected video call with one of Catherine Tate’s many memorable personas, Nan. According to a report by The Digital Bits, Tate and Daniel Craig will spar over a virtual call that’s supposed to see Bond receiving orders from M. Of course, seeing as Ralph Fiennes’ overseer of MI6 is out, and Nan is cleaning his office, a rather interesting mixup is about to occur. Which leaves an important question: does this mean that the call takes place before No Time To Die? If so, we have a pretty good feeling why James Bond left active service.
While it’s not a full-on Bond adventure, it’s moments like these that help enrich the legacy of 007 throughout popular culture. Previous James Bond actors have had similar moments of fun, as ABC’s Muppets Tonight once saw Pierce Brosnan being confused for his tuxedoed alter ego. Not to mention, Roger Moore actually played a facsimile of the character years before he was cast in Live and Let Die. So this new twist in Daniel Craig’s Bond story is not all that surprising.
This is especially true when Craig fans recall how many years ago, he and Catherine Tate teamed up for another comedy sketch for charity. Playing himself, Daniel Craig was documented as dating another Tate character, Elaine Figgis, around the time he just stepped into the role of James Bond in Casino Royale. And as you’ll see below, that fictional romance went absolutely, terribly wrong.
On the bright side, Daniel Craig’s heartbreak has fueled an entire run of 007 movies that saw a brooding approach help modernize the legendary serial dater. And No Time To Die is ready to dive into that as well, as James Bond and Dr. Madeleine Swann seem to have broken up by time the 25th adventure in the long-lasting series starts its plot proper. Maybe James Bond would have more luck with Ms. Figgis than Daniel Craig ever did.
Back in the world of reality, it’s a good sign that we’ll get to see Craig play 007 one more time in his career. It’s even better to know that he’ll get to do so with the trademark tongue-in-cheek humor he’s been known to exhibit in other gag-filled projects, like Logan Lucky and Knives Out. You know something? Catherine Tate might make another great addition to Rian Johnson’s follow-up, much like Lady Gaga and Adam Driver before her. In the meantime, BBC One will be running the Comic Relief special that contains this sketch, starting at 7 PM in the UK; which means international audiences will have to wait for the official YouTube clip to drop to see it.
