Thunderball (novel) "Daily Express" strip was cut short on the order of its owner, Lord Beaverbrook, after Ian Fleming signed an agreement with "The Sunday Times" to publish a short story. On screen, "Thunderball" was released in 1965 as the fourth film in the Eon Productions series, with Sean Connery as James Bond. The second adaptation, "Never Say Never Again", was released as an independent production in 1983 also starring Connery as Bond and was produced by Kevin McClory. BBC Radio 4 aired an adaptation in December 2016, directed by Martin Jarvis. It starred Toby Stephens as Bond and Tom Conti as
1970s in film around the world (garnering the film high honors at the Cannes Film Festival and several BAFTA Award nominations). Sean Connery returned to the role of James Bond in 1971 in "Diamonds Are Forever" after George Lazenby filled the role in 1969. Roger Moore succeeded Connery in 1973 with an adaptation of Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die" which was the most successful of his Bond films in terms of admissions. "Live and Let Die" was followed by an adaptation of "The Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974, which at the time garnered the lowest box office taking of any