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
James Bond filmography a James Bond capable of vulnerability, a man who can show fear and is not immune to heartbreak. Lazenby is that man, and his performance is superb". Ben Macintyre also observed that of all the Bonds, Lazenby's characterisation was closest to that of Fleming's original character. After "Diamonds Are Forever", Broccoli and Saltzman tried to convince Sean Connery to return as Bond, but he declined. After considering Jeremy Brett, Michael Billington and Julian Glover, the two producers finally turned to Roger Moore, who they had previously discussed for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", but who had been unavailable, and he