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
Aki (James Bond) film series.) At the last moment, Bond turns in his sleep and Aki moves to his position. The poison falls on her lips and starts to choke her, which wakes Bond who quickly kills the assassin. Aki tries to speak, gasping "I'm... I'm...", but succumbs to the poison and dies before she can say any more. The scene was accompanied by the musical track "The Death of Aki" by John Barry. Various lists frequently ranked Aki among the best Bond girls ever, including as tenth by Zimbio in 2008 ("So beautiful you almost forget that Sean Connery has been ridiculously