SMERSH (James Bond) V (the letter) in "Icebreaker". They return in a larger role in "No Deals, Mr. Bond", renamed Department Eight, Directorate S, a KGB sub-section. In the film series, Bond's archenemy became SPECTRE, which first appeared in Fleming's novel "Thunderball" (1961). SPECTRE is introduced in the first film, "Dr. No" (1962), in which Julius No explains to Bond that it is the acronym for the "SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion", the four great cornerstones of power. Film versions of novels where SMERSH appears substituted either SPECTRE or independent villains. Although twice referred to, SMERSH never appears in the
SPECTRE higher figure Blofeld had anticipated. The killing of Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice", for failing to kill James Bond, horrifies even visiting Red Chinese agents; she was eaten by Blofeld's piranhas. In the original Bond novel series, SPECTRE's first and last appearance as a worldwide power is in the novel "Thunderball", published in 1961. In the novel, SPECTRE, headed by Blofeld, attempts to conduct nuclear blackmail against NATO. Apparently disbanded afterwards, SPECTRE is said to be active again in the next book, "The Spy Who Loved Me", although the organisation is not involved in the plot. In "On