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 him to Daniel Craig, stating that "Despite chronological placement, it was Dalton, not Brosnan, who proved to be the prototype for the 21st century Bond.". Although Bond screenwriter Richard Maibaum called Sean Connery the best Bond, he considered Dalton the best actor of the four he worked with.Tom Mankiewicz agreed with this view, praising Dalton's androgynous facets.His predecessor, Roger Moore also felt that Dalton was the best actor to play Bond. Director John Glen also felt that Dalton was the best actor that portrayed Bond, and that he was ahead of his time, noting the comparisons between Daniel Craig's incarnation