Classic Bond Forum

My very first thread here - please be gentle with me!

I'd like to ask you for your thoughts on the sound torture scene in John Gardner's Licence Renewed (1981)? In the scene in question the villain Dr Anton Murik and his assistant Mary-Jane Mashkin apply white noise to Bond's ears in a white tiled torture chamber.

What did you think of it?

Have you any praise for it or criticisms of it?

Was it too tame (as some commentators have said) or something refreshingly different?

How would you rank it alongside the other torture scenes by Ian Fleming, Kingsley Amis and John Gardner himself?

I'd love to hear from you!

Good question. Not having read the book it reminds my of the isolation chamber tortures in some 70s & 80s TV & movies. I'm curious what those who've read the books think .


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Thank you.

Anyone else want to give their views on the sound torture scene from Licence Renewed?

I have not read the book. I've only read a few john Garndners, but it sounds like an interesting scene. Is the method (the noise) the same as used in The Ipcress File?

It's kind of like that, yes. White noise but no attendant brainwash element like in The Ipcress File film.