The Stacey Sutton/Tanya Roberts Appreciation Thread

James!!....James!!!!.........JAMES!!!! .....not for me

Blunt Instrument wrote:

She does look great in that pic, but MAN ALIVE that shoulder-pad draws the eye. Like she got to the shoot straight from playing American football and just put the shiny top on over the gear.

Those 80s shoulder pads are the icing on the cake!

HGTB wrote:

Every time I say: "No, where did you go Pola?"......

Probably to the gulag for failing her mission, let's be honest.

HGTB wrote:

Bond teaming up with Pola would have been more satisfying in one sense but then it would have diluted the furthering of the relationship with Stacey and eventually the partnership with Mayday in the climax.

Makes you think if Pola was necessary. Or how to rework it to beef up Pola's presence throughout. As it stands, what she does in those few scenes outranks anything Bach did in TSWLM... All the more ironic knowing Pola's character was created after Bach turned down to reprise her role as Anya.

As you say, featuring Pola in the climax would have diluted the dynamic between Bond and Stacey and Bond and May Day. There's some criticism levelled at the France-set portion of the film as being unrelated to the main plot of the film (I prefer to view them as elongated character moments for most of the major players in the film, whilst reflecting more accurately the slow burn nature of real life espionage). Perhaps if the Paris/Chantilly scenes were cut back significantly more focus could be given to the main story and the KGB's hunt for Zorin?

HGTB wrote:

Over time I have come to appreciate Stacey more-even the screaming-because she is a normal person caught up in events beyond her. Unfortunately outside of some occasional grit there's not that much there in the character to begin with outside of exposition or plot service.

More love for Stacey is always nice to read. I disagree with how you assess Stacey's character in that second sentence. Yes, she's a civilian caught up in Bond's world which justifies the screams, but I think there's more to her character than exposition and plot service. For one, more care is taken to build her as a regular person, such as her at work, or her home life with her pet cat. And the more I think about it the more that vignette of her snacking on her groceries really grounds her character. We haven't seen that in the series, not before or since then (perhaps with the exception of Natalya at work but then she's doing some vital work for Russia). She keeps her wits about her, not giving too much away about herself at Zorin's party to Bond, and it's a consistent trait since she lures Bond to the bathroom and is willing to sneak back into City Hall after she's fired, as well as initiate their incursion into the mine. Her not being bought out by Zorin demonstrates her principles and her family's fighting spirit shows up in how she conducts herself throughout.

Those moments of exposition/plot service I otherwise find to be beautiful moments that showcase companionship between Bond and the Bond girl, and find it rather effective if I'm completely honest. In other words, it doesn't feel like exposition or plot convenience.

HGTB wrote:

Who thought it was a good idea to let her drive the fire engine?

Well, it's clear she didn't think it was a good idea either, but she demonstrates a willingness. And her setting off the siren again highlights her smarts.

I agree on those points actually. The grounding is a welcome shift if a bit odd feeling at first because the series wasn't used to doing it-but I do think this was all handled much better with Kara in TLD.

I bring up the exposition/plot service only because it is built into the character but is so innate that it's a thing you only are going to notice if you're really looking for that sort of thing.

I always assume Bond is going to drive the rear to throw off the pursuing cop cars as he does eventually but one would think it might be best to just do that form the front and not leave the inexperienced driver up front in control...then again Bond turns around and does this again with Kara in the Hercules...imagine in LTK: "take the wheel Lupe!" --"Don't you know I hate big trucks?"

HGTB wrote:

I agree on those points actually. The grounding is a welcome shift if a bit odd feeling at first because the series wasn't used to doing it-but I do think this was all handled much better with Kara in TLD.

Not even sure I agree with that anymore. Kara comes across as too naive sometimes, and it feels like she's only like that to reiterate that she's a civilian caught up in Bond's world... Stacey feels more realised, that they struck a better balance with her. She's competent and driven but there's a vulnerability there too. I also think Kara's utter innocence dilutes the enigma set up with her character not only in the Sniper Was A Woman sequence, but also in Fleming's short story.

HGTB wrote:

I bring up the exposition/plot service only because it is built into the character but is so innate that it's a thing you only are going to notice if you're really looking for that sort of thing.

Understandable. Though I think that can be applied to any character. M and Mallory's "retirement planning" meeting is all exposition but neatly disguised in tense, organic drama. Hell, any M scene is that, hence Mike Myers creating 'Basil Exposition' in the Austin Powers series! Then there's Tanya describing the Lektor to Bond (for Bond to see if she's telling the truth, but it's actually for the audience to learn what it's for), Honey being the only civilian at Crab Key only to inject some info to Bond (and us!) about the island and Dr No himself, etc.

HGTB wrote:

imagine in LTK: "take the wheel Lupe!" --"Don't you know I hate big trucks?"

Could be worse... Stacey could have operated the blimp while it was still tied up to the Golden Gate bridge!

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Could be worse... Stacey could have operated the blimp while it was still tied up to the Golden Gate bridge!

Talk about character payoff! Her handling of the fire truck sets up the climax of the film within a film : "Stacey's Wild Blimp Ride!"

Watched AVTAK today and came away more awed of Walken and Jones than ever. Zorin is firmly atop my Best Villain list, with May Day being my favorite henchperson. AVTAK also has Best Song, and some of the most inventive and interesting action sequences, plus good use of on location work. Had a new actor played Bond (Brosnan for example) with a different leading lady (Sigoureny Weaver perhaps) and you might’ve had the Best Bond film ever. Moore is quite convincing in his scenes opposite Walken; less so with Roberts.

Her character arc was hampered by Ms.Roberts failure to properly act in the movie. She has difficulty striking the right note in practically any scene she is in. Unable to convincingly deliver the most basic of dialogue.

The film is actually one of Moore’s least humorous films. It’s a fairly serious film throughout. Roberts not only wets the bed when it comes to acting, but her character comes across as stupid, clingy, and needy. Stacy has one signature line in the entire movie and Moore’s reaction is so slight I don’t think general audiences even realized a joke was there.

When media outlets do retrospectives on the series Stacy never makes the cut except for when She turns on the fire engines alarm.

Jones does far more with much less dialogue and fewer scenes. And there is no way I would list her as Roger Moore’s top Bond girl.

Hey there! Check your PMs

since watching Bond films, there have been very few Bond girls who stop traffic in my mind, as it were, when I first saw them or see them for the thousandth time. One is Diana Rigg, perhaps Jane Seymour but always Tanya Roberts. Best Bond girl or worst, it's the manner of her last day on this planet. The age, the manner, the news and the social media.

Quite. It just feels like she could never catch a break, and her final days on earth (she couldn't even enjoy Christmas after the year that was 2020!) plays into that. I always felt she was gracious and graceful about it all, so when tributes flow in with the repeated words "lovely", "sweetest" and "couldn't have been kinder" it cements it as fact: she truly was, even in face of constant and vicious adversity. Well not from me.

She did seem a class act. Surely she heard what folk had said about Stacy over the years and some I think get affected by bad press. Not hugely but she just got on with life. Happy in life.

I'd give money to feel that in mine.

Looking at some interviews and it echoes a lot of what you say Hilly - a class act and happy in life.

Possibly her first major interview (and with Carson, no less!), she is humble and very shy.


This one is from about 12 years ago. Still so very grounded. She engages with the interviewer so directly, never once distracted by anything else around her and providing earnest, real answers. About halfway through she talks about why she left That 70s Show and her husband's death.


She had her own DIY program called Toolin' With Tanya! What a missed opportunity not have have Plenty O'Toole cameo.

Toolin' with Tanya?

*Roger Moore raise of the eyebrow*

Have to catch up on these soon. Nice find.

Took the liberty of editing the thread title. Nothing wrong with the old one but figured in light of this week, a slight tweak

Can't take my eyes off her.

I saw that Charlie's Angels documentary the other day, ending with that blooper. So endearing.