Desmond Llewelyn 1999. On 19 December 1999, Llewelyn was driving home alone from a book signing event when his blue Renault Megane had a head-on collision with a bronze Fiat Bravo driven by a 35-year-old man on the A27 near the village of Berwick, East Sussex. Despite attention from a doctor called to the scene and being taken by helicopter to Eastbourne District General Hospital, he died shortly thereafter at the age of 85. The other driver was seriously injured. An inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death. Llewelyn's death occurred three weeks after the premiere of "The World Is Not Enough".
Desmond Llewelyn film alludes to Q's retirement, to which Bond, after seeing Q, expresses his hope that it will not be any time soon. Q's response is to admonish Bond to "always have an escape plan", after which he lowers himself through the floor of his lab. Llewelyn had stated not long before his death that he had no plans to retire and that he would continue playing Q "as long as the producers want me and the Almighty doesn't." In the 2002 film "Die Another Day", John Cleese's character is the head of Q branch, having inherited the title of quartermaster