Desmond Llewelyn branch), in every EON Bond film until his death, with the exception of "Live and Let Die" in 1973, in which the character Q did not appear. Llewelyn was the only actor in the original Bond series to have worked alongside five of the actors who played the spy, who were Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. His last appearance as Q prior to his death was in "The World Is Not Enough" in 1999. During his briefing of 007 in the film, Q introduces John Cleese's character, , as his heir presumptive, and the
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