Spies on Screen – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 15 questions in the Spies on Screen quiz, each with a short explanation. From Bond's gadgets to Slow Horses — how well do you know screen spies? Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 15 questions1. Which towering Bond henchman attacks 007 with razor-sharp steel teeth?
Answer: Jaws
Jaws, the 7ft 2in henchman with steel teeth, was played by Richard Kiel in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). He was so popular with audiences that he survived the first film and returned, eventually turning good.
2. Which 1964 Bond film first featured the gadget-packed Aston Martin DB5?
Answer: Goldfinger
The Aston Martin DB5 debuted in Goldfinger (1964), driven by Sean Connery and fitted with machine guns, tyre slashers, revolving number plates and an ejector seat; it returned in Thunderball the following year.
3. Which actor plays the slovenly spymaster Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses?
Answer: Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the flatulent, dishevelled but brilliant head of Slough House, in Apple TV+'s Slow Horses, which premiered in 2022 and is based on Mick Herron's novels.
4. Who performed the theme song for the Bond film Live and Let Die?
Answer: Paul McCartney and Wings
Paul McCartney and Wings recorded the title song for Live and Let Die (1973), Roger Moore's first Bond film, with production by Beatles producer George Martin; it was the first Bond theme to earn an Academy Award nomination.
5. What is amnesiac agent Jason Bourne's real birth name?
Answer: David Webb
Jason Bourne's true identity is David Webb, created by novelist Robert Ludlum in The Bourne Identity (1980); in the film The Bourne Supremacy, CIA officer Pamela Landy reveals the name to him.
6. In the Austin Powers films, what is the name of Dr. Evil's hairless cat?
Answer: Mr. Bigglesworth
Dr. Evil's cat Mr. Bigglesworth parodies Blofeld's white Persian; he loses his fur during the cryogenic thawing and is played by a Sphynx cat named Ted Nude-Gent.
7. Who sang 'Writing's on the Wall', the theme to the 2015 Bond film Spectre?
Answer: Sam Smith
Sam Smith recorded 'Writing's on the Wall' for Spectre, released on 25 September 2015 and co-written with Jimmy Napes. It won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song and topped the UK singles chart.
8. In Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise scales which skyscraper?
Answer: The Burj Khalifa in Dubai
In Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Tom Cruise climbed the outside of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 828 metres, performing the stunt himself on harness wires.
9. Who played spymaster George Smiley in 2011's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?
Answer: Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman played George Smiley in Tomas Alfredson's 2011 adaptation of John le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, earning an Oscar nomination. Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong also appeared, but in other roles.
10. Which actress stars as Helen Webb in the spy thriller series Black Doves?
Answer: Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley stars as Helen Webb, a politician's wife secretly spying for a private agency, in Netflix's Black Doves, which premiered on 5 December 2024 alongside Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire.
11. Which actor played James Bond only once, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service?
Answer: George Lazenby
Australian model George Lazenby played 007 in just one official Eon film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), between Sean Connery's stints; Timothy Dalton starred in two, while David Niven played a spoof Bond in the 1967 Casino Royale and Patrick McGoohan turned the role down.
12. Which Bond henchman kills using a razor-rimmed bowler hat?
Answer: Oddjob
Oddjob, Auric Goldfinger's mute Korean bodyguard played by Harold Sakata in Goldfinger (1964), threw a bowler hat with a steel-reinforced brim, famously decapitating a marble statue and killing Tilly Masterson.
13. Who sang the theme song to the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye?
Answer: Tina Turner
Tina Turner recorded the title song for GoldenEye (1995), Pierce Brosnan's first Bond film; the track was written by U2's Bono and The Edge and produced by Nellee Hooper, and reached number 10 in the UK.
14. Which actor took the lead role in 2012's The Bourne Legacy?
Answer: Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner starred as Operation Outcome agent Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy (2012), directed by Tony Gilroy; Matt Damon sat the film out and Edward Norton played the antagonist, Colonel Eric Byer.
15. In The Americans, what business do the KGB spies run as their cover?
Answer: A travel agency
In The Americans, KGB illegals Philip and Elizabeth Jennings run a Washington, D.C. travel agency, Dupont Circle Travel, as their cover; Philip eventually works there full time after leaving active spy work.