N ow that the next James Bond actor is on the brink of being unveiled , it may be a good time to take a proper look at the prior 007 with clear eyes. Because, while the reputations of all the previous Bonds have ossified over the years – in chronological order: sexy, wooden, camp, boring and silly – the Daniel Craig era is finally coming into focus. And it turns out that he was actually the angel of death.

Obviously anyone who saw No Time to Die knows this, because that film ended with Bond being exploded in a hail of missile fire. But according to Judi Dench’s new memoir Is It Too Late to Make a Run for It? , it was also Craig’s decision to kill off M, too.

Licence revoked … Quantum of Solace (2008). Photograph: United Artists/Sportsphoto/Allstar

In it, Dench tells of the moment she learned that her character would be sent to the glue factory in Skyfall .…