Pierce Brosnan has achieved huge international recognition with his big screen portrayal of a secret agent named Bond, James Bond. But he was a successful actor for many years before gaining this super stardom. In 1989 he was aboard Kingswear Castle filming a scene from an all star television adaptation of the Jules Verne epic “Around the World in Eighty Days” as these pictures from the archives reveal.
Phileas Fogg, alias Pierce Brosnan (right) and his manservant Passepourtout, alias Monty Python star Eric Idle (left), stand on the deck of the French Cross Channel Packet Le Bonheur, alias Kingswear Castle.
Perhaps at having his lunch disturbed or perhaps at the thought of such a voyage on the Kingswear Castle, the captain of Le Bonheur looks rather distracted at Pierce’s request for tickets for the afternoon cruise to France.
A mock cabin with skylight was built on the foredeck, the French flag was hauled up the ensign staff and Thunderbolt Pier was converted into the Dover terminal of the South Eastern Railway Company.
We all look forward to a possible return visit to Kingswear Castle of Pierce Brosnan at some future date not in the role of Phileas Fogg but in his new incarnation as James Bond. What could be better as a low-tech getaway vehicle than our little paddle steamer shooting out from beneath the waves of the Mediterranean sea, sliding up onto a sunny, sanded beach at Monte Carlo scattering dogs and ice creams in all directions, scooping up James Bond in her forrard well deck straight from the jaws of disaster and, with wings sprouting from her steam driven rotating paddle wheels, whisking 007 back through the clouds to the comfortable sanctuary and security of M’s office in London.
Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild which is designed to set her up for the next 25 years running on the River Dart. The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust is now fund raising for the second phase of the rebuild. You can read more about the rebuilds and how you can help if you can here.
John Megoran
