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Changing 007s has never been easy for the Bond franchise, but the transition from Roger Moore to Timothy Dalton may have been the bumpiest of all.

The episode THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS was the fifteenth in the Eon Productions series and opened July 31, 1987 via MGM/UA. Directed by John Glen (FOR YOUR EYES ONLY), it was produced by Albert R. Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson and co-produced by Barbara Broccoli. The title came from an Ian Fleming short story. Besides the rigors of casting Bond, DAYLIGHTS also saw Lois Maxwell’s departure as Miss Moneypenny. Her replacement, Caroline Bliss, only played the role once more — in 1989’s LICENCE TO KILL, which also marked Dalton’s exit.

Broccoli and his team knew in the fall of 1987, while developing their next Bond film screenplay, that Moore wasn’t returning. Moore, who would have turned 59 by the time DAYLIGHTS saw the light of day, was exhausted after 12 years and seven Bonds.

Eon’s exhaustive search for his successor as Fleming’s quintessential British MI6 agent included Pierce Brosnan from Ireland, Dalton from Wales & Sam Neill from New Zealand. Neill was the first choice of Broccoli’s stepson Wilson, Glen, Broccoli’s wife Dana & his daughter Barbara. Broccoli, however, didn’t agree.

When Brosnan was cast after three days of screen tests, things began to get muddled. Brosnan was still under contract to star in the TV series REMINGTON STEELE, which NBC had cancelled due to soft ratings. But the news about Brosnan being the next Bond boosted STEELE’s ratings.

NBC had three days left on its 60-day option for Brosnan to do one more STEELE season. But when NBC decided to keep Brosnan, Broccoli changed his mind. As Broccoli put it, Remington Steele would not be James Bond. The news that Brosnan was out as Bond sent STEELE’s ratings plunging so NBC made only five new episodes before dropping the series.

Dana proposed casting Dalton, but Broccoli wasn’t happy because Dalton was on record as not being interested in playing Bond. Broccoli did, however, agree to meet with Dalton. At first, there was a conflict because Dalton was about to start shooting the 1989 adventure BRENDA STARR. Then there were long delays on the Bond front, by which time Dalton was once again available. When he got an offer from Broccoli, he accepted.

Dalton, however, delayed signing his contract. That prompted an audition for English actor Robert Bathurst, who later called it “an arm twisting exercise” meant to prod Dalton to sign.

Dalton was travelling then, which he’s said gave him time to think about everything: “The moment of truth was fast approaching…and that’s where I said ‘yes.’ I picked up the phone from the hotel room in the Miami airport and called them and said, ‘Yep, you’re on. I’ll do it!’”