007,

The Establishing Shot: MI6 - Vauxhall Cross, 007, James Bond

Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Craig Grobler 0 Comments

On my way home today I took this picture of MI6. We are based in MI9 next door so I regularly walk or cycle passed.
With this shot I tried to get the angle that is used in "The world is not enough". Bond bursts through the wall in Q's Jet Boat and chases the Cigar girl down the Thames.



The building, which opened in 1994, includes a shooting range and arsenal, a garage for adapting and maintaining MI6's fleet of special cars, secure areas where eavesdropping is impossible, and a array of computer and radio communication rooms. There are rooms for the development of specialist espionage equipment.
Mi6 was designed by Sir Terry Farrell, who was unaware of the intended tenants.The MI6 headquarters replicates Art Deco's distinctive symmetry and detail. The MI6 building is known to some staff as "Ceausescu Towers", after the former Romanian dictator with a penchant for grandiose and inhuman architecture.


The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (see MI numbers) is the United Kingdom's external intelligence agency. Under the direction of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), it works alongside the Security Service (MI5), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS). SIS is responsible for the United Kingdom's espionage activities overseas.
In 2001 the IRA fired a missile into the building which managed to break a window on the 8th floor.
From wiki the M directory is as follows:
  • MI1: Code-breaking (see GCHQ)
  • MI2: Russia and Scandinavia
  • MI3: Eastern Europe
  • MI4: Aerial Reconnaissance
  • MI5: Domestic intelligence (now Security Service)
  • MI6: Foreign intelligence (now Secret Intelligence Service)
  • MI7: Propaganda
  • MI8: Military Communication Interception (see GCHQ)
  • MI9: Undercover operations
  • MI10: Weapons analysis
  • MI11: Field security police
  • MI12: Military censorship
  • MI13: Reconnaissance
  • MI14 and MI15: German specialists
  • MI16: Scientific Intelligence
  • MI17: Military Intelligence "Head Office"
  • MI18: Unknown (may have never existed) (reason to believe North America)
About the author

Craig Grobler

Craig is a retired superhero, an obsessive hobbyist, comics fan, gadget lover & flâneur who knows an unhealthy amount about Ian Fleming's James Bond. When not watching or making films he takes pictures whilst mentally storyboarding the greatest film ever made. He also sometimes utilises owl-themed gadgets to fight crime.

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