Even though they pretend the same character has continued for - pulease - 40 years ... I've always thought of each new actor as a new Bond, getting the name and number issued to him upon the demise or retirement of the last one.
There was no other way for my mind to grok the immense differences in Bond's personality, not to mention looks, and the fact that he remained a fairly youthful ladies man during the stretch of four decades.
Having Judi Dench as "M" and this Bond on his first mission in the current year of 2006 makes it implicit that there are multiple, succeeding Bonds. Certain inconsistencies must be overlooked of course, but I find more implausibilities eliminated via this interpretation of the series.
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