Brian Cox has joined the James Bond brand for 007’s Road to a Million, a new reality show.
The 76-year-old actor has secured the part of The Controller, a mystery individual in command of the competitors’ fate, in the new unscripted Prime Video adventure series in which people compete for a £1 million cash prize.
The Highlands, as well as other renowned Bond locations, will be familiar to the Scottish actor.
‘I got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a James Bond adventure,’ he reflected the Dundee-born actor in a statement.
He added: ‘As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting. I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle.’
Contestants, divided into two-person teams, will have to conquer numerous difficulties while successfully answering questions buried in various locations throughout the world.
The adventure game show will put their intellect, endurance, and gallantry to the test.
When it comes to The Controller, Prime Video’s synopsis suggests that the enigmatic power draws influence from Cox’s performance of Succession patriarch Logan Roy.
The synopsis teases: ‘The Controller is villainous and cultured, and revels in the increasingly difficult journeys and questions the contestants must overcome.
‘He has millions of pounds to give away — up to £1m per couple — but he doesn’t make it easy. Whilst he lurks in the shadows, he is watching and controlling everything.’
Bond head Barbara Broccoli revealed last year why she and Aeon Productions agreed to utilise 007 in an unscripted film for the first time.
She told Variety: ‘People have always come to us about doing a TV show, [saying,] “Oh, you should do a Bond challenge,” but we always stayed away from it because we didn’t want to put people in danger and have them do dangerous things, because it’s not for members of the public — it’s for trained professionals.’
However, Bond producer Michael G. Wilson explained that 007’s Road to a Million seemed ‘fun’ and ‘wasn’t going to be dangerous to the participants’, which was ‘key’.
