EDITED Bond Bristol.qxp_Layout 2 23/10/2020 16:31 Page 1
MEET GARDENING THE LOCALS
David Antonio Smith in his Bond-inspired barber shop, Barber-on-Trym
Live and let buy
We were poised and ready for No Time To Die to hit the big screens this month, but following the announcement it would be postponed to April 2021, Millie Bruce-Watt caught up with Bristol’s biggest James Bond fan, David Antonio Smith, to calm our restless minds
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here’s been a lot of anticipation surrounding the latest James Bond film and fans have been champing at the bit to see Daniel Craig play his final stint as 007 since the title was first announced in August 2019. No Time To Die was one of the first major films to postpone its release from 3 April to 12 November before the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus was even called a pandemic. In a statement released by the filmmakers last month, the film has been pushed back again to 2 April 2021 “in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience.” Bond 25 has been shrouded in secrecy from the outset and, with new additions to the cast and writing team, all eyes have been drawn to the high-octane series. This time around, Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing, with Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas appearing as new faces. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing prowess will undoubtedly add a twist to the script and Billie Eilish’s vocals have already seen the biggest opening week of all time for a Bond theme song. No Time To Die is set to be a showstopper, and in an attempt to calm our restless minds, we caught up with James Bond superfan, David Antonio Smith, who has been collecting the franchise’s memorabilia for 35 years. A fountain of knowledge on the subject, David let us delve into his impressive life-long collection and ask our burning questions. 60 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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NOVEMBER 2020
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No 194
The fascination with the spy franchise began when David was seven. “My older brother took me to the cinema and, in those days, there were double bills so it was Dr. No and From Russia With Love – the two Sean Connery movies – and I always remember the spider crawling up his arm. From then, I had my first Aston Martin for Christmas, the one with the ejector seats, and it slowly built up from there.” As well as toy cars, David has since accumulated a varied assortment of collectables, from coins and stamps to a replica of the gun used by Christopher Lee in The Man With The Golden Gun. “When I got my first job and I got my car, we went to the toy fairs in Shepton Mallet, Taunton, Exeter, Birmingham and London. I decided to start up a collection and one model lead to another and it went on and on. Before I knew it, my bedroom and my mum’s loft were full of it and then I got married and now our loft is full of it.” A barber based in Westbury-on-Trym, David’s shop has been attracting customers from Bristol and beyond with his Bond-style interiors and outstanding Bond knowledge. Entering his shop and heading into M’s office – the waiting area – you are then guided through to the cutting chair and an area in the style of Q’s workspace. “When we came to open Barber-on-Trym, we wanted to create a theme and we decided to make a James Bond-themed barber shop because I was so in
