Boffins brew up ideal Bond e-fit

Academics have used Ian Fleming's own opinion of how the ideal Bond would look to create a composite e-fit of 007, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Professors Rob Jenkins and Richard Wiseman of the Universities of Glasgow and Hertfordshire, respectively, used a technique dubbed "prototyping", which is based on the fact that most people are "poor at describing a face that they have in their mind, but they can easily pick out photographs of faces that resemble the image they are thinking of".

Researchers have already shown that, accordingly, using photos which resemble the face the person is imagining and blending them together "creates an accurate image of that person".

Back in 1961, Fleming identified Richard Burton, Stewart Granger, Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan, and David Niven as having the right facial attributes to carry a licence to kill. Jenkins and Wiseman duly assembled the necessary snaps and put togther the composite seen here.

Wiseman said: "We have used face merging technology to create the image of Bond that Ian Fleming had in mind when he wrote his books. The image shows a clean-cut, classic looking face which is far more Connery than Craig. Perhaps this is another way of resolving the question of who is the best Bond."

Those readers wishing to discuss the comparative merits of Connery and Craig can catch up with the two profs tomorrow evening at the Dana Centre in London's Science Museum, where they'll be hosting "The Scientist who Loved Me".