The Cuckoo Spymaster

In the 1950s, armchair naturalists knew Maxwell Knight as a pioneering wildlife broadcaster. But TV’s avuncular birdwatcher had another life – as the likely inspiration for ‘M’, James Bond’s spy chief.

- Henry Hemming

Some of the children at Putney Vale Primary could not quite believe it when they heard who was going to be formally opening their new school. It was 1956, and for any British child with even a passing interest in the natural world, one of the most familiar voices on the radio was Maxwell Knight.

During the 1950s alone, Knight featured in more than 300 radio programmes and 40 television shows. He wrote 20 books about both natural history and the many different pets that he had kept, ranging from a cuckoo to a bear.

When opening the school, this avuncular naturalist did not disappoint. He answered every question, told funny stories about different animals, and even brought along one of his pets. Yet some teachers may have been confused, perhaps, to see this softly spoken figure depart in a large, black, chauffeur-driven Hillman, a vehicle so often associated with government officials.