Judi Dench Says Daniel Craig Wanted M Killed in Skyfall

Dame Judi Dench has revealed that Daniel Craig was behind the decision to kill off her character M in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall. The 91-year-old actor makes the claim in her new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?, published on Tuesday 3 November 2026, in an excerpt shared by Variety. Dench played M, the head of MI6, in seven Bond films from GoldenEye in 1995 to Skyfall, and the death at Skyfall Lodge remains one of the most emotional moments of Craig’s five-film run as 007.

Judi Dench Skyfall Revelation — Quick Reference Summary

The Wolseley Lunch Where M’s Fate Was Sealed

Dench learned she was being written out over lunch at the Wolseley restaurant in London. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson took her there with director Sam Mendes to break the news, and Craig himself was not at the table. They outlined the plot of Skyfall and told her they were going to bump her off.

Her response, as she tells it in the memoir, was to blame herself with a laugh. She had spent years asking to be let out from behind M’s desk, ever since GoldenEye sent the whole film unit to Monte Carlo and St. Petersburg while she had only three days in Watford. The producers finally granted the wish in the most dramatic way possible, and she was shot on screen.

Dench also addressed press reports from the time that she had cried when told she was being replaced. The memoir excerpt takes up that report directly, and her account of the lunch is wry rather than wounded. She describes the meeting as a matter-of-fact piece of news delivered by people she had worked with for years, not a confrontation.

Seven Films Behind the Desk, Then One Bullet at Skyfall Lodge

Dench first played M in GoldenEye in 1995, opposite Pierce Brosnan in his debut as Bond, and she held the role across two Bonds and 17 years. The character was killed at the end of Skyfall after sustaining a gunshot wound at Skyfall Lodge, the remote Scottish estate where Bond takes M to hide from the villain Raoul Silva. The death closed a run that had made Dench’s M the longest-serving version of the character on screen.

The reveal that the idea came from Craig reframes a scene fans have debated since 2012. Dench puts it plainly in the memoir, saying it was apparently Daniel’s idea to have her killed, and adding that she first had to suffer the indignity of being sacked on screen by Ralph Fiennes, who took over as the new M. Her delivery, by every account of the excerpt, is deadpan rather than bitter.

There is a small detail in Skyfall that Dench herself flags. When M dies, Bond is handed a box she has bequeathed to him, and underneath it there is a label reading “Olivia Mansfield”. Olivia is Dench’s own middle name, and she wonders in the memoir whether that is where the filmmakers got the idea. It is the kind of personal fingerprint that makes the memoir worth reading beyond the headline claim.

The count of her appearances is worth stating plainly, because reports differ. Dench played M in seven Bond films, and then returned for a brief cameo on a television screen in Spectre in 2015, which some outlets count as an eighth appearance. Either way, Skyfall was her last full film in the role, and she has said she has never actually watched Spectre, joking that she is still sulking about being killed off.

A Soft Spot for Connery and a Snub for Spectre

Asked in the memoir to pick a favourite Bond, Dench said it was impossible to choose, then admitted a soft spot for Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to play the character. She also praised both Brosnan and Craig, noting that each really made the role his own. The warmth of those judgements sits oddly beside the killing, and that is the point of her telling: the decision was professional, not personal.

Her refusal to watch Spectre is the memoir’s funniest running joke. The cameo took no more than an hour to shoot, she says, yet because the producers killed her off she has never seen the film. The line lands because it is so plainly a joke about a working actor’s pride, and it has been picked up across the coverage of the book this week.

The memoir itself is built as a conversation with Brendan O’Hea, the actor and director, rather than a straight autobiography. That format suits Dench, whose best anecdotes have always arrived as asides, and the Bond chapter is the one that has travelled furthest since publication on 3 November. Coverage in Variety’s excerpt and the wider press has kept the story in the UK trends for four days.

Why the Next Bond Era Makes the Story Land Now

The revelation arrives while the Bond franchise is between eras, which is part of why it is trending now. Craig’s final film, No Time To Die, came out in 2021, and Amazon MGM Studios now has full control of the franchise. Final screen tests for the next 007 were reported in London in late October 2026, with Jack Lowden leading the betting ahead of Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor, and no casting announcement has been made.

That gap between Bonds gives Dench’s memoir a bigger stage than it might have had in a busier year. Her seven-film run is the bridge between the Brosnan era and the Craig era, and her account of how it ended is now part of the official record of the franchise. Whoever takes over the tuxedo will inherit a series whose most recent history includes a producer-approved decision, apparently driven by its star, to shoot its most respected supporting actor.

There is also a quieter lesson in the way Dench tells it. She does not present herself as a victim of a franchise decision, and she does not claim Craig acted out of malice. She presents a working lunch, a joke about a desk, and a death scene that gave her the action sequence she had spent years asking for. The story has travelled because it is funny, specific and verifiable, and because it comes from the actor herself rather than from a rumour.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Judi Dench reveal about Daniel Craig and Skyfall?

Dench revealed in her memoir Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It? that it was apparently Daniel Craig’s idea to have her character M killed off in Skyfall (2012).

When was Judi Dench’s memoir published?

The memoir was published on Tuesday 3 November 2026 by St. Martin’s Press, in conversation with actor and director Brendan O’Hea.

How did Dench find out M was being killed off?

Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson took her to lunch at the Wolseley restaurant with director Sam Mendes and told her the plot of Skyfall would end with M’s death.

How many James Bond films did Judi Dench appear in as M?

She played M in seven Bond films, from GoldenEye (1995) to Skyfall (2012), and returned for a brief cameo on a television screen in Spectre (2015).

Who was Dench’s favourite James Bond?

She said it was impossible to choose a favourite, but admitted a soft spot for Sir Sean Connery, the first actor to play Bond.

Has Judi Dench watched Spectre?

No. She has said she has never seen Spectre, joking that she is still sulking about being killed off in Skyfall.

Myth-Busting

Myth: Daniel Craig fired Judi Dench from the Bond films. He did not. Dench says the idea to kill M came from Craig, but the decision was delivered by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson with director Sam Mendes, and she describes the lunch as matter-of-fact.

Myth: Judi Dench cried when she was told M would die. Press reports at the time said she cried. Dench addresses that report directly in her memoir, and her account of the Wolseley lunch is wry and deadpan rather than tearful.

Myth: Skyfall was Dench’s last appearance in a Bond film. It was her last full film as M, but she returned for a brief cameo in Spectre (2015), appearing on a television screen in a scene that took about an hour to shoot.