SEVEN Bonds, 118 Saints and two ovations.

The 007 movies and the TV appearances as Simon Templar came in an eventful acting career that has spanned seven decades.

The two ovations for Sir Roger Moore came at the beginning of his appearance at the Pavilion on Wednesday night, before he had uttered a word; the second at the end of a witty and entertaining couple of hours in the company of a genuine legend.

At the outset he revealed his last performance at the venue, in 1954 with a bit part alongside Virginia Mckenna.

Sir Roger is now 85, but he knows how to hold an audience with his still rich voice, endless anecdotes of just about anybody who was anyone on stage and screen, his excellent mimicry and gentle, self -deprecating humour.

There was surprisingly little on Bond, his biggest and most lucrative role but plenty of other nuggets from his life.

How he taught Burton and Harris to march on the set of The Wild Geese; how Lana Turner asked him to kiss with a little less pressure but the same amount of passion; that the high street in Borehamwood doubled for Paris in The Saint and that a US critic once branded him "a lump of roast beef."

He described one of his lesser known movies, The Man Who Haunted Himself as "one of the only films in which I felt I was allowed to act."

But his most passionate words were reserved for the work of UNICEF for which he is an ambassador and the friend who encouraged to get involved, Audrey Hepburn.

Sir Roger said he had always thought that Sean Connery was THE Bond - until he saw the latest 007 outing Skyfall at the weekend.

"Daniel Craig is sensational. No-one will remember any other Bond film after this. He does more stunts in two minutes than I did in seven movies."

The Pavilion audience begged to differ on the best 007.

Especially when Sir Roger uttered those immortal words. "The name's Bond. James Bond."