Bournemouth Daimler hearses used in new Bond film (From Bournemouth Echo)

Bournemouth Daimler hearses used in new Bond film

2:00pm Thursday 19th January 2012 in Bournemouth By Joanna Codd

SHARP-eye cinemagoers may notice something familiar when they go to see the next James Bond movie Skyfall, due for release this autumn.

A scene recently shot in London shows four Daimlers from Bournemouth taking part in the fictional repatriation of eight British secret agents killed in the line of duty.

One of them is a hearse used by the town’s oldest-established undertaker’s, W Smith and Sons of Winton.

The other three used to be own-ed by Deric-Scott of Boscombe.

Roger Smith, who drove his family firm’s hearse for the scene outside the old naval college at Greenwich, said: “There were eight hearses and two limousines. Daimlers are getting rarer and they had to scour the country.

“I got there about 6.30am when it was still dark. They sent us to wardrobe and make-up. All 10 of us had to try and keep the gap right as we drove past Judi Dench and about 400 extras.”

Roger, whose great-grandfather started the company in 1892, is the youngest of three brothers involved in the business.

“It started as a summer job over 30 years ago and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

He explained that Daimler, which used to supply cars to the Royal Family, had ceased UK production 10 to15 years ago.

“They were the iconic British limousine, but there aren’t that many around. We’ve kept ours from when it was new in 1989.

“The annoying thing was that the directors didn’t seem aware of the protocol for English funerals. They wanted to do a Wootton Bassett-type scene, but had nobody walking in front to give the right speed.”

The plot of Skyfall, directed by Sam Mendes, has been kept under close wraps, but the film is to star Daniel Craig as Bond alongside Javier Bardem, Helen McCrory, Ben Whishaw and Albert Finney.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of James Bond films, the first being Dr No, starring Sean Connery – and Ursula Andress in that white bikini.