Thomas Wheatley
(Saunders) images

film information

Saunders played by Thomas Wheatley is the second ally of The Living Daylights. During the pre-title sequence Bond assists Saunders with his ‘master plan’ to safely escort General Georgi Koskov back to English soil, however Bond has other ideas.

Purposefully missing Kara Milovy releasing she’s an amateur, Bond scraps Saunders escape plan, and takes Koskov to meet Rosika Miklos.

Later in the film Bond meets Saunders at the opera where he asks him to check up on some information regarding Koskov. Meeting later at a café, Saunders informs Bond about the connection between Brad Whitaker and Koskov. Saunders is killed by Necros when he slams a glass automatic door into Saunders as he leaves.

character information

Saunders is the head of section V in Vienna. At the start of the film Saunders is a very formal man who follows procedures and red tape. He informs Bond that he has masterminded Koskov's defection and has planed it down to the last detail. Consequently Saunders does not find it amusing when Bond purposefully misses Kara, and scraps most of Saunders’ plan, leading him to launch an official complaint with MI6 regarding Bonds actions. However when Bond and Saunders meet again, he appears more chilled and even risks losing his job for helping Bond get Kara out of the country quickly. Saunders seems to develop an unlikely respect for Bond, with his initial bureaucratic attitudes melting away. §