SAMANTHA BOND - BOND EXCUSES MONEYPENNY SNUB

British actress SAMANTHA BOND has hit back at movie bosses after her character was left out of the new JAMES BOND film. The 46-year-old is best known for playing the legendary role of Miss Moneypenny alongside Pierce Brosnan's 007. But the production company behind the superspy franchise has decided not to resurrect the character for Daniel Craig's second outing in Quantum Of Solace, in a bid to distance the new movies from their predecessors. And Bond is keen to point out she is not bitter about the decision. She says, "I suppose I should take her absence from the new film as a huge compliment because it shows the producers obviously thing I'm irreplaceable." Another character to be axed from the latest movie is the much-loved Q - James Bond's eccentric gadget maker - a role which was made famous by Desmond Llewelyn, who died in 1999, and who was succeeded by John Cleese.