An Evening With Roger Moore New Theatre, Oxford

HE’S 86 and these days the only gadgets this Bond might use are one of those armchairs with the lever to get you on your feet and a red cord in the bathroom – but the advanced years have robbed Roger Moore of none of his wit or charm.

He is disarmingly candid about what he’s doing on stage in Oxford on a Tuesday night when he could be sipping cocktails at home in Monaco. It’s all about earning some cash, soaking up a little admiration and flogging a few copies of his new book of Hollywood anecdotes, Last Man Standing.

Biographer Gareth Owen interviews him, gently teasing out stories and yanking him back on track when he goes off into a reverie about Lana Turner’s chest.

Due to end at 9.40pm, Sir Roger is still rattling out anecdotes at 10.20, and showing no sign of tiring.

The latter portion of the evening is a Q&A with the audience, which provides the emotional high point of the evening when a question comes from Eric Allwright. He is revealed as the man who did Moore’s make-up on four Bond films at Pinewood. Moore is visibly moved and the pair lament the fact they are indeed some of the last men of a golden age still standing. They don’t make them like him anymore.

GARY LAWENCE