Part II, Chapter XXX: "What Did I Miss?"
“I’m glad we made that third Bond film, even if it did turn out to be disappointing. It was a lot of fun to be on set, and I think that often you have more fun on the set of a good film than a bad one. Of course, that wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had on set, but that’s another story.”
- Timothy Dalton speaking about his role as James Bond in the 1992 film
The Property of a Lady. [1]
1990
1990 saw the release of the fourth season of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the twenty-fourth season of
Doctor Who, which would see Hugh Laurie pass the role on to Siddig El-Fadil.
At the Cannes Film Festival in this year, the title of the upcoming James Bond film would be revealed.
The Property of a Lady would be based on the short story of the same name, as Bond travels across the world trying to capture a Soviet double-agent that had gained access to sensitive materials from MI6.
Eurovision of 1990 would be much less controversial than its immediate predecessor. It would also see the only time that East Germany would participate in the contest, as Germany would reunify later that year.
The contest would be hosted in the Royal Festival Hall in London once more, following the United Kingdom’s victory the previous year. In 1990, the winner would be Iceland, with the song “Eitt lag enn” performed by Stjórnin. This would mark the first and only time that Iceland has ever won the contest.
1991
1991 saw the release of the fifth season of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the twenty-fifth season of
Doctor Who.
1991 would bring the third Red Nose Day, which would raise £20 million. Two charity songs would be released for the event as one double-sided single, titled “The Stonk”.
Eurovision of 1991 would be hosted in Brighton, United Kingdom, after it became clear that there was no suitable venue for the contest in Iceland. Sweden would win the contest with "Fångad av en stormvind" by Carola, after being tied with France at 146 points. Sweden and France had equal numbers of 12 points, Sweden had 5 10-point scores whereas France had only two.
1992
1992 saw the release of the sixth season of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the twenty-sixth season of
Doctor Who.
The seventeenth James Bond film,
The Property of a Lady, was released in July 1992. It would receive mixed reviews, as critics were divided on how engaging the plot was. There was however, continued praise for Dalton’s Bond. The failure of the film at the box office would lead to Albert Broccoli’s departure from the series, leaving it in the hands of his daughter Barbara. Timothy Dalton would leave the role of Bond when his contract expired the following year. [2]
Eurovision 1992 would be hosted in Malmo, Sweden, following their victory the prior year in Brighton. The winner would be Ireland, with “Why Me?” by Linda Martin, written by two-time Eurovision winner Johnny Logan.
Much of the lead-up to the competition would be marred by the fact that there was a fixed limit on the number of countries that could participate in the competition, and in the past year many countries had gained independence from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. This would lead to there being pre-selection rounds in following years, which would enable more countries to compete without overloading the final.
[1] The most fun he has ever had on set was alledgedly the car chase scene from Hot Fuzz.
[2] Some things don't change. I have plans for Bond for the rest of the timeline, but alas, they require that Dalton leaves.