WRITER Charlie

Higson wrote the officially sanctioned ‘Young Bond’ novels but he isn’t very loyal to the 007 brand. “I think the best Bond films today are the Mission Impossible films. They stick to a formula... and they don’t get angsty about it,” he told a Capital Crime discussion last week. “No one is getting het up saying that it’s out of date... they just get on and do it.” Higson, far right, who was in the Fast Show, wrote seven Bond books, finishing in 2009. Fellow Bond author Anthony Horowitz, right, who has penned three Bond novels for the Ian Fleming estate in recent years, also seemed to favour the Tom Cruise outings. “In some ways the Mission Impossible films are superseding Bond,” he said. “Their budgets are so fantastic.” What kind of loyalty to queen and country is that?