Moneypenny will greet 007 before he gets his new assignment, and later see him off with a kiss good-bye. Since the first time 007 walked into M's office, in "Dr. No," Moneypenny's overwhelmingly sexual, yet playful, conversations with Bond have become an irreplaceable element of the series.

Aside from Bond, Miss Moneypenny is the only character to have appeared in every film. The character is only a minor one in the novels (although she hardly features substantially in any of the movies). Although it was said that she had a secret desire for Bond, she never did anything about it; the flirting with Bond was certainly an invention of the movies.

There have been three* screen Moneypennys, each with slightly different interpretations of the character - Lois Maxwell ("Dr No" through to "A View to a Kill"), Caroline Bliss ("The Living Daylights" and "Licence to Kill") and Samantha Bond ("GoldenEye" and "Tomorrow Never Dies"). Following Maxwell's 25 year stint in the role, the treatment of the character played by Caroline Bliss emphasised Moneypenny's unrequited love for Bond. In contrast, Samantha Bond's Moneypenny was a lot harder in her attitude towards Bond in "GoldenEye" (even calling him 007) and actually dating another man! Fortunately, this relationship had softened somewhat by the time of "Tomorrow Never Dies," with Bond and Moneypenny enjoying a more good natured relationship.

We know little about Moneypenny, other than the fact that she is M's secretary and she has a collection of Barry Manilow records (well, the Bliss version in "The Living Daylight" has). In "You Only Live Twice," Bond calls her Penny, although this may just be a shortening of her surname rather than a forename, although it must be said that Penny Moneypenny is certainly not a prepostorous name by Bond film standards! Also in that film Moneypenny is seen in a naval uniform, suggesting that like M and Bond she too has a background in the senior service.

 
 
 
* A fourth Moneypenny, Pamela Salem, appeared in the unofficial Bond movie, "Never Say Never Again."