 Timothy Dalton (qv)s first appearance as James Bond.  Pierce Brosnan (qv) was the hot favorite to replace  Roger Moore (I) (qv), was signed but then was ruled out because of  his contractual obligations to _"Remington Steele" (1982)_ (qv).  Sam Neill (qv) was also considered as were Mel Gibson (I) (qv),  Mark Greenstreet (qv), Lambert Wilson (qv),  Antony Hamilton (qv), Findlay Light, Andrew Clarke (I) (qv) and  Sean Bean (qv).