 This is the first time that the Bill Tanner Mi6 Chief of Staff  character has appeared in the series since  _For Your Eyes Only (1981)_ (qv). The character was meant to return  for the next Bond movie _Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)_ (qv) but the  actor Michael Kitchen (I) (qv) who had played him here was  unavailable to return. But Kitchen did get to return as Tanner in  _World Is Not Enough, The (1999)_ (qv).