Although Judi Dench played M, the fictional head of MI6, in seven Bond thrillers starting in the 1990s, the real-life agency has not had a woman as chief in its 116-year history.

It's a case of real life catching up with James Bond fiction: Britain's MI6 spy agency named its first-ever female chief. She used to be Q. Now she'll be C.

And for the first time in the agency's 116-year history, the MI6 chief — codename C — will be a woman. It's a milestone that's already happened on the silver screen, when Judi Dench played the MI6 ...

Currently, she is MI6's director general — known as "Q" — with responsibility for technology and innovation at the service, Downing Street said in a statement. Metreweli is described as a career ...

MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history. Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th ...

MI6 has never had a woman as spy chief. That could be about to change Although Judi Dench played the fictional head of MI6, in seven Bond thrillers starting in the 1990s, the real-life agency has ...

It's a case of real life catching up with James Bond fiction: Britain's MI6 spy agency named its first-ever female chief. She used to be Q. Now she'll be C.