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.

The MI6 chief's most pointed language was reserved for the threat posed by China - one of what he described as the "big four" priorities alongside Russia, Iran, and international terrorism.

MI6 agents do not have a "license to kill," although the agency compiled a list of possible Nazi assassination targets before the D-Day landings. It was judged that the plan was too risky and ...

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 ...

Real-life spies say their world is nothing like that of James Bond, but in one way truth may soon follow fiction: MI6 could be about to get its first female leader.. Britain’s foreign ...