Daniel Craig in tiny swimming trunks, a very dangerous poker game, and the important question: which James Bond is actually the sexiest?

Hello Gazers!

This week we're dusting off our tuxedos, ordering something shaken rather than stirred, and heading back to 2006 for Casino Royale, the film that reinvented James Bond for a new generation.

But was Daniel Craig's tougher, moodier and considerably more muscular 007 really a step forward? Or was he simply the same old Bond with a gym membership and a slightly more troubled expression?

First, we're revisiting the film itself, from Le Chiffre's high-stakes poker tournament and Bond's increasingly complicated relationship with Vesper Lynd, to some particularly uncomfortable encounters, spectacular action sequences and a memorable finale in Venice.

We explore how Casino Royale revitalised the franchise, the controversy surrounding Craig's casting, the film's critical and commercial success, and whether its grittier approach borrowed a little too enthusiastically from the Bourne films.

Then it's time for Culture Corner, where we're heading back to Britain in 2006.

It was the era of metrosexual men, lads' magazines, Top Gear and an increasingly confused national conversation about masculinity.

As traditional ideas about manhood collided with changing attitudes towards gender, class and sexuality, we ask whether Daniel Craig's more physically imposing but emotionally vulnerable Bond reflected a wider cultural shift.

And what better way to explore changing masculinity than by examining every James Bond?

From Sean Connery's unapologetic swagger and Roger Moore's raised eyebrow to Timothy Dalton's intensity, Pierce Brosnan's polished charm and Daniel Craig's brooding physicality, we're examining how each incarnation of 007 treated women, expressed masculinity and reflected the attitudes of his era.

Naturally, this leads to the most academically rigorous segment in the history of The Problematic Gays:

Our ranking of the James Bonds by hotness.

Yes, we're objectifying the world's most famous womaniser for a change.

We also discuss Bond girls, exotic locations, racial stereotypes, the franchise's enthusiastic product placement, and that famous moment when Daniel Craig emerges from the sea and suddenly becomes the object of everyone's gaze.

Has Bond genuinely evolved, or does Casino Royale simply package some very old-fashioned attitudes in a rather attractive new body?

We finish with our ratings for the film, our thoughts on the wider Bond franchise and the usual question:

Could you get away with it today?

And next time, we're heading somewhere rather less glamorous as we revisit Carrie (1976).

Subscribe to The Problematic Gaze for more classic film and television, cultural nostalgia, questionable attitudes and the occasional entirely unnecessary discussion about attractive men.

The name's Gaze. Problematic Gaze.

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Click here to visit our YouTube Channel!

We're back! After a week off, we're reunited in the cellar at PG Towers, accompanied by Fontaine the dog, a little background building noise and the usual complete inability to stay on one subject for more than five minutes.

And what a lot we've got to catch up on.

First, we're opening the mailbag for your reactions to The League of Gentlemen, including a surprising connection to Roy Chubby Brown and some excellent suggestions for future episodes.

Could The Mighty Boosh be heading for The Problematic Gaze? And have we been overlooking the deeply questionable world of Mr Men and Little Miss?

Then it's time for a little reality television.

We're discussing The Celebrity Traitors, which doesn't seem quite itself this year, and Big Brother, which might finally have rediscovered its mojo. There's also the small matter of housemate Rob, who apparently cannot stop singing.

But the week's most extraordinary controversy comes courtesy of Doctor Who.

Yes, apparently even a preschool cartoon can provoke an internet meltdown.

We examine the outrage surrounding the BBC's The TARDIS Crew, where some online commentators have managed to discover a supposed “bisexual agenda” lurking in the programme's colour palette.

Because obviously that's what children are thinking about when they see a brightly coloured cartoon spaceship.

Back in the mailbag, we're talking about the wonderfully unsettling In Fabric, revisiting Tales of the Unexpected and its particularly disturbing episode The Flypaper, and returning to two subjects that simply refuse to go away: Britain's rudest place names and the controversial merits of rum and raisin ice cream.

We also clear up a little Dynasty trivia involving Catherine Oxenberg and Princess Diana, before checking in with The Great British Bake Off and looking ahead to Mike Flanagan's forthcoming adaptation of Carrie.

There's also a brief detour into an ITV investigation involving Reform UK, because apparently the real world is determined to remain every bit as peculiar as the television programmes we cover.

And there's plenty coming up at The Problematic Gaze.

Our next main episode is Casino Royale (2006), as we revisit Daniel Craig's first James Bond film and examine Bond girls, masculinity, sexuality and what happens when 007 himself becomes the object of the gaze.

Plus, there's more Dynasty on our YouTube channel, where we're celebrating the show's glorious camp appeal, outrageous glamour and magnificent shoulder pads.

So make yourself comfortable, ignore the building work and join us for another thoroughly rambling visit to PG Towers.

And don't forget to subscribe to The Problematic Gays for more Gazette catch-ups, listener correspondence, television recommendations and our weekly investigations into the films and programmes we once loved.

Now, has anybody seen Fontaine?

Click here to visit our YouTube site, The Gaze Channel, where you can watch video versions of our podcast.

Our YouTube site also contains playlists for each episode with provides wider context to each episode.

Click here to follow us on all our socials

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.