Sherwood said she aims to reflect the “complexity and rounded characters of the women in the books” that she feels has sometimes “been overlooked” in the films.

Indeed, the attitudes towards women, from blatant sexual harassment to a lack of consent plague many of the earlier and more contemporary Bond films.

In recognition of this, the franchise recently turned to Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge to freshen the gender dynamics in the script for No Time to Die – Daniel Craig’s long-delayed final outing as James Bond which was released to acclaim in September.

Sherwood promised that the new novels will include an “ensemble cast of heroes who we can all identify with,” as well as see the return of old favourites including Bond’s trusted secretary Ms Moneypenny and spy boss M.

However, she hinted that there will also be some new introductions. “We’ve always followed 007 before, but there are many other spies who you occasionally hear of in the background of Ian Fleming’s novels”, she explained.

“And that gives me this incredible range to be able to have a whole group of heroes on missions around the world… that’s been really exciting for me as a writer”.

James Bond: a the first of three new ‘feminist’ James Bond books written by Kim Sherwood is coming in 2022