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From the S&S archives: Photo gallery: Filming of Octopussy at RAF Upper Heyford

Photos by Art Barnes, ©Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, September 5, 1982
For five days in August, 1982, RAF Upper Heyford in England became a fictional U.S. facility in Germany called Feldstadt Air Base for the filming of the James Bond film Octopussy, starring Roger Moore. In the scenes filmed at the base, Bond rushes to disarm a nuclear device that has been smuggled onto the base in a circus vehicle. The villain (Russian, of course) intended to blow up the base on the theory that an "accidental" explosion would cause the rest of Europe to ban all U.S. nuclear weapons, thus leaving the door open for Soviet conquest.
 
(Click here to read Stripes' story about the filming)

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Roger Moore as James Bond, on the set of Octopussy.

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Roger Moore poses with extras who played acrobats in the circus scenes.

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Roger Moore poses with a fan on the set.

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Roger Moore signs an autograph for a young fan.

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Military meets Hollywood on the set of Octopussy.

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The circus parade scene in Octopussy. In the film, RAF Upper Heyford was a fictional Feldstadt Air Base in Germany.

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A pickpocket, center, plies his trade in a scene from Octopussy.

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"German police" pursue James Bond onto the base as Air Force security personnel — in uniforms featuring several flaws — rush to help out.

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A cowboy on stilts discovers that there's nowhere to take shelter when rain briefly interrupts the shooting.

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The inevitable result of a circus parade involving large animals is dealt with.

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