Gruff, terse boss/commander/ringleader who directs and wields
James Bond's
MI6 (
a.k.a. Her Majesty's Secret Service). In the case of the
original one in the
Bond stories, it was an
eponymous code name; his real name was
Admiral Sir Miles Messervy. M indeed.
In the James Bond films, the part of M has been played by Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, and (presently) Dame Judi Dench.