Sean Connery: The first screen Bond

The museum equips visitors with a "special agent swipe card" to access modules of exhibits telling the story of the development of the Bond character in the Cold War years.

Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the 007 films, who has been involved with preparing the show, described the Bond phenomenon as a "global, but very British, success".

Ms Broccoli, daughter of the original Bond producer Cubby Broccoli, said: "For forty years the James Bond films have brought excitement and glamour from exotic locations to audiences around the world, making 007 one of the best-recognised and most popular characters ever created."

Villain's lair

The exhibition promises a presentation of the innovative title sequences, a recreation of M's office and Q's workshop, where original plans and drawings - including those of the Aston Martin DB5, the jetpack and the Q boat - surround objects from the films.

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There is also a villain's lair based on the funhouse from The Man With The Golden Gun, where visitors can encounter some of Bond's deadly adversaries and see Rosa Klebb's flick-knife shoes, Jaws' murderous teeth - and the golden gun itself.

Michael Harvey, curator of cinematography at the museum, said: "Bond films have both anticipated and reflected the mood of the time, from their debut at the beginning of the sexual liberation of the 1960s, through the changing world of glasnost and perestroika to current concerns about media manipulation and the arms trade."

Bond, James Bond runs until 1 September.

It will then show at the Science Museum in London from 16 October before going on tour internationally.