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The new Skyfall trailer hit the web this week, raising the excitement level for the newest 007 movie out this November for the series' golden anniversary. In 1987, the James Bond franchise turned 25 with a brand-new Bond in the form of Timothy Dalton, and we were on the set of The Living Daylights to get Dalton's take on the enduring super spy – and also spent quality time separately with Bond girl Maryam D'Abo!

Video: Exclusive Secret Visit to New Bond Flick 'Skyfall'

"I'm the fourth [Bond]; I would never have dreamed of taking over from [Sean] Connery because he was so good," said the then-43-year-old Dalton on the Moroccan set doubling for Afghanistan. "These movies, they're like populist cinema classics, you know? Other actors could go on again and again and again taking over. I mean, it's the 25th year."

The Living Daylights arrived in theaters on July 31, 1987 to critical acclaim, giving the Bond series a more serious tone after the lighter, gadget-heavy, seven-movie reign of Roger Moore as 007.

"It's a different, new story. It's strikingly different, really. It's far less fanciful than most of the others have been. It's much more intricate and real, and I think therefore perhaps more exciting," explained Dalton, adding of his take on the classic character, "I've read all the Fleming books and seen all the movies, and gleaned and responded to all the details and bits and pieces that I can, and something is crystallizing."

Related: 007 Turns Golden with 'Bond 50'

Dalton ended up playing James Bond only one more time (in 1989's License to Kill) before the franchise became tangled in legal red tape regarding licensing that took years to work through, prompting his resignation from the role in '94. Of course, Pierce Brosnan took over in 1995's Goldeneye and, after Brosnan's four entries, Daniel Craig now reigns as Bond with his third film, Skyfall, coming November 9.