The stage was originally conceived in 1976 by production designer Ken Adam to house the set he had designed for the interior of the Liparus supertanker in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The stage was christened the "007 Stage" on December 5, 1976 during a ceremony attended by the then-current British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. In contrast to the volcano crater set Adam had built for You Only Live Twice in 1966, the 007 Stage would be a permanent structure that could be rented out to other productions.