The (early) Bond franchise played with class in a way that maybe isn't obvious to US audiences. At the time, casting Connery (a working class Scot) as Bond was roughly equivalent to casting an African American in a similar role in the US. Scottish voices were not really heard on the BBC, or any mainstream UK media. The whole premise of the early films is that he is a working-class guy who polishes up better than the toffs. This has to a greater or lesser degree been the case with the subsequent Bonds (notably Brosnan), and there have been persistent rumors that Idris Elba will be the next Bond, which would be fantastic casting and completely in keeping with the aesthetic of the franchise.