But the bridge between the sixties and the nineties also has a minefield in the middle as far as Myers' main character is concerned. "By living in the nineties, Austin has somehow lost touch with what it really means to be Austin Powers," explains Roach. "The physical representation of that is that he's lost his mojo, the mysterious source of his sexual prowess, his romantic soul, his savoir-faire, his joie de vivre, his raison d'être and all those other silly French phrases. So he has to go back to the sixties, returning to his lost essence by returning to the era where his spiritual home still lies. What is clear throughout the story is that what Austin is really looking for, whether he's in the sixties or in the nineties, is not his mojo but love. And Austin Powers is a cat who is all about love more than anything else."

The object of Austin's affection this time around is a gorgeous CIA agent called Felicity Shagwell (well, she would be, wouldn't she?), played by Heather Graham, who would really get Austin's mojo working if it hadn't been stolen. "It's 1969, so it is actually a little closer to the beginning of a hippie feel," says Myers, "and we wanted an American-in-London sort of vibe. I loved Heather in Boogie Nights. Austin's very slick, you know: he has his rap down. But there's no affectation to Heather. She's very 'what you see is what you get'. And, on screen, it really comes across."

Graham, having watched Myers at work on the Spy Who Shagged Me set, returns the compliment. "He's really hard-working," she says. "He's probably one of the hardest-working people I've ever been around. There's never really a moment where he's just hanging out, shooting the shit, you know? He's always concentrating, coming up with new things. He's so focused on what he's doing - kind of like a genius. But then, at the same time, he's also like a kid."

The underlying element of schoolboy humour that made the first movie so successful with adolescents of all ages is also very much part of the second movie, most notably in the title and in the character names. In addition to Felicity Shagwell, there's the Russian agent, whose name is Ivana Humpalot. And even the relatively innocent moniker attached to Gia Carides' character - Robin Swallows - takes on a whole new meaning when it is revealed that her maiden name was Spitz.

"So," shrieks Myers in his Powers persona, "is it Swallows or Spitz?"
But that is what it's all about, baby.

"In the nineties," explains Myers, "for a lot of reasons, people aren't as publicly libidinous - or horny, I'll say the word; I'm not afraid to say it - and you just don't see swingers anymore. I loved that era when everything was made sexy, everything was eroticized. You couldn't have a kettle, you had to have a sexy kettle. You couldn't just be a flight attendant, you had to be a sexy stewardess. Then one day, I think it was 1978, it all just stopped. But not for Austin Powers."