What if Timothy Dalton started as Bond in '81

Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy the films as they currently are with Roger Moore but they could have been so much better.

For Your Eyes Only
The Havelock's murder would be shifted to the pre-title sequence, which would then lead into Blondie's rendition of the theme (as this version of the song better suits Dalton's brooding Bond). We are then introduced to Dalton as Bond in the beautifully poignant scene as Bond visits Tracy's grave (it could also be raining just to add to the atmosphere). The priest would tell Bond that he is needed back at HQ, Bond would drive off in his DB5 then the film more or less plays out the same as is, no Blofeld stand-in. The only other change would be Melina’s hateful Citroen 2CV being swapped out for a classic Mini Cooper, because I’ve always loved the idea of Bond driving a mini as you would have one of the Britain's biggest motoring icons being driven by one of Britain's biggest cinematic icons.

Octopussy
Same film, but less jokey, no silly clown make up, Bond being dressed as gorilla, Dalton's Bond running through the jungle would be more of a life-and-death situation. But at the same time they could use George McDonald Fraser's treatment. The cast would be the same

A View To A Kill
Where Moore had been passable in the previous two films, by A View To A Kill he was simply too old play the part. What really doesn’t help is that the rest of the MI6 regulars look past their best as well. The franchise as a whole, was in a dire need of a facelift. With Dalton in the role, this wouldn't be such a glaring issue. Overall the film would loose the goofier elements and would have a much tighter script that would play to Dalton's strengths. The ski chase in the pre-title sequence would be more akin to the one seen in Inception. Also, Dalton would be doing more stunt work, instead of allowing his doubles do the work

TLD and LTK would remain the same

Dynamic with his co-stars:
As for how Dalton's Bond would interact with the women and villains is difficult to predict as there is just no way of knowing whether he would have any chemistry with his co-stars. However just by the simple fact that Dalton is almost 20 years younger than Moore, his interactions with his love interests would be less creepy and he would be more believable physically competing with his rogues gallery.

Kristatos would probably be a much younger actor to fit Dalton's age, maybe an actor like Rutger Hauer or Ben Kingsley. Nothing wrong with Julian Glover's portrayal

Melina (Carole Bouquet) would make a really interesting pairing as her quest for vengeance would be the perfect obstacle for Dalton’s broodiness. It's also interesting to think how it foreshadows Bond's own quest for vengeance in Licence To Kill.

Stacy would need to be more of an active participant in the plot as Dalton's no-nonsense Bond would have no tolerance for her dim-wittedness. Maybe not an acress like Tanya Roberts but maybe an actress like Bo Derek, Priscilla Presley or Farrah Fawcett

Caroline Bliss could be introduced as the new Moneypenny

Instead of Chuck Lee, I would include Felix Leiter in AVTAK (have him played by John Terry or someone, Terry's Leiter may be more fleshed out than he was in TLD, but I would not mind David Hedison's version)

Sir Godfrey Tibbett would need to be recast to make it more age appropriate to Dalton. I would consider actors like Ian McShane, Michael Byrne (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harry Potter) or Kevin Whatley (Inspector Morse, Lewis).

I would be nice to get Anya (Barbara Bach) in for a cameo instead of that random Russian female agent.

Christopher Walken had wanted to go darker in his portrayal of Max Zorin but Moore felt the film was already too violent as it was, however with the younger Dalton, they would be on the same page and would make for a truly spectacular competition of insanity vs intensity. Something similar like this worked between Dalton and Davi in LTK which made the movie great.