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"You know, I've often felt I'd like to do something exciting, like being a secret agent."

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is the daring London Agent of International Rescue, as well as a renowned aristocrat, socialite, and model.

Biography[]

Early Life and Education[]

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (Promotional Pic)

Lady Penelope was born on Christmas Eve to Sir Hugh and Lady Amelia Creighton-Ward. She spent her initial years with her parents at the Creighton-Ward Mansion. She moved to India along with her parents, her father having been posted there by the British government to oversee the production of tea. Penelope herself, however, suffered in the harsh climate, and was sent home on her own, being placed in the charge of a governess by the name of Miss Petherton.

Her schooling began at the illustrious Rowden School, an independent day and boarding school for girls aged 11 to 18. There she excelled academically, made firm, lifelong friendships, and was appointed head girl in her final year.

Having completed her education at Rowden, she attended finishing school in Switzerland. There she became an accomplished skier, but more impressively also developed her knowledge of French, German, Italian, and Spanish, speaking all four flawlessly.

Penelope considers her first case to be The Start of a Scrapbook..., concerning counterfeiter Plater Mulvaney and his gang, which she has labelled as #1 in her files. Only a young girl at the time, and being looked after by her uncle E. T. K. Barrington, who was then a police commander, Penelope stowed away in the back of a police car in order to secretly follow her uncle as he attended a police raid. However, the raid went awry and Penelope was forced to get involved, and ended up saving her uncle's life.

Becoming a Secret Agent[]

Lady Penelope decided, following her education, that she did not want to spend her life as a socialite, attending the functions that members of the aristocracy are traditionally expected to attend. Instead, capitalising on her linguistic skills, she entered the field of espionage, quickly progressing to become chief operative of the Federal Agents Bureau. It was whilst in this position that she met Jeff Tracy. Jeff went on to offer her a position within International Rescue, which Penelope accepted immediately.

Joining International Rescue[]

Lady Penelope became a key operative for International Rescue in her position as London agent, playing a vital role in many a rescue mission. Her particular skills lie in subterfuge, regularly fooling unwitting villains and bystanders alike into revealing to her key information. However, she can hold her own when needed, being a skilled user of hand-held guns.

Despite these skills, given that she places herself in very direct danger, Lady Penelope has previously been captured and threatened by criminals and required rescuing herself by her colleagues. She has also been proven to be an extremely poor driver, as demonstrated in Vault of Death, when she decides to drive herself to the Bank of England to rescue a man trapped in the vault and in danger of being suffocated, and Parker is driving incredibly slowly (so as to avoid his old cellmate, Light-Fingered Fred, who has recently broken out of prison). Upon taking over, she drives extremely erratically, almost making Parker vomit. However, in Brink of Disaster, she is shown to be highly confident behind the wheel, shooting and presumably killing the crook with machine gun using FAB 1's rear armaments.

Outfits[]

Main article: Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward/Outfits

Vehicles[]

Pink Rolls-Royce[]

Main article: FAB 1
FAB1-Canopy-TBAG-02

Lady Penelope's car is a pink Rolls-Royce with a 'FAB 1' numberplate. Originally equipped with a series of gadgets during Penelope's solo and FAB days, when she joined International Rescue the vehicle underwent a series of further upgrades by Brains.

The original FAB 1 was destroyed along with Skyship One in Thunderbird 6, however a replacement was quickly made by International Rescue.

Yachts[]

Lady Penelope has owned a number of yachts throughout her career as a secret agent. The most notable of which, FAB 2 was seen in The Man From MI.5, and was seemingly gambled away by Parker during the episode's events. She also makes use of a Seabird fleet of vessels, outside of the "FAB" fleet.

Others[]

Penelope also makes use of a "FAB 3", although depending on where she is, this designation refers to different things. In the UK, FAB 3 refers to her prize winning racehorse, whereas the FAB 3 stationed at her Australian farm in Bonga Bonga is a compact helijet.

Communication Devices[]

Compact

Missions and Adventures[]

Main article: Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward/Missions and Adventures

Lady Penelope appears in eighteen TV episodes:

Trapped in the Sky, The Perils of Penelope, Day of Disaster, 30 Minutes After Noon, Vault Of Death, The Mighty Atom, The Impostors, The Man From MI.5, Danger At Ocean Deep, The Duchess Assignment, Brink of Disaster, The Cham-Cham, Security Hazard, Atlantic Inferno, Path Of Destruction, Alias Mr. Hackenbacker, Lord Parker's 'Oliday and Give or Take a Million.

Lady Penelope appears in both films, Thunderbirds are Go and Thunderbird 6.

She also appears in all 3 of The Anniversary Episodes: Introducing Thunderbirds, The Abominable Snowman, and The Stately Homes Robberies.

Trivia[]

Coat-of-arms

The Creighton-Ward family crest. The motto reads Semper Floreat ("May it always flourish").

  • The Lady Penelope character was first introduced to the world in issue 1 of the TV Century 21 magazine on 23 January 1965, more than eight months before her UK television debut, via her very own comic series.
  • Lady Penelope and Park appeared in the 1991 Comic Relief original music video "Helping Hand", where all of Britain's most famous puppets got together to raise money. She participated in the break down, rapping about herself and how Kylie from Spitting Image was "rather wooden".
  • Lady Penelope, along with Scott, FAB 1, Parker and Brains appeared in British comedian Peter Kay's "Animated All Star Band" for BBC Children In Need 2009.
  • Puppeteer Mary Turner kept a puppet of Lady Penelope as well as Captain Scarlet, Rhapsody Angel and Colonel White from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and years later she brought the puppets to the Antiques Roadshow at Eltham Palace which was broadcast on January 6, 2019. Antiques expert Hilary Kay estimated Lady Penelope's puppet to be worth about £38,000 if it was to be auctioned.

Quotes[]

  • "Parker, get the Rolls-Royce. We are going for a little drive." - Trapped in the Sky
  • "I feel I'd be failing in my duties as hostess, if I didn't tell you that in my home, everything stops for tea." - Day of Disaster
  • "But I shan't consider myself as part of the team until I've been out on a rescue." - The Mighty Atom
  • "Jeff, how simply splendid of you to call. Is it business or pleasure?" - Path of Destruction
  • "On behalf of International Rescue, I accept thanks. Now, one last warning. If you make any attempt to trace me or my organisation, you will find severe opposition. I will not say further than that." - The Man From MI.5

Behind the Scenes[]

Puppet[]

Sculpted by Mary Turner, the Lady Penelope puppet was modelled on the character's creator Sylvia Anderson, who also originally voiced the character. The sculpt went through a number of iterations before settling on its final look, which reportedly came as a suggestion from Turner's father. Producer Gerry Anderson, and Sylvia's husband during the original Thunderbirds tenure, would later go on to claim Penelope had been based on a model from a shampoo advertisement following their messy divorce.

Like all of the starring characters, several variations were also made, which included two duplicate normal heads with varying shades of lipstick (other main characters only got one duplicate), a "blinker" head with moveable eyelids, as well as smiler and frowner/worrier heads for different expressions.

For season 2, the heads were either refurbished or remade for a more realistic and less caricatured look - two new "normal" heads were made in this style, and none of the "expression" heads. The refurbished heads would also be used on Thunderbirds Are Go and, with a few more modifications, on Thunderbird 6 two years later.

For Thunderbirds 1965, the puppet was recreated by Barry Davies, and at least two "normal" heads were produced. The second puppet is currently in the possession of Justin and Lindsay Lee.

References[]

  1. "Lady Penelope Story 8"
  2. Undercover name used in The Cham-Cham and Sing to Survive!
  3. Undercover name used in The Man From MI.5
  4. Penelope's December 24th birthday originated in press publicity material for Thunderbird 6. However, issue 4 of Lady Penelope had prior made a claim that her birthday is February 14th.


International Rescue
International Rescue Logo

Main Members:
Jeff TracyScott TracyJohn TracyVirgil TracyGordon TracyAlan TracyBrainsTin-Tin Kyrano
Field Agents:
Lady Penelope Creighton-WardAloysius ParkerRoger LyonJeremiah TuttleSir Jeremy HodgeGallup Din

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