Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward

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Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward , shorthand Lady Penelope , nicknamed Penny or Lady P is a fictional character from the British puppets - science fiction - television series Thunderbirds from 1965 and was as a female counterpart to James Bond designed. Penny is a London agent secret agent for International Rescue , a secret international rescue organization. The character was also used in the feature films Firebirds Ready to Start (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968) based on the series . The voice comes from Sylvia Anderson , after whose appearance the puppet is also designed. In the 2004 film Thunderbirds , the character is interpreted by Sophia Myles .

biography

Lady Penelope was born on December 24, 2039, and she is 26 years old at the time the TV series set it in 2065. She is the daughter of the aristocrat Lord Hugh Creighton-Ward and his wife Amelia. Penny lived with her parents for a while in India , where her father managed a tea plantation , but returned to Creighton-Ward Mansion early because of her intolerance to the climate , where she was raised by a governess . Later she attended the Roedean School and schools in Switzerland , where she learned to ski in addition to German, French and Italian. She finished her education in Buckinghamshire .

Since her life in British high society was boring, she served in the Secret Service Federal Agents Bureau (FAB). Here she met Jeff Tracy, who then founded International Rescue (IR) and recruited her as an agent. At the same time, she appeared as a supermodel .

During her assignments for IR she is accompanied as a sidekick by her butler and chauffeur Aloysius "Nosey" Parker (his appearance was modeled after John Blundall , a former circus performer and clown). The Cockney- speaking Parker has a criminal history as a burglar and safe-cracker , but is absolutely loyal to Penny and IR. His specific manual skills are extremely valuable in Penny's secret service activities.

Rolls-Royce FAB 1 (1960s) of Lady Penelope, Thunderbirds Exhibition in Miraikan, Tokyo, 2013

The most important operational device from Penny and Parker is the FAB 1 , a pink or pink six-wheeled Rolls-Royce with two front axles, bulletproof windows, machine guns , radar- based controls and water skis for use on water surfaces. Penny lives in the Creighton-Ward Mansion in Foxleyheath, Kent , which was built in 1730 and stands on the foundations of a Norman castle . The house is equipped with the latest communication technology, which enables constant contact with IR. An underground river runs under the house, which Penny can use to leave the building in the event of third-party observation .

Production backgrounds

In contrast to the mostly American characters in the series, Penny and Parker were "British to the core". Gerry Anderson on Penny's relationship with James Bond:

People say Lady Penelope was a female James Bond but in many ways, James Bond was a male Lady Penelope. I know that a lot of the crew on the early Bond films used to watch the "Thunderbirds", not to steal ideas but simply because they were working on a similar show and they were interested in our work. Obviously, we would go and see the Bond pictures ourselves, so there was bound to be some cross-polliation.

Archer / Hearn, What Made Thunderbirds Go! P. 112.

Lady Penelope is believed to be the only developed character in the series. Her ultra-fashionable clothing was designed according to the latest creations from Carnaby Street and the fashion magazine Vogue . The episode Lady Penny's Adventure ( The Perils of Penelope ) pays homage to the American serial of the 1920s The Perils of Pauline ; Model for dozens of follow-up productions.

Trivia

  • In Firebirds Ready to Start , the Shadows play the instrumental title Lady Penelope composed by them .
  • From 1966 to 1969 the comic series Lady Penelope appeared in a good 200 issues .
G-VFAB Boeing 747-4Q8 (cn 24958 1028) Lady Penelope Virgin Atlantic Airways. (11147500686) (2)
Name plate of the Virgin Trains locomotive called Lady Penelope

literature

  • Sylvia Anderson: Yes, M'Lady , 1991.
  • Simon Archer / Marcus Hearn: What made Thunderbirds Go! The authorized biography of Gerry Anderson , London (BBC Worldwide Limited) 2002. ISBN 0-563-53481-8
  • Adam Pirani: The Complete Gerry Anderson Episode Guide , London (Titan Books Ltd) 1989. ISBN 1-85286-216-5
  • Stephen La Rivière: Filmed in super marination. A History of the Future . Foreword at David Elliott, Neshannok, PA (Hermes Press) 2009. ISBN 1-932563-23-7
  • Simon Archer: FAB Facts. Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century , London (HarperCollinsPublishers) 1993. ISBN 0-00-638247-9

Web links