Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
Lady Penelope
First appearance	"Trapped in the Sky" (30 September 1965)
Last appearance	Thunderbirds (2004 film)
Created by	Sylvia Anderson
Portrayed by	Sylvia Anderson (1965–1966, 1968; voice work) Sophia Myles (2004 film)
Information
Nickname(s)	Penny, Lady P
Gender	Female
Occupation	International Rescue London Agent
Family	Lord Hugh Creighton-Ward (father) Amelia Creighton-Ward (mother)
Nationality	British

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character in the hit television series Thunderbirds. In the series, she is the London Agent for the secret organisation International Rescue. The character was created and voiced by Sylvia Anderson in the original series, and portrayed on film by Sophia Myles.

Character biography

Early life

Born on 24 December 2039, Lady Penelope is the twenty-six-year-old daughter of aristocrat Lord Hugh Creighton-Ward and his wife, Amelia. The first years of Lady Penelope’s life were spent at Creighton-Ward Mansion; thereafter her father was requested by the government to go to India to organise a tea-growing community. However, Lady Penelope didn’t agree with the Indian climate and returned without her parents to England, where she was put into the care of a governess, Miss Pemberton, to whom she quickly bonded. At the age of eleven Lady Penelope was sent to Roedean, an exclusive girls' boarding school where she excelled in many subjects and became very popular among her peers; she was later elected head girl. Upon leaving Roedean, Lady Penelope went to a finishing school in Switzerland where she became a skilled skier and linguist, being able to speak French, German and Italian as well as a native.

Secret life

On the outside Lady Penelope is just another member of the British high society and also a fashion icon. But, after completing her education in Buckinghamshire she rejected the aristocracy's endless round of social engagements and became a secret agent. It was while working as the chief operative of the Federal Agents Bureau that Lady Penelope first met Jeff Tracy, the founder of International Rescue, and she immediately accepted his invitation to become their London Agent.

Style

Lady Penelope is stylish and fashionable in almost every aspect of her life. She is a world renowned supermodel and celebrity and has appeared on the cover of Chic magazine. Her clothes are specially created for her by top fashion designers like Elaine Wickfern and François Lemaire, who named a revolutionary new fabric "Penelon" after her. She wears an exclusive perfume called "Soupçon de Péril", mixed for her by Jacques Verre. Whenever Lady Penelope is in Paris, she always drinks Pernod. Lady Penelope takes tea almost religiously and can communicate with International Rescue via her Regency tea pot.

FAB 1

Lady Penelope owns an iconic six-wheeled Rolls-Royce called FAB1 painted in her trademark tone of pink. FAB 1 has lots of features to assist Lady Penelope's work such as machine guns in the grill, bulletproof glass, water skis for travel on water and radar-assisted steering. FAB 1 is mostly driven by Parker. Lady Penelope also owns FAB 2, a sleek private yacht; FAB 3, a prize winning racehorse; and Seabird, a 40-foot (12 m) ocean-going cruiser. There have been several Seabirds as they are frequently destroyed in use.

Creighton-Ward Mansion

The eighteenth-century stately home at Foxleyheath in Kent, England is the seat of the Creighton-Ward dynasty. The first Creighton-Ward Mansion was built on the site of a Norman Castle by the first Lord Creighton-Ward after he was knighted by Elizabeth I, who was a regular visitor. The current Creighton-Ward Mansion was built by Lord Cuthbert Creighton-Ward in 1730 after he burned down the previous house during a gunpowder experiment. Lord Cuthbert asked architect Colen Campbell to design the iconic Palladian edifice, which has been designated a Grade One listed building by the World Heritage Organization. When Lady Penelope became a secret agent she renovated the historic building to better suit her secret lifestyle by installing a satellite antenna, a number of two-way video communication consoles for contacting International Rescue and a safe with state-of-the-art alarm system and CCTV. There is a forensic laboratory where the old servants' quarters were. Also there is an underground river with a boat beneath the estate, and if Lady Penelope thinks that the house is under surveillance or she is in danger, she can meet Parker at a nearby village without anyone knowing.

Bonga Bonga

In addition Lady Penelope owns Bonga Bonga, a sheep station in the Australian outback with 200,007 sheep. The station was acquired by Bertie ‘Buster’ Creighton-Ward. The open plan lounge with its modern fabrics and simple geometric designs is in sharp contrast to the rich detail of Creighton-Ward Mansion.

Retinue

Parker

Aloysius "Nosey" Parker is Lady Penelope's butler and chauffeur. Born 30 May 2013. Parker is the last of a long line of Cockney retainers who have served the British aristocracy for centuries. However, finding it difficult to get a stable job, Parker soon fell in with various villains of the London underworld. Parker quickly gained a reputation as the world's best safe-cracker and cat-burglar, which led to his serving a sentence in Parkmoor Scrubs Prison. After his release, he soon fell back into criminal activity,and was recruited by Lady Penelope when she caught him breaking into the safe of an oil tycoon. Lady Penelope heard of Parker’s talents and offered him a partnership in her espionage activities. He is a loyal and indispensable assistant to Lady Penelope and International Rescue.

"Give or Take a Million" is the only episode of the TV series in which Lady Penelope appears without Parker.

Lilian

Lilian, or Lil as she is known by Parker, is Lady Penelope’s cook. Lilian has a large repertoire of food that she prepares for Lady Penelope, much to the disgust of Parker.

Perce

Perce is the gardener for the 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) Creighton-Ward estate and friend of Parker.

Penelon

Penelon is the fictional fabric featured in the Thunderbirds universe. Penelon was discovered by the noted fashion designer François Lemaire, who named it after his favourite model, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward.

The fabric itself has extraordinary properties: Penelon can be made into any costume design, it never gets crushed, it can squeeze into a space the size of a match box and it can be fashioned to look like any other material.

The fabric was keenly sought after by François Lemaire's rivals, who bugged and kept his office under surveillance; hence it was top secret. After this was discovered by Lady Penelope she suggested holding the premiere of the new collection made entirely of Penelon on board the new aircraft Skythrust designed by the International Rescue scientific genius Brains.

Appearances

Thunderbirds 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" (Flashback of "Day of Disaster")
• "Atlantic Inferno"
• "Path of Destruction"
• "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker"
• "Lord Parker's 'Oliday"
• "Give or Take a Million"

Thunderbirds films

• Thunderbirds Are GO, voiced by Sylvia Anderson.
• Thunderbird 6, voiced by Sylvia Anderson.
• Thunderbirds, portrayed by Sophia Myles, whose performance was one of the few aspects of the film to receive positive acclaim.

Additional Television

• Absolutely Fabulous – Lady Penelope, voiced by Sylvia Anderson herself, appeared in the episode "Hospital" in Edina Monsoon's dream sequence.

Transport promotions

In 1994, Virgin Atlantic Airways named their first Boeing 747-400 after Lady Penelope and registered the aircraft G-VFAB, after FAB 1. Later, in 2005, Virgin Trains named their British Rail Class 57 after Thunderbirds characters and named loco 57307 after her.

Controversies

When Thunderbirds was rebroadcast, Lady Penelope was criticised for smoking, wearing furs and not wearing a seat belt.^[1]

See also

• Aloysius "Nosey" Parker

Sources

• The Complete Book of "Thunderbirds ISBN 1-84222-092-6
• Lady Penelope Annual 1960s
• Lady Penelope's Lifestyle Secrets ISBN 1-84222-228-7

References

External links

• www.fab1.co.nz - Thunderbirds Characters