Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character introduced in the British 1960s Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds, which was produced by AP Films for ITC Entertainment.
"[10] The character's attire was inspired by contemporary Carnaby Street and Parisian fashions, with Vogue and Harper's magazines used as points of reference.
[12] According to Anderson, the writers on the series initially had trouble devising substantial plots for the character, prompting her to encourage them to write Penelope into more episodes.
The Indian climate did not agree with Penelope, so she returned without her parents to England, where she was put into the care of a governess, Miss Pemberton, with whom she quickly bonded.
Her clothes are specially created for her by top fashion designers such as Elaine Wickfern and François Lemaire, who named a revolutionary new fabric "Penelon" after her (as seen in "Alias Mr. Hackenbacker").
Following his release, he quickly returned to his criminal ways, and was discovered by Penelope while attempting to crack the safe of an oil tycoon.
FAB 1 is equipped with various features to assist Penelope's field operative work, such as machine guns, bulletproof glass, water skis for sea excursions, and radar-assisted steering.
When Penelope became a secret agent, she renovated the historic building to better suit her double 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.
An underground river with a boat runs beneath the estate, and if Penelope thinks that Creighton-Ward Mansion is under surveillance or that she is in danger, she can meet Parker at a nearby village without anyone knowing.
This fabric has extraordinary properties: Penelon can be converted into any costume design, squeezed into a space the size of a match box and be fashioned to resemble any other material.
Thunderbirds script editor Alan Pattillo admired the character, finding her more interesting than the Tracys: "All the men had to do was pilot these marvellous craft [...] Penelope was much more flexible.
"[17] Commenting on the Thunderbirds cast, writer John Peel singles out Penelope for particular praise, referring to her as the "one character in the show who positively shone".
[18] He approves of her characterisation as a secret agent obliged to play the role of a "bored aristocrat", identifying parallels with male literary characters such as James Bond, Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel.
He also describes the character as a "pop feminist" and an "emblem of Swinging Sixties femininity", comparing her to Emma Peel and Modesty Blaise.
"[7] When Thunderbirds was repeated on the BBC in the early 2000s, the character was criticised for smoking, wearing furs and not using seat belts in cars.
[20] Anderson commented that smoking and fur-wearing in particular were likely to be viewed by modern audiences as politically incorrect, calling them two of several "stereotyped prejudices" in Thunderbirds.
[22] During the production of the 2004 live-action film, actress Sophia Myles had a movement director to help her give the character a graceful walk.
"[16] In a negative preview of the film, XPosé magazine criticised the new Penelope's characterisation, commenting that she seemed to have "turned into Barbara Cartland, as though someone's decided that her defining character trait is the colour pink.
Penelope, again voiced by Sylvia Anderson, appeared to the character of Edina Monsoon in a dream sequence in "Hospital", a 1994 episode of the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.