ELECTROCUTED alligators, real-life explosives and near- bankruptcy – the story behind TV hit Thunderbirds is truly stranger than fiction.
The beloved show, which first aired on ITV 60 years ago this month, was an instant hit — regularly pulling in six million viewers.
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It followed the escapades of secret organisation International Rescue, set up to save humanity.
Headed by Jeff Tracy, his team comprising five adult sons — Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon and John — launched their land, sea, air and space Thunderbirds vehicles from their remote base, Tracy Island.
It ran for only two series, but kids and adults alike were entranced by the puppets on strings once the Thunderbirds were go.
But for Dee Anderson, whose late parents Gerry and Sylvia conjured up the futuristic series, set in 2065, the trailblazer of the show was “glamorous but gritty” Lady Penelope, who was “better dressed than most Hollywood actresses”.
Fashion-obsessed, dressed to the nines and deadly, the blonde bombshell proved such a hit that she even received fan mail.
Six decades on, Lady Penelope is now set to be revived in an audio and book series written by Dee.
She also reveals that while Thunderbirds helped her parents bounce back after they nearly went bankrupt a few years earlier, her dad was never a big fan of the puppets.
She says: “He hated puppets and wasn’t shy about saying it.
‘Inside it was magic’
“He once told a documentary that he wanted to vomit when he was first asked to work with puppets.
“He wanted to make feature films or work with real actors.
“My parents always said how ridiculously incredible it was that Thunderbirds lasted so long.”
But things weren’t always F.A.B. — the team’s code word for “message received and understood” — behind the scenes on the Berks trading estate where Thunderbirds was shot.
Dee recalls recording at their dull-looking warehouse studios, opposite a Mars bar factory in Slough, where Ricky Gervais’ TV series The Office was set.
“It was all grey walls, but inside it was magic,” she said. “It all came to life there, it was like a mini- Hollywood.
“My mother always wanted to be in Hollywood. She used to say she’d ‘made it’ but not to Hollywood — to a Slough trading estate.”
Filmed using then-cutting edge “supermarionation” — filming with electronic puppets — the attention to detail showcased Gerry’s love of movie-making as the 32 episodes were a staple of children’s television throughout the Sixties and Seventies.
While shooting the scenes, the crew also deployed small amounts of real explosives as well as fish tanks, egg boxes, cheese graters and “anything that looked vaguely like something else”.
They also once got in “big trouble” while using baby alligators for a scene, which led to a visit from the RSPCA.
Dee explains: “Because they put the baby alligators in warm water, they didn’t move, so they gave them electric shocks, only tiny ones, but someone reported them. The RSPCA inspector turned up and he stayed for the whole afternoon. He enjoyed himself so much that he didn’t report them.”
The puppets themselves were expensive, costing up to £300 a time — roughly £7,800 today.
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Each had six different expression heads — including ‘normal’, ‘smiler’, ‘frowner’ and ‘blinker’ — but Lady Penelope was by far the most expensive.
“She had a real mink coat that would cost about £2,000 today,” Dee recalls.
“All the other puppets had fake hair, but Lady P’s was special.
“It was real hair, I can’t remember how much but it was way more expensive. She was always the star.”
Lady Penelope, who was voiced by Sylvia — who died in 2016 four years after her husband’s passing — was driven around in a pink Rolls with the number plate FAB 1 by faithful chauffeur Parker, who had his own “yes m’lady” catchphrase.
There was also plenty of spin-off merchandise including action figures and models of the Thunderbirds machines. Sylvia was also a mentor to Barbara Broccoli, the future custodian of the James Bond movie franchise.
Enamoured admirers
Dee says: “My mum knew Barbara when she was 18. They remained good friends and mum gave her advice, strength and confidence. I’m not sure how much of Bond she influenced — but surely some of it.”
Dee concedes she had a “very unusual childhood”.
Her parents often worked “24-hour days” and sometimes didn’t come home, leaving her in the care of her grandparents.
As a teen in the Sixties, she recalls the family dinner table sometimes served as a writers’ room.
“They were discussing characters, storylines — they were both very involved,” she says.
“Dinner conversation was always about vehicle colours or puppet wigs and costumes.”
Dee still owns one of the original Lady Penelope puppets, and remembers encouraging her father to write back to the figurine’s band of enamoured admirers.
She says: “The thing I found funny was that people thought they were real. We’d get loads of fan letters from all over the world saying they were in love with Lady Penelope, which was a bit weird.”
It’s this adoration for the characters that’s led Dee to pursue bringing her back to life – including with a Lady Penelope perfume, make-up and lipstick range, which is available to pre-order now.
“I’m really excited about the makeup as well, it’s gorgeous and iconic and that was part of her personality, her makeup, her beauty, the shades she chose,” Dee says.
“And also the fact that she’s still an inspiration all these years on for women of all ages. People remember her and she still gives them a benchmark of how to be.”
Currently there’s a biopic in the works about Sylvia, alongside other ideas for a new TV show featuring Lady Penelope.
Displaying the same trailblazing determination as her mum and Lady P, Dee is certainly proving . . . ‘Thunderbirds are still go’.
Pre-order Dee Anderson’s Lady Penelope – Thunderbirds 60th Anniversary – make-up gift set and perfume bundle here.
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