Fifty-five years after Thunderbirds debuted on British television screens, we should still be enormously grateful for the iconic role of Lady Penelope.
When I first watched the show as a young boy of the nineteen-nineties, she was probably an underappreciated character for someone like myself. However, now that I am the father of two daughters, she’s never been so important to me.
Unsurprisingly, Lady Penelope is the Thunderbirds character both of my girls are most excited about when they watch the opening credits of an episode.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs each character lines up one after the other, after my daughters have verbally fought over which of them owns our family’s Thunderbird 2 toy, they both chant Lady Penelope’s name in unison as if they’re at a football match. By that point, they’re focussed and ready to enjoy one of Daddy’s favourite programmes with him.
At this point I do have to make one disclaimer. One element that has probably helped their engagement is the fact that my youngest girl is, in fact, named Penelope. Yes, I know what you’re thinking… the answer is no (if you ask my wife).
Whichever way the connection has come about, the fact still stands. My daughters watch and enjoy Thunderbirds primarily for Lady Penelope. Because of her, it’s a lot easier to get them excited about a TV show that is admittedly still dominated by male characters.
However, it’s not just Penelope’s simple existence that is her biggest draw, it’s the fact that she can still act as an excellent role model for children today. That’s an impressive achievement considering the role of women in sixties’ television. Things could have easily been so different had Thunderbirds followed the stereotypes seen in Stingray just a year before.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of Troy Tempest’s adventures against Titan and the great many under-sea villains but the portrayal of Marina and Atlanta Shore are among the chief drawbacks of the show.
Coincidentally, both my daughters already love Stingray as much as their father, but there are some moments at which I cringe.
It is well-documented that Captain Tempest’s handling of Marina and Atlanta is that of a duplicitous git. Both women are so smitten with the man that they never stop to question his split loyalties. Not only are they nothing short of devoted fan-girls for Troy, they often find themselves in hopeless need of his messianic rescue.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn Sea of Oil, the rig supervisor even brands Marina the perfect woman because she’s pretty and can’t talk. Of course, Troy and Phones don’t object because to do so may well have been out of step with contemporary views.
Fast-forward a year and Thunderbirds completely flipped this stereotype on its head.
Lady Penelope is many things and useless is not one of them. She is clever, resourceful, powerful and classy in equal measure. Rather than play the damsel in distress, or act as one half of a harem-esque love-triangle with a two-timing submarine captain, she is often the one who saves the day. Of course, she’s beautiful too, but it’s not her defining feature.
Admittedly, the version of Penelope that we came to know and love did take some time to develop. In the sixth Thunderbirds episode produced, The Mighty Atom, she is desperate to come along on a mission, to the point of nagging, and when granted her wish, resorts to cowering from a mouse in the Thunderbird 2 cockpit.
Embed from Getty ImagesThen, the following episode, Vault of Death, plays right into the archaic ‘women-can’t-drive’ stereotype as Penelope drives FAB1 like a go-kart, causing considerable damage along the way. Let’s not forget that this whole sixties’ trope is labelled as the reason why the Thompson Tower burns down in City of Fire too.
Furthermore, episodes such as The Perils of Penelope and The Man From MI.5 do show us a Penelope who requires rescuing, by Virgil and Scott respectively. However, it is hard to say that such a dynamic was a regular feature of the show.
By Brink of Disaster, produced as episode eleven, they’ve got Penelope perfectly capable of driving FAB1 herself, and collected enough to keep a steady track while deploying the smoke screen too. A massive improvement on Vault of Death.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn Day of Disaster she’s detonating the disused Allington Research Centre as a distraction for Brains’ entry onto the suspension bridge headquarters. And, even if The Perils of Penelope and The Man From MI.5 do portray Penelope in need of rescue, it’s only because she has spent most of each episode leading the investigation against the villains.
In my opinion, episode twenty-five The Cham-Cham is her finest hour of the first season. Not only does she front International Rescue’s latest espionage mission, risking her life in the process, she does so with the class and style of a glamorous singer.
Following such success for the character, the second season of Thunderbirds, and the show’s two cinematic appearances featured an even more prominent role in International Rescue for Lady Penelope.
She is the one who ascertains the crucial information needed to stop the Crablogger in Path of Destruction, while Alias Mr Hackenbacker could easily have earned the name Model Spy before Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons used it in 1967.
I could probably go on and on for days about just how cool Penelope was on Thunderbirds but I’m sure many of you reading this article can think of plenty more examples. Let me know in the comments below.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe point is what message all of this sends to my young girls as they enjoy their first Thunderbirds experience.
They’re being told that you don’t have to be a boy to get a share of the action and save the day. It shows them that their role is not to be silent and beautiful, not to pledge undying devotion to a man with a piece of mermaid on the side, but to have the self-worth of a renowned aristocrat, socialite, model and spy. Lady Penelope truly is the epitome of an empowering heroine for young audiences.
Fifty-five years after the creation of the character, she is still shaping the minds of little girls, yet another commendable legacy of Thunderbirds’ co-creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
