Penelope Creighton-Ward
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks et al.) better known as simply Lady Penelope, (PROSE: Titan Declares War!, et al.) was a fashionable and adventurous 21st century socialite.
Biography
Meeting Parker
Prior to meeting Parker, he had seen Lady Penelope's picture in "the glossies" as he was casing joints.
One night, she confronted Parker as he was in the process of burgling a house of its jewels, claiming it was not difficult to learn his movements and plans. She recruited him as a chauffeur and butler, threatening to go to the police if he did not comply. They travelled to the Luthvian embassy where Parker used his skills to open a safe containing one-of-a-kind blueprints. They took them back to Creighton-Ward Manor but men hired by Mr Steelman attempted to storm the mansion. Having faith in her defences and entrusting the plans to Roger Lyon, another of her agents, with orders to destroy them, she went to sleep.
After recieving a signal that Roger was in danger, Penelope and Parker used FAB 1 to track him but when the signal indicated Roger was at sea, the duo boarded Penelope's yacht Seabird I en route for Naples. Mr Steelman blew up the boat with a missile but the garage was explosive-proof and they both survived to eventually meet Steelman in his base under Vesuvius. Steelman's men initially restrained Penelope and almost killed her by dropping her into the lava but she tricked one of them into releasing a gas concealed in her lipstick. Roger and Parker overpowered the rest of the men and, after Penelope incapacitated Gardoni with an explosive handbag, the trio escaped from the base as the volcano engulfed it. Having defeated Steelman, for now, Penelope and Parker returned to England. (COMIC: Mr. Steelman)
During this adventure, a report from an anonymous source suggested that one of Lady Penelope's undercover agents had been kidnapped by the "mysterious underworld figure" Mr Steelman after his car was forced off the road. (PROSE: Titan Declares War!)
In an account dated to 1997, Lady Creighton-Ward lived not far from the Seventh Doctor's house on Allen Road. Consequently, Bernice Summerfield had often seen her being driven around the Kent countryside, and identified her readily when she was among the celebrities observing the Mars 97 mission at the National Space Museum. (PROSE: The Dying Days)
Working for TV 21
In April 2065, Lady Penelope signed up as one of TV 21's overseas correspondents with her first major news story set to appear in the following week's issue. Soon afterwards, the British government denied all knowledge of Penelope's presence in Bereznik and further stated she was in no way affiliated with them (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) when she was arrested by the Bereznik Army on suspicion of murdering Toboisk, the head of the Bereznik Secret Police. (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid!) The Bereznik government subsequently declared Penelope a renegade, offering a reward of 100,000 crownins, £20,000, for her capture, dead or alive. (COMIC: Duel of the Daleks) Later, an English woman believed to be Lady Penelope led an attack on the Bereznik castle prison of Kirov that was thought by TV 21 to be either a general revolt or an attempt to force the release of Professor Laryak. (PROSE: Fireball Mystery Flight!)
Shortly after her return from Bereznik, Lady Penelope made a sudden departure for Unity City by Fireflash Airliner. It was believed by TV 21's editor that she may have gone to investigate the assassination of the Astran Kaplan. (PROSE: Kaplan Assassinated!) Indeed, she had deduced, with the help of Parker, that the assassin must have been the gambler Count Lugosti. After tracking him down to a casino, she forced him to confess, and left him tied up in an alley for Steve Zodiac to find, after send him in an anonymous tip-off over the phone. (COMIC: Lady Penelope)
Asked by the editor TV 21 to write an article about the rebuilding of Paris, Lady Penelope suspected sabotage after several explosions occurred near the clearance vehicles in operation. She and Parker investigated the area beneath the Banque Nationale, discovering that Mr Steelman had not perished in Pompeii and was planning something, but were arrested by the French authorities after emerging from Steelman's hideout. The duo was able to escape after Penelope was allowed access to her handbag containing a disguised highly condensed laser which easily cut through the cell wall as well as a putting a temporary hypnosis on the guards. Leaving Paris for Strasbourg and on Mr Steelman's tail, Lady Penelope and Parker broke into the Trans-Europe Monorail Headquarters to learn more of his plans after he had done the same thing the previous day. They found that one thousand million pounds of gold was scheduled to be taken from Strasbourg to Berlin to pay for isotopes. Using a hoverjet to follow the gold to the lake where Steelman derailed the train in such a way that was untraceable to anybody else, Lady Penelope and Parker returned to Strasbourg to fetch FAB 1 upon learning where he was storing the bullion. The next day, they both engaged Steelman's robots in a firefight in FAB 1 which was ultimately ended by Penelope throwing a case of explosive cigarettes from the car around them. Although Steelman himself escaped again, they told the German authorities of the gold and a police officer promised to arrange the dropping of the charges against Parker and herself. (COMIC: The Return of Mr. Steelman)
On 3 July, TV 21 reported on the arrest of Penelope in Paris on suspicion of placing explosives in a demolition area. (PROSE: XL5 Collision Course!) On 10 July, TV 21 reprinted a wanted notice which the French section of the European Police Force had issued. It stated she had escaped from prison and was awaiting trial on charges of "bomb plotting". (PROSE: Ghost Castle Mutiny) On 14 August, reports were coming in that Penelope and Parker had broken their way into the bullion train which was heading to Berlin. (PROSE: Ghost Ship Hunted!) On 4 September, it was printed that Hans Werger of the German Air Police had witnessed a "fierce gun battle" while flying over the Black Forest. (PROSE: Black Forest Siege!)
Shortly after the release of Dr. Who and the Daleks (PROSE: Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!) in 2065, (PROSE: Peaceful Thals Ambushed!) Lady Penelope decided to investigate, and meet up with, the film's stars. She also tried to arrange for the Doctor himself to attend the gathering, but he was unavailable, with Penelope speculating that he was busy actually fighting the Daleks. (PROSE: Lady Penelope Investigates the stars of the Sensational new film Dr. Who and the Daleks!)
In November 2065, Penelope and Parker travelled to the Isle of Arran in search of a valuable ruby. While on the island, she pursued a mysterious man who used the call sign "Hawk" and aimed to locate the ruby's hiding place first. The Hawk made several attacks on Penelope and Parker and, at some point, her vehicle Fab One was damaged beyond use, later being repaired. (PROSE: FAB1 Back in Action!)
As International Rescue's London agent
Agent J. Gray of the Universal Secret Service discovered "by secret detection" that Lady Penelope had applied for a job as a part owner of an emergency rescue service. Agent Twenty One confirmed that Penelope would be joining the Tracy brothers and "their fantastic crafts" in Thunderbirds later in the year. (PROSE: J. Gray)
A mystery phone call to the TV 21 offices revealed that Lady Penelope had received an invisible ray torch. World scientists were said to be excited by the discovery, as was the Hood. (COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons)
Personality
When Lady Penelope and Parker first met and after they had got shot at and almost blown up, he asked him why she did what she did and she replied with "excitement". Enjoying the criminal element and describing her profession as a special agent working for herself, she told him that it was convenient to allow people to think she was just one of the idle rich, when in reality she and a few trustworthy friends knew such a life would thoroughly bore her. Lady Penelope did not have a cabin crew for her yacht Seabird I because when employees had found out about her "adventures" they left her for a quieter life. Parker offered up lion-taming and alligator wrestling as joking examples, only for Penelope to say she had one captain leave for the circus because he wanted to be shot out of a cannon. (COMIC: Mr. Steelman)
For all her escapades, Lady Penelope had a softer side and was highly fashionable, wearing an array of different outfits. (COMIC: Mr. Steelman, Lady Penelope et al.) She insisted on getting Parker a proper uniform if he was to act as her chauffeur and delicately referred to some approaching missiles as "nasty torepedo things". She carried a handbag and lipstick, both of which doubled as hidden gadgets, and was not averse to using her perceived femininity to her advantage. When she was granted a last wish by Mr Steelman before her execution, she asked for her lipstick which concealed a gas, commenting that "a girl feels much better when she puts on fresh make-up". (COMIC: Mr. Steelman) While she was imprisoned in a French jail awaiting trial on bomb charges, she asked for access to her handbag, which contained a laser device that later allowed herself and Parker to escape. The police officer dealing with the request playfully replied "But certainly. That is something a Frenchman understands. A lady likes to look beautiful, no?".
Lady Penelope disliked lying, claiming she didn't "usually resort to such naughty tactics", but was not completely against telling a "tiny little white lie" when "an emergency" called for it. (COMIC: The Return of Mr. Steelman)
Behind the scenes
Lady Penelope is a major character in the Thunderbirds franchise and had her own comic strip in TV Century 21 running concurrently to The Daleks.
Within Thunderbirds, Lady Creighton-Ward was a woman in her 20s in the series' "present day" of the 2060s. She is used as such in the numerous minor crossovers between the DWU and Thunderbirds which occurred in the pages of TV Century 21. Consequently, her having a house on 1997 Earth in The Dying Days is a minor continuity error.
She was played by Sophia Myles in the 2004 Thunderbirds film.
