International Rescue
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International Rescue was a worldwide emergency rescue organisation headed by Jeff Tracy and based on Tracy Island. Its main personnel were Tracy's five sons who each manned or piloted a different Thunderbird craft crucial to their rescue operations. At their base, they were joined by scientist Horatio Hackenbacker (nicknamed "Brains") and engineer Tin-Tin while two more individuals, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker, acted as London agents from their home of Creighton-Ward Manor.
International Rescue responded to calls from anywhere on Earth (TV: The Man from MI.5 et al.) and sometimes even carried out missions of a non-terrestrial scale, (COMIC: Solar Danger) though it was a policy that it did not involve itself with politics or police work. (TV: The Man from MI.5) The organisation used four Thunderbird craft for this purpose, namely Thunderbird 1, the high-speed rapid-response rocket piloted by Scott Tracy; Thunderbird 2, the heavy equipment transporter piloted by Virgil Tracy; (TV: The Man from MI.5 et al.) Thunderbird 3, the space-faring rocket piloted by Alan Tracy; (COMIC: Solar Danger) and Thunderbird 4, the submarine piloted by Gordon Tracy. Thunderbird 5, usually manned by John Tracy, was the organisation's space station and it was used to receive and relay distress signals to Tracy Island. (TV: The Man from MI.5 et al.)
Various accounts dated their activities to the 1960s, (TV: The Man from MI.5) the 1990s, (PROSE: The Dying Days) the 2060s, (PROSE: Titan Declares War!) and the 2080s. (PROSE: Captain Scarlet in Death Crash! et al.)
History
As a test for Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward to determine whether she would be a suitable British agent, Jeff sent her the invisible ray torch, which had been invented by Brains, to see if she could hang onto it despite both the British Secret Service and the Hood attempting to steal it. She was ultimately successful and Jeff and Brains visited Creighton-Ward Manor to offer her the job, which she accepted. Lady Penelope then handed over the (now useless) torch to the Secret Service and Parker drove Jeff and Brains back to London Airport in FAB 1. (COMIC: The Vanishing Ray)
In an account dated to 1965, International Rescue helped MI5 agent Jimmy Bondson to recover some stolen plans to a nuclear device with a potential to endanger the entire world. Jeff sent Lady Penelope to Monte Carlo, the scene of the crime, to investigate and she was able to successfully lure out the culprits by posing as fashion model Gayle Williams and boasting about tracking down the criminals in the local newspaper. She was kidnapped by Carl, the leader of a gang, but was able to alert Tracy Island as to her location and the escape of the gang. Scott, Virgil, and Gordon were sent out to rescue her and recover the plans. Scott achieved the former while Gordon recovered the plans and tranquilised all three members of the gang in the process. (TV: The Man from MI.5)
References
In 2010, when confronting the autopilot of 79B Aickman Road, the Eleventh Doctor adopted the alias of "Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue". (TV: The Lodger) Owen Harper once jokingly told James Mayer that Jack Harkness was calling International Rescue about the alien warning device Torchwood Three had in its possession. (PROSE: Border Princes)
Behind the scenes
International Rescue was a major element of the television science fiction franchise Thunderbirds. Although some Doctor Who universe sources have depicted Thunderbirds itself as a fictional programme, every known reference to the organisation has treated it as real.
