Sylvia Anderson, the co-creator of Thunderbirds who was best known for voicing Lady Penelope in the classic TV show, has died aged 88.

A producer and writer, Anderson created the supermarionation puppet series with her husband, Gerry. She died at her home in Bray, Buckinghamshire, after a short illness.

“Sylvia was a mother and a legend. Her intelligence was phenomenal but her creativity and tenacity unchallenged,” her daughter, Dee Anderson, said. “She was a force in every way, and will be sadly missed.”

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds. Photograph: ITV/Rex

Gerry Anderson, who had Alzheimer’s disease, died in 2012 aged 83. The couple had divorced in 1981.

Thunderbirds told the story of the Tracy family who formed a secret organisation dedicated to saving human life. Anderson portrayed Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward from the show’s debut in 1965 until 1968. The character, a glamorous agent, was modelled on Anderson’s appearance.

Anderson also took on other roles for the series, including character development and costume design. She played the aristocrat’s great aunt in Thunderbirds Are Go, ITV’s 2015 remake, which featured David Graham reprising his original role as Parker, Lady Penelope’s driver.

Born in south London to a boxing champion and a dressmaker, Anderson graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in sociology and political science. She worked as a journalist before joining a TV production company, where she met her future husband.

She went on to have a career in television spanning five decades. As well as voicing Lady Penelope, she worked on Joe 90, Captain Scarlet and Stingray, and recently worked as head of programming for HBO in the UK. She had also been writing a show with her daughter called The Last Station.

Dee Anderson said her mother “would always find time to take care of people who were suffering or in need of support”. They had planned a charity ball for Breast Cancer Care, which will go ahead in May in Sylvia’s memory.



Dee told Press Association that “retirement was a dirty word” to her mother, adding: “She taught me a lot about creativity, about writing. She was the strongest person I’ve ever met – she never gave up.”

On the subject of Anderson’s contribution to Thunderbirds, Dee said: “I know Gerry had his name above the title, because in those days women weren’t really recognised, but she said to me that she didn’t really care.

“I spoke to her about it recently and I said: ‘Weren’t you upset that Gerry got all the kudos?’ and she said: ‘No.’ They were all film-makers ... She didn’t care about being recognised.”

Dee said her mother was emphatic that all the characters she created should have an emotional connection to the audience: “She said that’s why the show has lasted as long as it did, because people cared about the characters.

“I hope I’ve inherited some of her tenacity and strength. I would like her to be remembered as somebody who loved the industry she was in, cared about it and cared about people. I’d like her to be remembered as the first lady of sci-fi.”

David Graham, who voiced Parker in the original Thunderbirds and the ITV remake, hailed Anderson as “very generous”. He said: “It was only recently I was on The Graham Norton Show with her and it was a sort of goodbye as she was looking a little frail.

Scene from Thunderbirds

“I always had a very good professional working relationship with her. She was always very generous to work with and she had a wonderful, creative mind.”

He called her “one of the great innovators of entertainment”, adding: “She will long be remembered for that and I’ll remember her with great affection.”

The comedian David Baddiel, who wrote the Thunderbirds Are Go! episode Designated Driver, which Anderson was also involved in, paid tribute. He tweeted: “She was in my Thunderbirds Are Go episode last year and was fantastic, and lovely.”

The British Film Institute tweeted to say it was saddened by the news.

Rae Earl, writer of the TV series My Mad Fat Diary, tweeted: “Sylvia Anderson was responsible for some of my favourite TV.”

Nick Williams, chairman of Fanderson, a fan club dedicated to the work of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, told BBC Breakfast she was a huge influence on the entertainment industry. He said: “She was one of the first really prominent women in the film and TV industry.”

He added that Anderson left “an amazing legacy of fantastic television, really groundbreaking entertainment”.

Anderson is survived by her daughter, who is a singer-songwriter, son Gerry Anderson Jr, an anaesthetist, four grandchildren and great-granddaughter.