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Thunderbirds Aren’t Go: Sylvia Anderson cancels nationwide tour

By John Freeman on January 26, 2010

Fans of Gerry Anderson’s 1960s cult puppet show Thunderbirds are downhearted that Lady Penelope, aka Sylvia Anderson, has pulled out of a nationwide tour – citing lack of interest.

Sylvia, now in her 80s, was to have been in conversation at several venues across the UK with composer and record producer David Courtney, to talk about her long-awaited biography My Fab Years and her time working on some of Britain’s best-loved children’s shows, from the early ‘Supermarionation’ days of Thunderbirds, for which she provided the voice of superspy Lady Penelope, and live action series Space:1999 and UFO.

The cancellation comes despite what we’re told were strong sales at some venues: downthetubes say her agent claims that there hadn’t been enough interest in the tour.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.