Thunderbirds heroine Dee Anderson – the latest voice of TV puppet icon Lady Penelope – has welcomed a new hotel being built just a mile from where the series was produced, saying it is a “fitting tribute and legacy” to her parents, Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, who created the show.
Dee – who has recently voiced Lady P for a range of Halifax Building Society commercials, taking over from her mum, Sylvia, the original vocal talent in the famous 1960s show – said she was “proud” of the new venture. The new 152-room hotel in Slough will be adorned with images of the characters, spaceage transportation and slogans.
Jazz singer Dee, whose Silver Screen Ball in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital takes place on Saturday 7 December at Pinewood Studios, says: “It’s fab. Thunderbirds Hotel is go!
“My mother had aspirations of Hollywood and she said she had brought Hollywood to Slough Trading Estate [where the show was filmed], her mini-Hollywood. Lady Penelope drove her pink RollsRoyce, Mum drove a pink Sunbeam Alpine, and she took her pink nail varnish to the car sprayers so it would match.
“Mum was the creative part of the partnership, the best of which was Lady Penelope, and as she was so successful Mum took the shade to get the character’s Rolls done.
“Lady P’s face was based on Mum’s face, but her eyes, Mum told me, were taken from mine.”
When it opens in early 2021, Slough’s stylish new Marriottowned Moxy Hotel is set to inspire guests with the town’s long-standing connections to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s show.
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