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 The Spectrum: Lady Penelope, 1968
The Spectrum was the second foray for Lady Penelope into a strip concerning on a pop group. But whereas The Monkees was a zany television comedy fantasy, with a format ready made for comics, the adventures of the Spectrum group were - despite being the same as the famous security organisation - more run of the mill.
The band first came to the attention of Lady Penelope readers in the summer of 1967. In issue 80, dated 29 July 1967, the editorial page introduced them in a feature titled 'Want To Know About A Happening?'. Apparently lined up for 'a new television series, which will be on your screens in the autumn - AND they will be making a couple of full length feature films...', the boys were namechecked, appearing in their regular outfits with THE SPECTRUM stitched up the side of the trousers. 'So don't let their 21st Century gear fool you!' the feature ended, 'This group is happening NOW!'
Two months later, in issue 88, Linda Small of Leicester wrote in to ask, 'Since they wear special clothes on stage, do they each have one set - or do they keep several outfits in the same style? Also, do any of them design their own clothes?'. Colin Forsey replied, 'Our original stage uniform, I designed, with 'Spectrum' written down the side of the trousers. Then we changed our gear to correspond with the new television series, and the new uniform was designed by Sylvia Anderson.' Coming the week before Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons aired in the UK (for some viewers at least. Others would have to wait until the new year...), this would probably have bemused some readers, but a colour pin-up in issue 92 (below) would clear up any confusion.
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Colin Forsey... Captain Scarlet
Date of birth: June 19, 1945
Height: 5ft 8.5ins
Colour of hair: Sexy brown!
Colour of eyes: Hazel
Favourite drink: Pineapple juice
Favourite food: Steak, spaghetti
Hobbies: Writing songs, and art
Instruments played: Rhythm guitar,
harmonica, and piano
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Bill Chambers... Lieutenant Green
Date of birth: May 5, 1945
Height: 5ft 11ins
Colour of hair: Black
Colour of eyes: Brown
Favourite drink: Vodka/Orange
Favourite food: Porterhouse Steak
Hobbies: Playing the organ
Instruments played: Organ, piano,
and guitar
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Anthony Judd... Captain Blue
Date of birth: January 30, 1946
Height: 5ft 10.5ins
Colour of hair: Dark brown!
Colour of eyes: 1 brown, 1 green
Favourite drink: Beer
Favourite food: All good food
Hobbies: Photography and cars
Instruments played: Bass guitar
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Keith Forsey... Captain Ochre
Date of birth: January 4, 1948
Height: 5ft 7.5ins
Colour of hair: Fair
Colour of eyes: Hazel
Favourite drink: Orange, and Coca Cola
Favourite food: Spaghetti
Hobbies: Painting, photography, and reading poetry
Instruments played: Drums, and harmonica
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Tony Atkins... Captain Magenta
Date of birth: June 8, 1945
Height: 5ft 8.5ins
Colour of hair: Brown
Colour of eyes: Hazel
Favourite drink: Coca Cola
Favourite food: Any type of good food, and Steak
Hobbies: Fishing, eating
Instruments played: Lead guitar, and second banjo
The build-up in publicity, and consequent biographies (see above) in issue 97, highlight the myth that the group were seen as the British answer to the Monkees. It was quite obvious, and all too quickly, that this was not the case. A strip based on the group failed to bring them any of the expected fame, even if these occasionally included their gig and tour appearances.
 Written by Angus Allan, who had also scripted The Monkees, the first story tries to springboard off the groups's biggest UK hit single 'Portobello Road', though this ultimately failed to chart. In this, Allan grounds the group in pseudo-reality by having them buy a old antique shop to keep them in readies between gigs. As a comic format, this was an admirable idea, and could - if the group were a success - have worked well as the start of many adventures. But perhaps these did not capture the imagination of the girl readership, as well as the single being months old, and was dropped after the second story.
As such, these were fairly standard comic fare, the characters of the five group members tailored to what the story required. "I never met any of 'em!' Allan recalls - a matter in common with other strips such as The Partridge Family, Haircut One Hundred and Bucks Fizz which he would later write for Look-In. 'Except for members of Slik and Flintlock whose lives I did in strip form. All the rest were just handled in the same way as the character merited.'
The second story returned to the music world, in a bizarre - almost kinky - tale where an eccentric crook and her leather-clad girls attempt to use the boys to smuggle stolen booty in their instrument cases. Scooby-Doo, eat you heart out! The subsequent, and final, pair of stories saw adventures that took place while on tour doing gigs, even if these did not really involve music. In what could later have been dubbed 'Five Pop Guys And A Baby', a remote Scottish location is backdrop to some impromptu babysitting. And the finale concerns the tenuous band loyalties with frontsman Colin falling for a girl who he wants to join as vocalist - only she can't sing - and drives a wedge between the rest of the group. There is a bittersweet ending, and while the adventure is firmly in the 'girls own romance' league, it does somehow manage to bring a lump to the throat in its concise ending. When asked if his own take on the characters, especially the conflict between brothers Keith and Colin Forsey in this final tale, even illicited any comment from the band members, Angus Allan simply commented, 'The strips never got any feedback at all...'
The Spectrum strip guide
The Spectrum’s big hit “Portobello Road” comes to life.. right here!
Story One
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Tom Kerr. 1 page, b/w.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 103, dated 06 January 1968
 Hi! Name’s Colin Forsey… leader of the Spectrum pop group. A glamourous life, you reckon? All stardust and good hard cash? No, sir… sometimes it can be as dodgy as any other job. For us, no bookings means no work…
Colin has arranged to meet the rest of the group in Portobello Road, London, where he shows them a shop – ‘The Anteeky Parlour’ – he has rented for them. The boys think he is mad, but the business is to give them some security between bookings. Inside, the shop is a mess but Colin is sure it will only take a couple of days to sort the junk from the good stuff. It takes a couple of weeks, and hard work, before the shop is ready for business. By eight o’clock, then there is not a single customer, but then there is a faint creak as the back door opens. Thinking it is burglars, the boys wait… and see a sad eyed young girl standing there, clutching what appears to be an Olympic Gold Medal…
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 104, dated 13 January 1968
The Big Chase!
The girl introduces herself as Julie Dixon, and she wants to sell the medal – 1952 Olympics, Ladies’ Diving Championships. But Colin is suspicious it could be stolen, and despite Julie’s pleas it is hers, he picks up the phone to call where the girl lives to check. Julie snatches the medal back and flees, so Colin and Anthony give chase as she boards a London bus. She gets off at Hammersmith Bridge, but they are horrified to see her start to climb the barrier. Colin rushes forward and grasps at the medal ribbon to hold her, but it snaps and Julie plunges backwards…
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 105, dated 20 January 1968
Julia's high dive!
Colin and Anthony watch in amazement as Julie arches into a beautifully controlled dive into the river. Running to the embankment, they spot her swimming for some cabin cruisers, and borrow a rowboat. But on the water, they hear a cruiser’s engines start… and she rams them! After a swim, the boys squelch back to the shop, where Bill thinks he knows the girl’s name. And in the paper he finds her photo by the headline ‘Millionaire’s Daughter Feared Kidnapped’…
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 106, dated 27 January 1968
Another Chase!
The boys are puzzled why a millionaire’s daughter would want to sell a gold medal, and she certainly hasn’t been kidnapped! Bill reads that ‘Old Man Dixon’ owns a week-end cottage at Henley, so they decide to check there. By night, Colin, Keith and Anthony arrive at the ‘cottage’, which is a large stately house, and see Julie inside. Stealing inside, they confront the girl when Keith spots a photo of a woman diving. Julie cries out it is her mother, and she hates her! But then Anthony spots a police car outside, and fears they may be thought the kidnappers if found with her…
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 107, dated 03 February 1968
Escape!
Colin takes Julie and the boys out to the car, back to her parents at a place just outside Brighton. Arriving just as dawn I breaking, they find Ms Dixon, the woman diving in the photo, sitting outside on a cliff top – in a wheelchair! As the boys explain, Mrs Dixon is bewildered when Julie blurts out she wanted to hurt her. The girl has everything, but her freedom, and flees. Mrs Dixon tries to reach out ands wheels too near some cliff steps – and topples over the edge…
Part 6: Lady Penelope issue 108, dated 10 February 1968
A bad fall!
Mrs Dixon falls into the sea, and Colin and Keith see a boat which their only chance to rescue her. But before either can act, Julie dives effortlessly from the cliff. Mrs Dixon screams for the guys to save Julie instead, but the girl swims over to her mother and pulls her from the sea. Catching up, Colin and Keith tells Mrs Dixon it is a good thing Julie rebelled against her wishes - learning to swim and dive saved her life. The two are reunited, and Mrs Dixon becomes Julie's coach.
The Spectrum - When and Where!:
• December 30: Dee Time (BBC TV) Simon Dee's popular programme of interviews, chat and gossip... and The Spectrum boys will sing their latest disc!
• December 31: Golden Torch Club, Stoke-on-Trent. Watch out Midlands... The Spectrum will be invading you on new year's Eve!
• January 4: BBC Radio 1 - Pop North.
• On January 8th, 9th and 10th, The Spectrum will be in Holland, doing a TV Spectacular.
• January 12 – they’ll be back home, playing a date at Watford Town Hall.
• January 27: New Century Hall, Manchester
• January 28: Tiffany’s Club, London
• February 2: El Rondo Club, Leicester
• February 3: Rutherfords College, Kent
• February 5: Carlton Club, Warrington
• February 9: Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow
• February 10: Town Hall, Hawick, Scotland
Notes:
• Oops - in the first frame of part 5, Bill suddenly appears - and then disappears again!
A Strange Booking! (Story Two)
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Tom Kerr. 1 page, b/w.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 109, dated 17 February 1968
Bill Chambers here.. organist and pianist with the Spectrum pop group. Last week the boys and I had just opened our shop, The Anteeky Parlour, when the weirdest thing happened!
To the band's amazement, a limousine pulls up outside, and an immaculate chauffeuse walks in with an invitation: The Spectrum have been selected to play at a private party to be given by Madame du Langier on Friday next. Fee Payable One Thousand Guineas. The band have questions, which the chauffeuse cannot answer, but gives the address: Thornton grange in Essex. However, for that fee, they accept - only to find on the night Thornton Grange is a run down house. But a lady in dark glasses and an evening dress, with a leopard for a pet, who bids them to enter. There does not seem to be a party but she wants them to play...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 110, dated 24 February 1968
Another booking...
The boys wonder where the lady’s guests are but she replies for now, they are entertaining only her. Despite the odd circumstances, for a thousand guinea fee, the boys play, and ten minutes later are really swinging. Then the doors burst open, and three leather clad women enter, explaining they were delayed by traffic. Thinking these are guests, Colin asks is they should carry on but are told no, and given their fee. But Madame du Langier and her friends are leaving for Paris tomorrow, and she asks if they are free to come with them and perform for the same fee. Colin agrees, and the boys are sat done alone to an elaborate dinner. But Keith thinks something fishy is going on, and tries to leave – only to find Madame’s leopard guarding the door…
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 111, dated 02 March 1968
Bill goes exploring!
Bill is suspicious that they seem to be prisoners but the others seem happy to earning the money. Anne-Marie shows the band their accommodation - basic but well planned. While the others fall asleep, Bill lies awake pondering the situation... and hears Colin's rhythm guitar! From a hiding place on the landing, he sees Madame du Lagier carrying their instruments into a room. Inside, he sees her and the two girls taking them apart...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 112, dated 09 March 1968
Bill's caught!
Bill confronts the women, only to be thrown by Lisa... straight into a pile of jewels. They are thieves, and want The Spectrum in odrer to be able to smuggle their stolen loot in their instruments. Bill is bound and gagged, with Sheba the leopard as guard. Thinking the guys will get get suspicious of his disappearance, Bill is shocked the next morning to hear Madame tell them he left with Lisa on an earlier flight...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 113, dated 16 March 1968
It IS too late!
As the boys make a start, Bill struggles to his feet, and finds a rusty nail in the wall that he able to fray the rope with. Throwning a champagne bottle at the leopard, he runs up the stairs to find one of the leather-clad women left as guard. He throws himself at her and overcomes the woman in a brief struggle. She tells him Madame du Langier is flying from the private Arlingday airfield, five miles away. Rushing outside, Bill finds a garage – and a police car. Detective Sergeant Willis knows who he is, and tells him he is under arrest…
Part 6: Lady Penelope issue 114, dated 23 March 1968
The big chase!
Willis tells him Madame du Langier rang to say she had caught a young burglar and tied him up in the cellar. Bill has to act fast, and in a desperate gamble pushes the police out the way and steals their car. At the airfield, Madame and the boys are just boarding her plane when they spot the car approaching. Colin finds himself held at gunpoint by Madame, but Anthony swings his guitar case at her – and jewels spray out of it! Bill is closely followed by the police, who arrest Madame and her accomplices, who must have burgling for months. The thousand guinea fee is in fakes notes too, but there should be a reward – which will just about pay for a new set of instruments. That’s show business!
The Spectrum - When and Where!:
• February 17: Hastings Pier Pavillion
• February 18: Bulls Head, Coventry Road, Birmingham
• February 23: Manor Place Baths, Walworth, S.E.17.
• March 2: St, John's College, York
• March 5: Hull University
• March 7: New Baths Ballroom, Scunthorpe
• March 8: Ministry of Social Security, Blackpool
• March 8: Acton Town Hall
Notes:
• At the end of part 5, Detective Sergeant Willis identifies Bill - but would a suspected burglar identify himself so readily to his captor, so she can tell the police?
Story Three
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Tom Kerr. 1 page, b/w.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 115, dated 30 March 1968
Hi, Keith Forsey here, drummer with the Spectrum group. One of the worst things about going on tour and living away from home, is finding decent digs. Take the other week, for instance, when the boys and I arrived by train to play in a small Scottish town!
 It is one of those occasions where everybody thought someone else had booked the accommodation... and nobody had. Bill goes on to the theatre, and finds digs through Luigi the juggler, one of the other acts. This turns out to be an empty farmhouse, and the boys are dropped by Luigi. But that night, they hear a wailing noise, and are surprised to find a baby has been left on the doorstep...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 116, dated 06 April 1968
Nappy Happy!
The boys think the baby must have been abandoned in their clothes trunk while changing trains at Crewe. But without a phone, they cannot call for hekp - so the boys pitch in to look after the baby. Colin tries to feed him, Bill bathes him, and finally Keith manages to change the nappy. The year-old baby is tireless, so they boys give him his rattle, and some empty coffee tins with some pennies in, to play with. They leave the baby in the hope he will fall asleep, but when they return they find him balancing the tins on his head with astonishing ease...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 117, dated 13 April 1968
Junior Juggler!
Keith realises the boy must be Luigi's, which would explain the juggling. They must have picked up a cot with all their gear, and the baby had crawled into thir trunk while in his van. But they have no means of transprt to return the baby. At a nearby farm, they ask a shepherd for help, and he says they can uses 'Auld Bessie' in the barn. But Bessie is no car, but a horse with a cart...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 118, dated 20 April 1968
Bessie does her best!
As Bessie sets off with the boys in the cart, Keith does his best to soothe the baby. After a three hour journey, they finally pull up outside the theatre where Luigi is performing - badly! Stage manager Mr grimes is about to pull the juggler off the stage when the baby, unseen by the biys, crawls to join his father. Together, father and son juggle - and are an instant hit with the audience! Now they can only hope Bessie does not get a parking ticket!
 Notes:
• In issue 115, coinciding with part 1 of this story, The Monkees (plus Gina) become 'The Spectrum' (and an Angel - right) to try and rescue kidnapped Peter Tork - only to be told 'The Spectrum are on another page!'
Story Four
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Tom Kerr. 1 page, b/w.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 119, dated 27 April 1968
Hi, Keith Forsey here... drummer with the Spectrum pop group. Buzzing round the country as we do, one one-night stands, the boys and I very seldom get the chance to go steady with any particular girl. In a way, I suppose we're just too busy for romance...
The boys arrive at their hotel in the Midlands, to be surrounded by loyal girl fans. During the inevitable autograph signing, Keith is nudged by Tony, to see his brother Colin chatting to a beautiful blonde girl. The incident is forgotten until rehearsals later, and Colin is twenty minutes late - with the girl, Julie, in tow. Julie is also a singer, and Colin would like her to audition... and join as lead vocalist...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 120, dated 04 May 1968
Julie sings!
Keith thinks Colin is out of his mind, more so when Julie sings - flat, off-key and with no sense of timing! Keith decides Julie is not going to sing with The Spectrum, now or at any time, to which Colin replies either she joins, or he leaves the group...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 121, dated 11 May 1968
Where is Colin?
Keith stands his ground, and Colin and Julie walk out. But returning to their hotel, they find Colin has taken all his gear and left! Bill finds a slip of paper with Julie's address on it, and the boys drive round to see if he is there. But they only find Julie's mother, in tears as Julie has also taken all her clothes, and left a note to say she and Colin have eloped...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 122, dated 18 May 1968
Another Chase!
Julie’s mum tells them they have gone to Gretna Green, and Keith and Bill decide to catch up in the van. Heading north on the A1, Keith ponders if they are doing the right thin if Colin and Julie are in love. But then Bill, just south of Carlisle, spots Colin hitch-hiking back south! Picking him up, they find Colin and Julie had got to Carlisle, but on the bus journey there, all she could talk about was becoming a lead singer. She did not want to marry, and only saw Colin as a stepping stone in her career, so he spent his last fiver on her fare home. So end’s Colin’s first real love… but he still has her photo, and will probably never forget her.
Notes:
• The final part has a caption at the bottom of the page: PSSST! Our Artist has made a deliberate mistake on this page! Can you spot it? Answer on page 16!
• The answer is: Colin is thumbing a lift (picture 4) on the wrong side of the road!
Lady Penelope Annual @1968
 The Spectrum
Writer: Angus Allan (?).
Artist: Jim Baikie.
Pages 74-77, colour.
Hi, Keith Forsey here, drummer with the Spectrum pop group. Playing on tour all over the country is gruelling work, so if you have a hobby to take your mind off things now and again, it helps a lot...
The boys have played a matinee performance in the Midlands, and while Keith photographs the crowds outside the theatre he is approached by aspiring model Lisa Johnson. She wants him to photograph her as she cannot afford a professional studio session, and Keith agrees. Days later, Lisa arrives with fashion agent Maxie Johnson, who has got her a modelling session in Paris through Keith's pictures, and wants him to do the shoot. Keith agrees, but after the long shoot in a deserted house, Maxie coshes him out. Keith recovers to find the rest of the group there, who have followed him and explain Benton has used him to photograph the secret spring designs of top designer Pietro Romanoff...
Notes:
• A similar idea to the 'Madame du Langier' strip, with the boys unwittingly mixed up in a criminal scam.
 The artist throughout the short run was Tom Kerr, no stranger to girls comics or pop groups, as he had kicked off the Monkees strip in late 1966. Replaced by Harry Lindfield when the series' popularity took off, and the strip was promoted to colour, Kerr took refuge in the Monkees annuals, virtually illustrating single-handed the first two editions. For their one appearance in a Lady Penelope annual, the Spectrum strip was drawn by newcomer Jim Baikie, who would succeed Kerr as the main artist for the Monkees' third and final edition in 1969.
With fame eluding the group, echoing the changes in fortune for Century 21 Publishing, the strip was dropped as Lady Penelope dropped her title to became plain Penelope in the summer of 1968.
The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Angus Allan
and Scott Swanson
- for his help with this feature.
Version 1.1 - 01.09.05
Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.
All text © The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, and its respective writers, and may not be reproduced without permission.
All images © their respective copyright holders
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