Anderson's Thunderbirds are going, going, gone

Thunderbirds have gone. In a sale that surely would have horrified International Rescue's upper-crust London agent, Lady Penelope was auctioned off last night.

She was put on the market along with her faithful Cockney chauffeur, Aloysius Parker, and Alan Tracy, the dashing pilot of Thunderbird 3.

Gerry Anderson, the television producer who devised Thunderbirds, parted with the figures more than 35 years after creating them as the successor to his first hit, Stingray.

The original puppet of Parker, a habitual criminal who was caught helping himself to the contents of a safe by Lady Penelope, was judged most valuable, with bids expected to reach £40,000. Another original puppet of Alan Tracy was expected to fetch up to £16,000, while a cast of Lady Penelope, taken from her original mould, was expected to go for £14,000.

They were on sale along with the moon buggy used by James Bond to escape his foes in Diamonds Are Forever, which was expected to fetch £200,000. It became famous when Sean Connery drove it through a moon-like Nevada landscape.

Other highlights at the auction at Planet Hollywood in London included Dr Evil's costume from the film Austin Powers and props from Gladiator, Sleepy Hollow and Mission: Impossible.