"The Duchess Assignment" is an episode of Thunderbirds, a British Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. Written by Martin Crump and directed by David Elliott, it was first broadcast on 17 February 1966 on ATV Midlands as the 21st episode of Series One. It is the 23rd episode in the official running order.
Set in the 2060s, the series follows the exploits of International Rescue, an organisation that uses technologically-advanced rescue vehicles to save human life. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, founder of International Rescue, and his five adult sons, who pilot the organisation's primary fleet of vehicles: the Thunderbird machines.
The plot of "The Duchess Assignment" follows an elderly British duchess who has lost nearly all of her fortune through gambling so is forced to loan out a valuable painting in her possession to avoid financial ruin. When the duchess is kidnapped by criminals intent on stealing the fee for the painting, the Tracy family must rescue her.
Plot
While holidaying in France, International Rescue agent Lady Penelope (voiced by Sylvia Anderson) finds an old acquaintance – Deborah, Duchess of Royston – losing heavily at a casino. Unaware that criminals Brophy and Chandler are eavesdropping, Deborah tells Penelope that she has been driven gambling after "falling on hard times" and has already lost most of her possessions. Penelope realises that the roulette table has been rigged but is unable to stop the croupiers running off with Deborah's money and tiara. Parker (voiced by David Graham) has a shootout with the casino owner, who escapes in a car driven by one of the croupiers. Penelope and Parker give chase in FAB 1 but the fraudsters get away.
Deborah has just one valuable possession left: Portrait of a Gazelle, a painting by Braquasso. After attending a London airshow and visiting an art gallery with Jeff Tracy (voiced by Peter Dyneley), Penelope tells Jeff of the Duchess's financial problems. Eager to help, Jeff contacts his friend, New York City businessman Wilbur Dandridge, whose gazelle-obsessed company Gazelle Automations is looking for a new logo. Although Deborah is unwilling to sell the painting outright, she agrees to loan it to Dandridge for the same price, and flies to New York to observe the handover.
While preparing to collect Deborah from the airport, Dandridge's chauffeur Hendricks is knocked unconscious by Brophy and Chandler, who plan to steal the Duchess's fee. When Deborah lands, Brophy, posing as Hendricks, drives her to an abandoned country house, ties her to a chair in the basement, switches on a leaking gas supply and leaves her to suffocate. Meanwhile, Chandler arrives at Gazelle Automations with the painting, introducing himself as the Duchess's representative. However, he is unaware that Penelope has warned Dandridge to expect an impostor, having tracked Deborah's movements using a homing device hidden inside a St Christopher brooch that she gave the Duchess as a present. Dandridge pulls a gun on Chandler, who raises his arms in surrender, but in doing so throws the painting into the air, where it is grazed by Dandridge's hastily-fired bullet.
Penelope alerts Tracy Island to Deborah's plight and Jeff dispatches Scott and Virgil (voiced by Shane Rimmer and David Holliday) in Thunderbirds 1 and 2. In the basement, Deborah's attempts to break free of her bindings cause her to knock a ladder into a fuse box, which emits sparks that cause the gas to ignite. Scott and Virgil arrive just as an explosion tears through the house. While Virgil tunnels down to the burning basement in the Mole, Scott uses the DOMO (Demolition and Object Moving Operator) to hold up the house's one surviving wall. Virgil and the freed Deborah clear the area before the wall collapses on top of and destroys the basement.
Penelope, Parker and Dandridge visit Deborah as she recovers in hospital. Brophy, Chandler and the casino fraudsters have all been arrested and all of Deborah's stolen money is being returned to her. Dandridge believes Portrait of a Gazelle to be irreparably damaged, but to everyone's amazement, Deborah unscrews the handle of her umbrella to reveal the painting rolled up inside – the canvas that travelled to New York was a copy. Reporters are offering large sums for the rights to the Duchess's life story, and before long, she is back at the casino.