Carl (The Man from MI.5)

Carl was the leader of a gang which, in 1965, plotted to steal the plans to a nuclear device with the potential to endanger the entire world.

To this end, he boarded the yacht of MI5 agent Captain Blacker and shot him five times. Carl proceeded to rifle through various documents in his desk until he located the blueprints, making his escape by first blowing up the boat. The explosion was witnessed by agents Jimmy Bondson and Tidman, the former of which called International Rescue for help in retrieving the plans. Later, Carl read in a French newspaper that fashion model Gayle Williams, in actuality Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, was intent on tracking down the culprits. The details in the article, such as the description of the type of firearm used, gave Carl sufficient reason to plan her death in order to contain the seriousness of the situation.

Carl successfully kidnapped Lady Penelope from FAB 2 and brought her to a boathouse where he tied her up. He explained to her that their plan was to explode the boathouse which would cause the patrol boats to investigate, allowing the gang to escape in their hidden submarine. After Carl left to join Ritter and the Third Man, Penelope was able to contact Jeff Tracy in an attempt to prevent the fruition of Carl's plans. With three minutes to go before detonation, Gordon Tracy began to drill into the submarine. Although Carl questioned the cause of the noise, he was unable to identify it until Gordon achieved penetration with just seconds to spare. Carl called for his associates to quickly put on their oxygen masks as he witnessed the release of the tranquilliser but all three criminals failed in this, as well as in destroying the boathouse, before they collapsed in state of unconsciousness on the floor. Gordon subsequently entered the submarine to recover the plans and Lady Penelope returned them to Bondson in the Forest of Digne. (TV: The Man from MI.5)

Other sources dated the activities of International Rescue to the 1990s, (PROSE: The Dying Days) the 2060s, (PROSE: Titan Declares War! et al.) and the 2080s. (PROSE: Captain Scarlet in Death Crash! et al.)

Behind the scenes
The puppet which "played" Carl was also seen in several other episodes of Thunderbirds. It appeared in a silent capacity as a cameraman in Danger at Ocean Deep and as a gambler in The Duchess Assignment.