Mystery Woman Shot Dead (short story)

Mystery Woman Shot Dead was a short story printed in Lady Penelope in 1966.

The closest thing the publication ever got to a "cover" story, a common occurence in its sister magazine TV Century 21, the story was of relevance to the Doctor Who universe by closely tying-in to the crossover comic The Assassination Threat.

Summary
Universal News report on a recent shooting in France. An eye-witness reveals that there was a casualty, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the English aristocrat Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward.

Characters

 * Penelope Creighton-Ward

Worldbuilding

 * The French International News Agency (FINA) initially reported on the shooting and Universal News covered it on the front page the next day.
 * The dead woman is described as blonde, of medium height, and in her twenties. She has not been formally identified.

Story notes

 * Mystery Woman Shot Dead is similar to the regularly featured "cover" stories of TV Century 21 in the sense that it is printed on the cover of the magazine and framed as the front page of a newspaper reporting on the happenings within the issue. However, there are some notable differences. Firstly, the newspaper is not a fictionalised version of Lady Penelope as with TV 21 but an entirely fictional one entitled Universal News. Secondly, the cover date reads "1966", the real world date of publication, unlike TV21 which always had a publication date of exactly one hundred years into the future. Thirdly, the story is solely dedicated to Thunderbirds. TV21 usually had a main headline and then one or two smaller articles tying-in to other strips within the issue.

Continuity

 * The woman is said to have died "yesterday" in a French clinic. (COMIC: The Assassination Threat)
 * The woman is said to heavily resemble Lady Penelope. She orchestrated the ruse to get the Bereznik agents who wanted her dead off of her tail. (COMIC: The Assassination Threat)