P is for... Peinforte, Lady

Lady Peinforte resided in 17th Century Windsor, accompanied by her servant Richard Maynard. 

A ruthless individual, she once poisoned her neighbour after she stole her cook.

In the 1630's she discovered a silvery substance in a meteorite which had fallen to earth, and realised that it had strange powers. She fashioned the substance int a statue of herself posing as Nemesis, the goddess of retribution. The substance was actually a Time Lord weapon - a living metal named Validium - which had been brought from Gallifrey by the Doctor. He succeeded in wrestling it from her and launched it back into space.

Lady Peinforte employed a mathematician to plot the time and palce when its orbit would return it to Earth. A mistress of the dark arts, she brewed a potion which she believed would allow her to travel through time to the landing location - which proved to be outside her home in November 1988. The potion needed but one more ingredient - human blood, which she gained by murdering the mathematician. Little did she know that she was actually being manipulated by an ancient entity known as Fenric which, though imprisoned for centuries could create time storms.

On arriving in the present day she found that her home had become a tea room. Not only was she seeking the Nemesis statue, but so also were a group of mercenaries led by a one-time Nazi officer - De Flores. Each held part of the statue, without which it could reach critical mass and its powers be unleashed. She held its arrow, and he its bow. A keen archer, she had melted her gold down and recast it into arrow heads, which she dipped in poison.

The Doctor and his companion also became involved as the he was alerted to the return.

He had regenerated since Lady Peinforte had last seen him, but could still recognise who he was. During her earlier encounter with the Validium, it had revealed secrets to her about his background.

Seeking a weapon to help create a new Mondas, the Cybermen soon arrived in search of the Validium. They seized the statue and moved it to an old crypt nearby - which proved to be that of Lady Peinforte.  Maynard noted that her tomb did not contain her body, however. Her gold-tipped arrows despatched a number of Cybermen.

Later, in trying to obtain the statue, Lady Peinforte threatened to reveal the Doctor's secrets. Physically attempting to seize hold of it, its power consumed her.

Played by: Fiona Walker. Appearances: Silver Nemesis (1988).

• Walker had previously played the villainous Kala in The Keys of Marinus back in 1964.
• She appeared in I, Claudius as Agrippina, and went on to marry its director Herbert Wise.
• Lady Peinforte's name derives from a method of torture /execution - peine forte et dure. This involved the victim being slowly crushed by heavy weights, in cases where someone refused to submit a plea. By dying without a plea, a victim could ensure their property could be inherited by their family and so avoid confiscation by the crown.