H is for... Hartigan, Miss

Miss Mercy Hartigan was the cruel and sadistic matron of St Joseph's workhouse in London, 1851.  She had encountered a group of Cybermen who had escaped from the Void and were stranded in the city. She agreed to help them in return for personal power. She helped arrange the killing of the Rev Aubrey Fairchild, so that all of the local workhouse superintendents would gather together for the funeral. Miss Hartigan shocked the assembled mourners by turning up at the graveside in a scarlet dress. It was not just the attire which shocked, as women were not permitted to attend burials at this time. A squad of Cybermen, accompanied by Cybershades, attacked the mourners. Everyone was killed apart from the workhouse supervisors. They were placed under the mental control of the Cybermen, who wanted their young charges as slave labour to complete their Cyberking - a huge Cyberman-shaped dreadnought, with a conversion facility in its body.

Miss Hartigan was shocked to learn that she was to become enslaved to the Cyberking as its controller, but her mind was so strong that she rebelled against their conditioning. She destroyed the Cyber-Leader and took control of the Cyberking - intent of wreaking her revenge on patriarchal Victorian society. The Doctor took to the air in a hot air balloon and used an infostamp to break her mental link to the other Cybermen. Horrified at what she had become, she destroyed them along with herself, whilst the Doctor transported the Cyberking into the Void.

Played by: Dervla Kirwan. Appearances: The Next Doctor (2008).

• Russell T Davies later stated that Miss Hartigan had been the victim of sexual abuse, which is why she hated men so much. As this was a Christmas Special, he decided not to make any overt reference to this.
• Kirwan first came to fame playing the character Assumpta Fitzgerald in the BBC comedy drama Ballykissangel. She portrayed the same character in cameos in two other series - The Vicar of Dibley and Father Ted.
• She wore black contact lenses when playing the Cyberking, but they did not fit very well, so CGI had to be used to black out her eyes completely.