Hawthorne was Prime Minister to Liz 10, Queen of England, aboard the generational spaceship Starship UK in the late 33rd century. Starship UK held the entire population of Great Britain (apart from Scotland, which had set up its own starship), which had fled from the dying Earth to find a new home out in space. Hawthorne was based in the Tower of London, which had been relocated to the spaceship. From here he controlled the Winders - half human, half mechanical people who acted as a police and security force - as well as the Smilers, which were fully mechanical.
Only Hawthorne was constantly aware of the terrible secret which underpinned Starship UK's journey through the stars. Its engines did not work, and at some point in the distant past the humans had captured a huge whale-like creature which had come to investigate the stricken vessel. They had secured it beneath the spaceship, then tortured it into propelling the ship through space. As most people found this abuse of a sentient creature alarming, the population elected to have the memory of what they were doing erased. Occasionally someone would find out, and they would be invited to vote to either remember what they knew, or to forget it once again. If enough people voted to remember, however, the creature would be released but this might lead to the destruction of the spaceship. Liz 10 confronted Hawthorne at the Tower, demanding to know what he was keeping from her, and he informed her that she frequently discovered the secret, and always asked to forget it again.
When Amy Pond realised that the creature had originally come to help anyway, she realised that it would continue to do so even if not coerced into helping.
Played by: Terrence Hardiman. Appearances: The Beast Below (2010).
- Hardiman is probably best known for his role as The Demon Headmaster, in the BBC children's drama of that name.
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