H is for... Hutchinson, Sir George

Squire of the English village of Little Hodcombe, Sir George was also the local magistrate. He was eager to host a reenactment of a Civil War battle which had been fought around the village in 1643. During the conflict an alien psychic probe from the planet Halkol had arrived, drawn by the hostility of the combatants. This led to both sides - Cavalier and Roundhead - destroying each other. The probe, known as the Malus, had then become dormant. Sir George's plans for the reenactment reanimated it and it reached out and took over his mind. There would be genuine fear and anger leading to mounting violence during the event, so that the Malus could be fed and re-energised.
Sir George was challenged by local historian Andrew Verney, whom he abducted and held captive. He was Tegan Jovanka's grandfather. Also opposed to the way Sir George was stirring up animosity with his war games was school teacher Jane Hampden. Others though, like Joseph Willow, were also under the Malus' psychic thrall. The reactivation of the probe caused a temporal link to the village at the time of the battle, through which a village boy named Will Tyler came through. Other figures were seen as apparitions, which could be manipulated by the Malus to attack people.
Sir George was going to include the burning of a May Queen in his reenactment, and this would be done for real. The chosen victim was to be Tegan, but she was rescued by Sir George's old friend Ben Wolsey, who had initially been in favour of the event.
When the Malus was about to break free in the derelict local church over which it had lain dormant, Will shoved the squire into its gaping maw. His death broke the psychic link which was reanimating it, and it was destroyed.

Played by: Denis Lill. Appearances: The Awakening (1984).

• Lill had previously played Professor Fendleman in Image of the Fendahl.
• He had been a regular on the original BBC TV series of The Survivors, but is best known to audiences for his recurring role as Rodney's father-in-law in the classic sitcom Only Fools And Horses (in which his wife was played by Wanda Ventham, his old co-star from Image of the Fendahl).
• Lill was injured during the making of The Awakening, when he was crushed against a wall by his horse.