Lord Sutcliffe

Lord Sutcliffe is the main antagonist of the Doctor Who episode "Thin Ice".

He was portrayed by Nicholas Burns.

Sutcliffe was a wealthy businessman, whose family had owned a large sea serpent, which was kept chained in the River Thames. The family would feed people to the creature for its dung, which Sutcliffe sold as fuel as it was hotter and could burn for longer than coal, even underwater. The creature's dung was greater than anything else at the time of the Insdustrial Revolution. During frost fairs in London, Sutcliffe would use them to lure unsuspecting people onto the frozen river to be food for the creature. It is known that Sutcliffe's henchmen were able to persuade con artists to lure people to the fair to increase the crowd.

In 1814, (the year of the last great frost fair) Sutcliffe planned to detonate explosives to crack the ice during the fair and cause all the attendees to fall into the river and be devoured by the creature, to cause widespread panic and deaths before the ice thaws and keep the creature a secret. He met the Twelfth Doctor and his companion Bill Potts. When Sutcliffe made racial remarks towards Bill (due to the colour of her skin), the Doctor came to his companion's defence and punched Sutcliffe in the face. After his henchmen restrained the Doctor and Bill, Sutcliffe had them sent to the fair where they were tied up to also become food for the creature.

Luckily, the Doctor and Bill were able to break free from their binds and planned to set the creature free without it eating the people at the fair. Bill, along with help from some urchins, was able to get people off ice to safety, whilst the Doctor moved the explosives to the creatures chains.

When Sutcliffe detonated the explosives, the creature was freed from its chains, causing the ice to crack. Sutcliffe met his end after falling through the ice into the river and drowned. His fortune was left to his cousin, but the Doctor changed the name on the will to that of an urchin named Perry, who is eventually deemed the legitimate heir.