Why I like Miss Hawthorne
It's Valentine's day, so what's more romantic than witchcraft?
It's a classic tale. Maiden gets captured by sinister cultists. She is rescued by Our Hero. It turns out she's a powerful and canny caster, and he's a well-armed and deadly warrior. Together they bring down the cult and defeat the bad guys. And then they do the "fertility dance" and everyone lives happily ever after. Except here, Our Hero is Sgt. Benton in street clothes, and the fair maiden is so only in a technical sense, and is one Miss Olive Hawthorne, local White Witch. But she is just fantastic, and together they make a great team.
"The Daemons" is a story all about magic and science, but it is not so simple as magic being the villain per se (contrast "the Masque of Mandragora"). The power that the Master is tapping into is real, whatever you call it, and magic and science are more or less just alternate vocabulary sets for describing the same phenomenon. Thus, while the Doctor is opposing the Master paperwork bureaucrat Time Lord to Time Lord, Miss Hawthorne is the voice of White Magic and new age mysticism contrasting the Master's Black Magic and demonic cult, or at least the trappings thereof. She is the only person other than the Doctor who sees a real threat in the Devil's Hump, cautions against opening it, and has some kind of handle on what's going on once the powers trapped inside have been unleashed. She, the Doctor, and the Master form a sort of triangle of competence then, with her being the Doctor's opposite number on the magic-science divide and the Master's opposite on the (mystical) good-evil divide. And she's the only person in Devil's End to see the Master for what he really is, rather than being beguiled by his various shenanigans. She is a Witch in the Terry Pratchett sense: she sees the world as it is and calls it magic.
Miss Hawthorne is a perfect 70s new age style witch. She's got a crystal ball and reads tea leaves. She's named after two trees - and Hawthorne at least is a good druidic tree (Olive is of course mediterranian). She's a sweet little old lady (well, she's neither little nor particularly old) who takes no guff from anyone. She's both mystical and practical. And, importantly, she's treated seriously by the episode. (Contrast Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter books). She has both knowledge and power - and most importantly, the wisdom to effectively apply both. She withstands the coming of Azal when everyone else is cowering, and she's immune to the Master's hypnosis. And she knows and loves the people of the village even when they're being credulous (and slightly murderous) fools. Being treated as a kook has not embittered her against the world - she's confident in who and what she is, and is kindly and patient, if occasionally frustrated. She is enough of a threat to have to be dealt with.
Let's talk about Benton. I never pass up an opportunity to talk about Benton. I dearly love Sgt. Benton - and so, it seems, does Miss Hawthorne. When she gets a bit too nosy poking around the Abbey where the Master is doing his demon summoning (or, rather, daemon summoning), she gets captured by his cultists, tied up, shoved in a sack, and then shoved in an old chest). Where she is later discovered and released by the inestimable Sgt. Benton, when he in turn gets a bit too nosy poking around the Abbey. Good old Benton. The result of this is that Miss Hawthorne treats him as her personal hero and sticks to him for the rest of the episode. She literally describes him as her "knight in shining armour" and herself as his "damsel in distress." Benton...does not know how to deal with this. Poor old Benton. Dude. When your damsel in distress is gazing up adoringly at you and breathily asks you your name...you probably want to include your FIRST name as well as your rank! And that right there is their relationship. It's adorable. Not sure if I ship it per se, because Benton is just like "..." the whole time, but it's really nice to see him being properly appreciated for a change. Benton gets no love most days of the week - reprimanded by the Brig, used as a guineapig by the Doctor and as target practice by everyone else, having his lunch stolen by Mike Yates - but he gets a huge pile of it from Miss Hawthorne. And good on her for it. (See what I mean about seeing the world as it is? She gets that Benton is the actual best, even if nobody else does). And they legitimately make a great team. She saves him from a Morris Dancer (see what I mean about Benton getting no love ever? Frickin Morris Dancers...) - by hitting the latter with her reticule. Which contains her ten pound crystal ball, with which "the outcome is always certain." I love it. Granny Weatherwax (with her deftness with a hat pin) would be proud. And they team up for the second most epic magic trick in the episode, in which she convinces the town that the Doctor - or rather, the Great Wizard Qui Quae Quod - is blowing things up with his mind when in fact Benton is shooting them. The first most epic magic trick in the episode is the Amazing Self-Driving Bessie, but it's not a competition. The two of them are just good together, not least because each is hypercompetent individually. And she does manage to convince him to join in the Fertility Dance for May Day at the end (to which Mike Yates entirely failed to entice the Brigadier). This right here. This is why this is my Valentine's Day post. I just love them both so much.
Miss Hawthorne is an absolute delight to watch. She's self-assured without being dogmatic. She uses Headology and wits and wisdom and experience and magic and, when necessary, brute force. She's eminently practical and reasonable, and can neither be bullied nor swayed. She's an excellent example of female power, and she is genuinely powerful. She's not a charlatan or a fraud, nor is she playing around with things she doesn't understand - she knows the score better than either the Doctor or the Master. And she's completely fabulous. She's got style. She knows what she can do and what she can't, and is the most important ally available to our regulars. She holds her own against, well, everybody, but even against the Doctor at his most ornery. I absolutely love her line, when the Doctor is in full "not magic! science!" mode and going on and on about psychic energy and she just stops him and says "but that's exactly what magic is!" She is not invalidated or overruled, she just has a different angle on the same phenomenology. I also think the Doctor is kind of a dick in this one and enjoy seeing him taken down a notch. And Miss Hawthorne, your friendly neighborhood witch, is the one to do it. She's treated respectfully and she showers Benton with the admiration he so richly deserves. Everything you want in a village witch.
It's a classic tale. Maiden gets captured by sinister cultists. She is rescued by Our Hero. It turns out she's a powerful and canny caster, and he's a well-armed and deadly warrior. Together they bring down the cult and defeat the bad guys. And then they do the "fertility dance" and everyone lives happily ever after. Except here, Our Hero is Sgt. Benton in street clothes, and the fair maiden is so only in a technical sense, and is one Miss Olive Hawthorne, local White Witch. But she is just fantastic, and together they make a great team.
"The Daemons" is a story all about magic and science, but it is not so simple as magic being the villain per se (contrast "the Masque of Mandragora"). The power that the Master is tapping into is real, whatever you call it, and magic and science are more or less just alternate vocabulary sets for describing the same phenomenon. Thus, while the Doctor is opposing the Master paperwork bureaucrat Time Lord to Time Lord, Miss Hawthorne is the voice of White Magic and new age mysticism contrasting the Master's Black Magic and demonic cult, or at least the trappings thereof. She is the only person other than the Doctor who sees a real threat in the Devil's Hump, cautions against opening it, and has some kind of handle on what's going on once the powers trapped inside have been unleashed. She, the Doctor, and the Master form a sort of triangle of competence then, with her being the Doctor's opposite number on the magic-science divide and the Master's opposite on the (mystical) good-evil divide. And she's the only person in Devil's End to see the Master for what he really is, rather than being beguiled by his various shenanigans. She is a Witch in the Terry Pratchett sense: she sees the world as it is and calls it magic.
Miss Hawthorne is a perfect 70s new age style witch. She's got a crystal ball and reads tea leaves. She's named after two trees - and Hawthorne at least is a good druidic tree (Olive is of course mediterranian). She's a sweet little old lady (well, she's neither little nor particularly old) who takes no guff from anyone. She's both mystical and practical. And, importantly, she's treated seriously by the episode. (Contrast Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter books). She has both knowledge and power - and most importantly, the wisdom to effectively apply both. She withstands the coming of Azal when everyone else is cowering, and she's immune to the Master's hypnosis. And she knows and loves the people of the village even when they're being credulous (and slightly murderous) fools. Being treated as a kook has not embittered her against the world - she's confident in who and what she is, and is kindly and patient, if occasionally frustrated. She is enough of a threat to have to be dealt with.
Let's talk about Benton. I never pass up an opportunity to talk about Benton. I dearly love Sgt. Benton - and so, it seems, does Miss Hawthorne. When she gets a bit too nosy poking around the Abbey where the Master is doing his demon summoning (or, rather, daemon summoning), she gets captured by his cultists, tied up, shoved in a sack, and then shoved in an old chest). Where she is later discovered and released by the inestimable Sgt. Benton, when he in turn gets a bit too nosy poking around the Abbey. Good old Benton. The result of this is that Miss Hawthorne treats him as her personal hero and sticks to him for the rest of the episode. She literally describes him as her "knight in shining armour" and herself as his "damsel in distress." Benton...does not know how to deal with this. Poor old Benton. Dude. When your damsel in distress is gazing up adoringly at you and breathily asks you your name...you probably want to include your FIRST name as well as your rank! And that right there is their relationship. It's adorable. Not sure if I ship it per se, because Benton is just like "..." the whole time, but it's really nice to see him being properly appreciated for a change. Benton gets no love most days of the week - reprimanded by the Brig, used as a guineapig by the Doctor and as target practice by everyone else, having his lunch stolen by Mike Yates - but he gets a huge pile of it from Miss Hawthorne. And good on her for it. (See what I mean about seeing the world as it is? She gets that Benton is the actual best, even if nobody else does). And they legitimately make a great team. She saves him from a Morris Dancer (see what I mean about Benton getting no love ever? Frickin Morris Dancers...) - by hitting the latter with her reticule. Which contains her ten pound crystal ball, with which "the outcome is always certain." I love it. Granny Weatherwax (with her deftness with a hat pin) would be proud. And they team up for the second most epic magic trick in the episode, in which she convinces the town that the Doctor - or rather, the Great Wizard Qui Quae Quod - is blowing things up with his mind when in fact Benton is shooting them. The first most epic magic trick in the episode is the Amazing Self-Driving Bessie, but it's not a competition. The two of them are just good together, not least because each is hypercompetent individually. And she does manage to convince him to join in the Fertility Dance for May Day at the end (to which Mike Yates entirely failed to entice the Brigadier). This right here. This is why this is my Valentine's Day post. I just love them both so much.
Miss Hawthorne is an absolute delight to watch. She's self-assured without being dogmatic. She uses Headology and wits and wisdom and experience and magic and, when necessary, brute force. She's eminently practical and reasonable, and can neither be bullied nor swayed. She's an excellent example of female power, and she is genuinely powerful. She's not a charlatan or a fraud, nor is she playing around with things she doesn't understand - she knows the score better than either the Doctor or the Master. And she's completely fabulous. She's got style. She knows what she can do and what she can't, and is the most important ally available to our regulars. She holds her own against, well, everybody, but even against the Doctor at his most ornery. I absolutely love her line, when the Doctor is in full "not magic! science!" mode and going on and on about psychic energy and she just stops him and says "but that's exactly what magic is!" She is not invalidated or overruled, she just has a different angle on the same phenomenology. I also think the Doctor is kind of a dick in this one and enjoy seeing him taken down a notch. And Miss Hawthorne, your friendly neighborhood witch, is the one to do it. She's treated respectfully and she showers Benton with the admiration he so richly deserves. Everything you want in a village witch.