Thomas Cromwell

Lord Thomas Cromwell was Henry VIII's First Minister and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. (AUDIO: The Eighth Piece)

Biography
Cromwell visited monasteries to collect what wealth the monks had for the King. In 1538, he took the riches from Abbot Malvern's monastery, including a piece of the Doomsday Chronometer which he wished to complete to keep it from the papists. However, it was taken from him on the road by the Solvers. He was saved by River Song and later met the Eighth Doctor, whom he took to his home for interrogation, suspecting him of having knowledge of the Revelation Sect. (AUDIO: The Eighth Piece)

Lady Risolva paid Cromwell for a conversation with the Doctor, which he gave instead of executing him after the Clocksmith broke him free. Seeing that she was a mechanical woman, Cromwell allowed the Doctor and Lady Risolva to leave in the TARDIS and had Brother Octavian fake a report of the Doctor's execution. Pushing the supernatural from his mind, he decided to go to Flanders to find the King a bride. (AUDIO: The Doomsday Chronometer)

Cromwell advised the King to marry Anne of Cleves. (PROSE: God Send Me Well to Keep) However, he found her to be ugly (PROSE: Hiccup in Time) and they divorced. (PROSE: The Roundheads) The Eighth Doctor implied that Cromwell met an unhappy fate, having told him that he was sorry when he left him. (AUDIO: The Doomsday Chronometer)

Behind the scenes
Cromwell was played by Andrew Keir in the London production of A Man for All Seasons, Danny Webb in Granada Television's Henry VIII and Ron Cook in The Other Boleyn Girl.