Abigail Thorn

Thorn grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne with two older brothers. She attended the Royal Grammar School, where she participated in army cadets and discovered philosophy through an A-level course. She went on to the University of St Andrews, studying philosophy and theology. She graduated at the top of her class in 2015 with a Scottish Master of Arts. Acting training followed at East 15 Acting School, earning her a Master of Arts in 2017 before she relocated to London.

Thorn came out as bisexual in an October 2019 video essay titled Queer. On 30 January 2021, she publicly came out as a transgender woman through social media and released two videos, Coming Out As Trans. A Little Public Statement and Identity: A Trans Coming Out Story. She chose to keep her pre-transition videos online for their educational value. Since coming out, she has spoken publicly in support of transgender healthcare access and described her identity as a trans lesbian.

Thorn launched Philosophy Tube in May 2013 in response to the tripling of university tuition fees in England. Her initial aim was to offer a full philosophy degree curriculum online for free. Her first upload covered René Descartes and his dictum cogito, ergo sum. Early videos featured direct lectures to camera, but the format shifted in 2018.

Inspired by creator conferences and video essayist ContraPoints, Thorn transformed the channel into a theatrical show. She incorporated elaborate sets, original characters, makeup, and musical numbers. The scripts tackled complex philosophical concepts, contemporary politics, and personal experiences. Her 2019 video Men. Abuse. Trauma. examined mental health and abusive relationships across an unedited 35-minute single take inspired by Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit. By 2021, the channel had surpassed one million subscribers.

Thorn made her playwriting debut with The Prince, which premiered Off West End at Southwark Playhouse in September 2022. The play placed Shakespearean characters from Henry IV, Part 1 and Hamlet into a story where they become self-aware and struggle with the roles assigned to them. Thorn starred as Hotspur alongside a predominantly transgender cast. The production earned her a BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Leading Performer in a New Production of a Play, and a recorded performance later streamed on Nebula.

Her screen acting career expanded into television. She played Iona in four episodes of the BBC comedy Ladhood and appeared as Jess in the Western series Django. In 2024, she played Ensign Eurus in the Lucasfilm series The Acolyte and pirate admiral Sharako Lohar in House of the Dragon. In gaming, she provided voice acting and motion capture for Nocturne in Baldur's Gate 3. She also wrote and starred in the 2024 short film Dracula's Ex-Girlfriend and returned to the London stage in 2026 starring in Blink at the King's Head Theatre.

In August 2019, Thorn hosted a marathon livestream on Twitch to raise funds for the mental health charity Samaritans. Over five days, she read through the complete works of Shakespeare with guest appearances from online creators and actors, including Mara Wilson and SonicFox. The broadcast drew more than 175,000 viewers and raised £109,447, drawing praise from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In February 2021, Thorn co-founded the podcast Kill James Bond! alongside November Kelly and Devon. The show provides satirical commentary on the James Bond film franchise and other spy action series, reaching the top of UK film review podcast charts. In 2020, she co-narrated the audiobook for Lindsay Ellis's science fiction novel Axiom's End, which received an Audie Award nomination.