Thorne joined a D'Oyly Carte touring company in 1881, playing Captain Felix Flapper in "Billee Taylor". Later in 1881, back in England, he toured as Reginald Bunthorne in "Patience". In 1882–83, he toured as Blood-red Bill in Edward Solomon and Henry Pottinger Stephens's "Claude Duval" and then as Bunthorne. In 1883, Thorne married actress Beatrice Thomas, who toured with Thorne as a chorister in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company under the stage name Geraldine Thompson. In 1884, Thorne appeared as Sir Joseph Porter in "H.M.S. Pinafore", Major General Stanley in "The Pirates of Penzance", and Bunthorne, with a D'Oyly Carte touring company, adding the roles of Lord Chancellor in "Iolanthe" and Ko-Ko in "The Mikado" in 1885.