From 1890 to 1896, Thorne was the principal comedian with a D'Oyly Carte touring company, playing John Wellington Wells in "The Sorcerer", Sir Joseph, the Major General, Bunthorne, the Lord Chancellor, King Gama in "Princess Ida", Ko-Ko, Jack Point, and the Duke of Plaza-Toro in "The Gondoliers". He also played Bumbo in "The Nautch Girl" (1892). From 1896 to 1897, he was on the first D'Oyly Carte tour of South Africa, playing his usual roles, as well as Scaphio in "Utopia Limited" and Rudolph in "The Grand Duke". He then toured in Britain in 1898 to 1899. Thorne says, in his memoir "Jots" (1897), that he had occasions to play the Judge in "Trial by Jury", which would mean that he played the leading comic role in all 13 extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas, but he doesn't say when or where.