Howling:Gallifrey time-locked?

It's been stated several times in the New Series that Gallifrey and the Time War are time-locked, making it impossible to time-travel back to them. But then how were the War Lords' people in "The War Games", the Sontarans in "The Invasion of Time", and the Sleepers in "The Trial of a Time Lord" able to travel to Gallifrey. They would've come from different points throughout time, and weren't bound to Gallifrey's present like the Doctor's TARDIS. The Daleks also appear to be (mostly) unable to travel into their own past, as seen with Dalek Caan's ordeal. EJA 16:46, April 7, 2011 (UTC)

Gallifrey is not time-locked, the the Time War is time locked. Part of Gallifrey's history is in the time war, and that part of their history is time locked. Gallifrey was destroyed at the end of the Time War, and that is why the Doctor can't go back. All the people who went to Gallifrey in the classic series went before the Time War began, so the timelock had not yet been put into place. You need to understand, in Doctor Who time is not linear, but it is a big ball of timey wimey stuff. Even though the war was fought across all time, from the perspective of Gallifreyans and other higher species like the War Lord's people and the Sontarans, there is a beginning, middle, and end to non-linear history.20:49, April 7, 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure the War Aliens and the Sontarans can be classified as higher races. That term, as I understood it, applies to civilizations that have perfected time travel technology and are active in the Time Vortex. The Sontarans only ever had very crude and basic temporal tech, nowhere near the level of the Time Lords, as shown in stories like "The Two Doctors", where their attempts to create a working time vehicle ultimately fail. There's certainly nothing in "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky" to indicate the Sontarans are time travellers. And regarding the Doctor, weren't TARDISes always barred from travelling into Gallifrey's past, even before the War? EJA 21:37, April 7, 2011 (UTC)

The Sontarans had the assistance of the Vardans, and the War Lord's people had the assistance of the War Chief. They have never actually given a definition of higher races, but the Vardans and Timelords are both probably higher races. The Sontarans didn't even seem to have to use time travel to get to Gallifrey. Once the Doctor lowered the transduction barrier, the Sontarans were able to arrive using their conventional space ships. This would imply that they were from the same time zone as Gallifrey, and the Time War hadn't happened yet. This would mean that the timelock was not an issue yet.Icecreamdif 21:46, April 7, 2011 (UTC)