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THE DOCTOR WHO UNIVERSE

If DOCTOR WHO is unfamiliar to you, these explanations of a few central themes will help you to understand references in TIME LORD.

GLOSSARY

Gallifrey - Gallifrey is a planet in the same spiral galaxy as our own -- the galaxy that we call the Milky Way. The Gallifreyans, a species that resembles human beings in physical appearance, evolved intelligence and developed civilization way before anyone else in the galaxy: the Doctor once said that they achieved space flight while humans were still living in caves.

Time Lords - As if the development of interstellar travel was not achievement enough for Gallifreyan civilization, there followed an even more golden age of technological progress. Two scientists, Rassilon and Omega, perfected the techniques of time travel and created the time machines known as TARDISes. At about the same time Gallifreyan society began to split into two and the educated, time-travelling elite minority became almost a distinct race. They called themselves Time Lords.

A Time Lord's life span is much longer than that of an ordinary Gallifreyan or human: his body has tremendous powers of recovery and is very long-lasting, and when it eventually wears out it regenerates into a new form. A Time Lord can therefore live for thousands of years. This longevity, coupled with scientific knowledge, gives the Time Lords a feeling of detachment from mere mortals. Time Lords live and work in a highly formalized society in the Citadel on Gallifrey, and pay little attention to the rest of the planet or the rest of the universe.

TARDIS - The letters TARDIS are an acronym, standing for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. A TARDIS is a Time Lord's time and space machine and represents the summit of Gallifreyan technology. It is, in effect, an artificial universe of potentially infinite size, with computing power so great that it can decipher the whole of the past, present and future of our own universe. Not surprisingly each TARDIS is an intelligence, albeit an artificial and alien one. It has the power to materialize a part of its physical structure anywhere in space and time, and it can adapt its appearance to blend in with the surroundings in which it materializes. Although its physical manifestation is usually small, it can expand its interior to any size. ('It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!' is the usual amazed reaction of anyone other than a Time Lord when first entering a TARDIS.)

Each TARDIS, however, is usually manned by only one Time Lord because Time Lords are solitary by nature. And because Time Lords have little interest in the universe, very few TARDISes are used. The Doctor's TARDIS is a Type 40, an obsolete model which has a number of interesting features that are missing on more recent versions. The Doctor's TARDIS is also in need of an overhaul: hardly any of its circuits work properly and the chameleon circuit, which allows the TARDIS to change its appearance, has broken completely: the Doctor's TARDIS is stuck in the shape of a blue police telephone box of the sort that used to be a common sight on London's street corners a few decades ago.

The Doctor - Although most Time Lords are content to while away their long lives in the formal splendour of the Citadel on Gallifrey, a few of them find the place intolerably dull. Some of these renegade Time Lords leave the Citadel and opt for a hermit's life in the wilds of Gallifrey; others, driven by ambition and hatred, set off into time and space to carve out empires of their own. The Time Lord known as the Doctor, perhaps the most brilliant, erratic and mysterious of them all, also 'borrowed' a TARDIS to escape from Gallifrey, but he has made it his mission to protect the weak and combat evil throughout the universe. He has developed a particular affection for the unpredictable inhabitants of the planet Earth, who are threatened throughout their history by alien invaders and by the results of their own waywardness.

Companions - Time Lords are solitary, but the Doctor enjoys company, particularly that of humans. In his travels he has met and befriended hundreds of beings, humanoid and otherwise, and sometimes he invites one or two of them to accompany him in his TARDIS. He is hardly ever without at least one companion, usually a young human. The Doctor's companions are usually confused by their adventures and have no hope of understanding the technology that the Doctor uses. Their simple-mindedness, fear and innocence often lead them into danger, thus complicating the Doctor's plans and often jeopardizing their success. Their courage and ingenuity, however, are often very helpful to the Doctor and he seems to find his companions invigorating and amusing. They provide a focus for his general concern for the well-being of the universe.

THE TIME LORDS

The Time Lords, the ruling elite of the planet of Gallifrey, are the undoubted masters of time travel in the DOCTOR WHO universe, yet even they do not understand all of its intricacies. Great pioneers such as Rassilon and Omega have mastered elements of it and passed on the benefits of their knowledge and achievements to their successors. Armed with this knowledge, the Time Lords have established themselves as invigilators of the laws of time, their own regulations about what can and cannot be done to the fabric of time and space.

Headed by the High Council of Time Lords, which is led by the president, Gallifreyan society has stagnated. A strict policy of non-interference in the affairs of the universe has turned the Time Lords from innovators into mere observers and preservers of the balance of time. If they intercede it is only to correct an abuse of the laws of time, but even then they prefer to use a free agent, such as the Doctor, to do their dirty work.

The High Council consists of the president, chancellor, castellan and the cardinals of Gallifrey's Academy. The president is the figurehead of Gallifreyan society and has wide-ranging powers. His badges of office are the Sash of Rassilon, an ornate, wide segmented band of gold-coloured metal reputedly with the power to protect its wearer against even a black hole; the Rod of Rassilon, which allows access to the energies of the black hole that provides Gallifrey with its power; and the Coronet of Rassilon, which enables the wearer to gain access to the matrix.

The chancellor is, in effect, the president's conscience; in a way he is more powerful because he sees that the president's wishes are fulfilled. He secretly guards the Great Key of Rassilon from the president so that the powers of Rassilon can never again be wielded by one individual. The chancellor's badge of office, an oval gold medallion on a chain, is also a personal force field (Strength 10) that can be extended to protect one other person next to the chancellor.

Security is the main concern of the castellan, who has the forces of the Citadel Guard at his disposal as well as an extensive network of surveillance cameras. He is also responsible for the maintenance of the transduction barrier, a great force field that protects Gallifrey from attack. Citadel Guards are distinctively dressed in red tunics trimmed with white, red trousers tucked into red leather boots, white cloaks, and red dome-shaped helmets. Officers additionally wear a silver-coloured breastplate to denote their rank. Each guard is armed with a staser, a low-powered blaster that inflicts 6 Wounds on kill and 3 Wounds on stun. A section of the Citadel Guard is under the direct control of the president.

Within the Citadel, the city of the Time Lords, life is very much devoted to introspective studies at the Academy, Gallifrey's centre of learning. The Academy comprises three colleges -- Prydon, Arcalia and Patrex -- at which young Time Lords receive a thorough education into the history and nature of the universe. Academic life, however, is anathema to some Time Lords, who become renegades: the Doctor, the Master and the Meddling Monk are among those that wander through time and space; other Time Lords have left the Citadel to become close to nature, and prefer to live rough in the wilds of Gallifrey.

The amplified panatropic computations network, commonly known as the matrix, typifies Time Lord stagnation. It is the electronic memory used to record and preserve the experiences of all Time Lords; it contains details and the mind prints of every Time Lord except those, such as the Master, who are clever enough to erase their patterns. A Time Lord can be connected to the matrix, allowing him to enter it as a virtual reality; if more than one mind is connected at a time, the weaker one will be subjected to the reality imposed by the other.

TIME AND TIME TRAVEL

Time is a flexible medium. Mason's temporal analysis compares it to an elastic membrane that will yield if pushed, but will spring back once its limits are reached to return to equilibrium. The effect is to propel the affected sector of space and time back to the point at which interference began: time, quite simply, catches up with the meddlers. The consequences of becoming caught in the temporal inrush are a matter of conjecture, but it is suspected that extreme ageing of those alien to the time and space would occur -- a fatal effect over a period of several centuries! It is possible extensively to deform the temporal membrane only by pushing against different parts of it, in effect spreading the load.

It would be easy to abuse the ability to travel freely in time, and part of the reason why the Time Lords seldom do so is out of a sense of responsibility. Instead they vigorously police time travel to put a stop to infringements of the laws of time. If they travel, they do so in TARDISes, sophisticated time machines that are virtually self-sufficient micro-universes.

The most important regulations governing time travel are the first and second laws of time and the Blinovitch limitation effect. The first law of time simply states that no one should be allowed to meet themselves. The law has been broken on several occasions: the Doctor has been permitted by the Time Lords to meet other incarnations of himself; the Brigadier met himself in Mawdryn Undead, with traumatic consequences.

Blinovitch's limitation effect is a simple observation that it proves impossible to keep going back to the same point in time in order to have a second, third or even fourth attempt at getting something right or averting a catastrophe. It combines with the first law of time to prevent temporal mishaps. It first manifests as temporal and spatial displacement from the intended time zone, and in its ultimate form becomes a time loop.

In addition, the second law of time states that no one can interfere with their time line, the measure of relative continuity. This prevents a time traveller, say, going back to kill his father at a time before the traveller was born. If he were to do so, then logically he would never have existed and his father could not be killed by his hand. Anyone's time line diverges from their ancestors' time lines only at the point of birth, and until then is dependent on them. The second law of time prevents discontinuity in a person's time line and avoids paradoxes.

Each TARDIS has built-in controls that prevent the abuse of the first and second laws of time and take evasive action to another time and space should the Blinovitch limitation effect begin. Within these limits, time travellers can come and go as they please in space and time according to Mason's temporal analysis.

Time travel, however, is not instantaneous. Occupants of a time machine will notice the passage of time as normal, and will need to eat, rest and keep themselves occupied on their journey. In TIME LORD, however, the journey is rarely important except when scenes relating to an adventure need to take place. After all, the point at which the TARDIS is going to arrive is often known in advance, and it is from there that the adventure continues.