Housekeeper (title)

On Gallifrey, the Housekeeper is the medium between the Great Houses of the Time Lords and the Family therein. Because the Great Houses are alive and sentient, one woman of each Family assumes the role of Housekeeper and will be literally married to the House. It then becomes her job to keep the House (and by extension the Family) happy and healthy. The Housekeeper is the only member of the Family who can literally speak with the House. Her position allows her to command the furniture and Drudges of the House, and also grants her the ability to see through all the mirrors in the House (similar to security cameras).

The position of the Housekeeper lasts through regenerations, and is signified (not unlike Earthen marriages) by a wooden ring. During the ceremony which bonds the Housekeeper to a House, the Housekeeper must make the following vow:

I shall serve you might and main, mortar and mortice. I shall guard your bounds, your chattels and your progeny from Loom to Tomb.

Usually the position of Housekeeper will pass on to another member of the Family only when the first Housekeeper dies for the thirteenth and final time. However, the position can be passed on before death if the current Housekeeper does something to cause the House to lose trust in her. Then the ring marking her will burn away to ash, and the furniture and Drudges will no longer obey her. One example of this extreme behavior occurred in the House of Lungbarrow, when the Housekeeper Satthaltrope lied to the House concerning the murder of the Kithriarch. In order to convince the House, Satthaltrope had to convince herself the lie was true.(NA: Lungbarrow)