Time before this

The "time before this" was one of the terms used to refer to the state of the universe before Rassilon and the other early Time Lords imposed Rationality upon it (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet, The Quantum Archangel) by means of the anchoring of the thread. (PROSE: The Book of the War) The term "time before time" was also used. (PROSE: Cobweb and Ivory)

Some accounts equated this period with the Dark Time(s) (AUDIO: The Enemy of My Enemy, PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) and/or Old Time, (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet) although some accounts treated "Dark Times" and "Old Time" as having distinct meanings from one another. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) The previous state of reality that the pre-Anchoring time constituted was also sometimes confused with "the previous universe". (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet, The Quantum Archangel)