Time Lord


 * For the role-playing gamebook by Ian Marsh and Peter Darvill-Evans, see Time Lord (role playing book).

"The oldest and most mighty race in the universe. Looking down on the galaxies below, sworn never to interfere, only to watch."

- The Tenth Doctor

The Time Lords and Time Ladies (sometimes called Lords of Time or, rarely, Chronarchs) were the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey. They were biologically Gallifreyan.

History

 * See Gallifreyan history.

The Gallifreyans possessed one of the oldest and most powerful civilisations in the Universe. As the Time Lords, they would hold absolute power for some ten million years. (DW: The Ultimate Foe) Eventually, however, the Last Great Time War wiped out the race. (DW: The End of the World, et al)

Science and Technology
The Time Lords were far advanced in maths, biology, xenobiology, chemistry and physics. They held the most advanced technology the present universe had ever seen. Their weapons and defense technology, however, lagged behind some other races and species.



Transport
The most characteristic technology used by the Time Lords was their time travel technology of the TARDISes. The TARDIS was derived from the early Gallifreyan technology of the Time Scaphe. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) The TARDISes were one of the few types of technology that was updated, from the obsolete Type 40 (from Mark I to Mark IV) (DW: The Ribos Operation), the more advanced Type 57 (DW: Warriors of the Deep) and the humanoid Type 102 (EDA: Alien Bodies). As well, Battle TARDISes and War TARDISes also existed. (EDA: The Taking of Planet 5, BFA: Neverland)

One of the newer technology developed within the Doctor's lifetime was the Time Rings. (NA: Legacy) These Time Rings were small device attached around the wrist, allowing a person to travel through time without being in a time machine. (DW: Genesis of the Daleks) They could also be made as small as finger rings that could be touched together to enable time travel. (NA: Happy Endings, BFBS: The Grel Escape)

Apart from the TARDISes, the Time Lords had little interest in creating other forms of transport. As such, they relied on them instead of other methods of travel. (REF: Doctor Who: Starships and Spacestations)

Stellar Manipulation


The Time Lords had the capability to control and use the power of stars. The Doctor went so far as to claim that the Time Lords "invented" black holes. (DW: The Satan Pit)

Using the Hand of Omega, the Time Lords could speed up the development of stars. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks) One such star had been turned into a black hole and was kept under the Panopticon as the Eye of Harmony to power the civilisation of the Time Lords. (DW: The Deadly Assassin)

Weaponry and Defences
Despite being one most of the powerful species in the universe, the Time Lords had little in the way of defences and their offensive technology was lagging behind many other civilizations. This may be due in part to the transduction barrier, which covered the planet and which was almost completely impenetrable by outside forces or their general policy of non-interference. As such, when they were invaded by the Sontarans, they were unable to defend themselves with their regular stasers and the Doctor needed to use an ancient Time Lord weapon called the De-mat Gun. (DW: The Invasion of Time) Few Time Lords, even Chancellery Guards, had any real combat experience. (BFA: The Apocalypse Element). During the Last Great Time War the Capitol was protected by a set of Dual Turrets set around it, they were used to destroy attacking ships. (DW: The End of Time)


 * This lack of military knowledge may have been a factor in their inability to defeat the Daleks by force of arms during the Last Great Time War.



Miscellaneous Technology
Some other Time Lord technology includes the Matrix (DW: The Deadly Assassin), Validium (DW: Silver Nemesis), the Genesis Ark (DW: Doomsday) and the Chameleon Arch (DW: Human Nature).

The Lord President Rassilon had a metallic glove which was capable of destroying a person by shooting out electricity and it reverted the Master Race to its Human form. (DW: The End of Time)

Partial Time Lords
In the post-war era, three individuals were created who are at least partially Time Lord:
 * Jenny - artificially created daughter of the Doctor. A "generated anomaly", she had two hearts but was not apparantly 100% Time Lord, and the Doctor suspected she was unable to regenerate. She was shot, and is believed by the Doctor to be dead. However, soon after her death she came back to life with an energy release in a process which appeared similar to regeneration, but without the change of appearance. Some speculate that she was revived by the terraforming powers of the Source as it acts as a life catalyst, and some speculate that it was a partial regeneration due to the similar energy output given by the post-regenerative Tenth Doctor. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
 * Meta-Crisis Doctor - half-human, single-hearted, non-regenerating clone of the Doctor's tenth incarnation created by the merging of Donna Noble and elements of the Doctor. Banished to an alternate Earth where he began a life with Rose Tyler. (DW: Journey's End)
 * DoctorDonna - The same process that created the Meta-Crisis Doctor also made the Doctor's human companion Donna Noble into a half-Time Lord, though the extent of any physical changes is unknown. Donna's human brain was unable to process the Time Lord influence beyond a few hours, at which point the Doctor was forced to wipe her memory of her adventures with him; she returned to her original life in London. (DW: Journey's End) She later proved immune to the Master's use of the Immortality Gate to transform humans into "the Master Race". (DW: The End of Time)