Kotturuh crisis

The Kotturuh crisis was a conflict in the Dark Times when the Kotturuh began dispensing mortality to the species of the universe. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

The crisis was escalated by the intervention of the Tenth Doctor. Travelling back in time to the Dark Times through the Time Fracture after declaring himself Time Lord Victorious, he attempted to rewrite history by stopping the Kotturuh. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) This caused temporal fluctuations which altered timelines across the universe. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times) As a result the crisis spread into the future, embroiling the Dalek Restoration Empire (PROSE: The Last Message) and multiple other incarnations of the Doctor. (PROSE: Canaries) In particular, the Eighth and Ninth Doctors began working together to stop the rewriting of history. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty, AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not)

The Kotturuh Spread
After a "millennia or two" of laying low in the Dark Times, according to River Song's estimation, the Kotturuh began spreading throughout the universe, distributing mortality to the species of the universe (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times) according to their "Design". (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) They started on the planet Birinji. (PROSE: The Dawn of the Kotturuh)

Species reacted to the Kotturuh in different ways. The Eternals fled, losing the ability to live their own lives in the process. The Daemons fought back and were rendered all but extinct. Some bargained with the Kotturuh; the Osiran Sutekh gained the gift of death for himself and the Great Vampires kept their immortality in return for adopting a lifestyle of feeding on other species. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times) One species wiped out by the Kotturuh left a spaceship abandoned in space, loaded with art and a source of Huon energy as reminders of their lost civilisation. (COMIC: Tales of the Dark Times) The Master witnessed a Kotturuh woman at work on the planet Alexis and attempted to influence her judgement on the Mogellans. (AUDIO: Lesser Evils) The Kotturuh visited Gallifrey and judged its people as having much to offer in the future. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead) The Gallifreyans called their new natural deaths "the Ultimate". (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Professor Fallomax began working on lifeshrouds to try to protect against the Kotturuh, using a prototype to survive their judgement on her people. She mined crystals from their home planet of Mordeela using drones and discovered Estinee being held prisoner there due to her natural immunity to them. She rescued Estinee in the hopes of using her to finalise the lifeshrouds, but was unable to make them work on anyone else. Her work was sponsored by Chalskal, who portrayed himself as a High Ambassador. In truth he was a low-level politician who hoped to use the lifeshrouds as armour on his mercenary army so he could launch a coup. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Intervention of the Time Lord Victorious
In 2059, the Doctor rewrote history by saving Adelaide Brooke on Mars and declared himself Time Lord Victorious. (TV: The Waters of Mars) When he returned her home to Davies Street, a time fracture was created. (PROSE: What the TARDIS thought of "Time Lord Victorious") She was appalled by his dismissive attitude to her fellow survivors and self-proclaimed dominance over history and committed suicide to correct the timeline. Horrified by his actions, and a summons by Ood Sigma which he believed heralded his death, (TV: The Waters of Mars) the Doctor used the time fracture to flee into the Dark Times.

He arrived on the planet Andalia and witnessed Estinee demonstrating Fallomax's lifeshrouds. He saved her from Brian, who had been contracted by Verv-Hoondai Chalskal to test the technology's efficacy by trying to kill Estinee. The Kotturuh arrived on Andalia and issued their judgement, to the Doctor's fury. They reclaimed Estinee and departed, however the Doctor and Brian followed them. On Mordeela, they encountered various remnants and saw Fallomax rescue Estinee via mining drone again. They fled back to the TARDIS where the Kotturuh confronted them, angry at the Doctor's meddling. They marked him with a upcoming date on Andalia. Refusing to be intimidated, the Doctor met Fallomax and agreed to help her lifeshroud work. After some weeks of work, the Doctor found they couldn't work indefinitely except on Estinee and began searching for a more permanent solution by reverse engineering the Kotturuh's power. During this time Brian discovered Chalskal's true position and manipulated him to give the Doctor control of the mercenary fleet, believing he was effectively going to war with the Kotturuh. Though uncomfortable at this turn of events, the Doctor nonetheless accepted it.

The Doctor realised he had a physical sample of the Kotturuh from their confrontation and decided to return to Andalia with Estinee and Fallomax to analyse the recent Kotturuh energies there. He devised a necrotic virus to attack the Kotturuh and came up with two solutions: one to impose a lifespan, and the other to wipe them out by limiting their lives to just fifteen minutes. He hoped to use this rewrite history for the better, perhaps even preventing the rise of the Daleks and Cybermen. The Kotturuh used their influence on Estinee to have her shift his TARDIS forward in time to their appointed date and to kill Fallomax. They confronted him outside the TARDIS and tried to make Estinee kill him, but she refused and used the gun to detonate her lifeshroud. The explosion broke the vial containing the Doctor's lesser solution but provoked him to unleash the greater one. The Kotturuh crumbled to dust before his eyes, now only able to live for fifteen minutes, as he declared himself Time Lord Victorious again. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Rewriting of time
The Doctor's actions in the Dark Times caused significant fluctuations in time. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times) Numerous planets' timelines were rewritten, including Atharna and Wrax. (AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not, The Enemy of My Enemy) The Dalek Restoration Empire no longer fought in the Last Great Time War. (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks)

Dalek conflicts
The Emperor of the Restoration received a message being sent across the universe by an ancient Dalek drone. He deduced that the drone was a survivor of a Time Squad that had yet to be sent back in time. From the message the Emperor learnt that history was under attack and that the Doctor was involved. To obtain more information, (PROSE: The Last Message) he led a fleet to claim the Archive of Islos.

After the Daleks threatened to destroy the Archive, the Archivians appeared to surrender; however, the Daleks found the building empty, and the Chief Archivian revealed that an entity from outside time and space had agreed to transport the Archive's contents and the people of Islos to safety in return for the Daleks. The Entity emerged from a portal (WC: The Archive of Islos) and attacked the Daleks, forcing them to retreat back to Skaro. There they called up more forces to fight the Entity but found their firepower ineffective, forcing them to evacuate their home planet. The Prime Strategist went to acquire reinforcements from the Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy, who was caring for 10,000 dormant Daleks. However, the Entity arrived before him and took the Sentinel and dormant Daleks under its influence. After the Strategist refused its offer to become the new Emperor, the Entity's army attacked, fought by the Daleks led by the Executioner until the Strategist advised the Emperor to withdraw again. (WC: The Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy)

With the Daleks being defeated by the Entity, the Emperor travelled to Mechanus to seek the aid of the Mechanoids, accompanied by the Strategist. He spoke with the Queen in her star chamber whilst the Strategist demanded to see a scientist. Eventually Mechanoid 2150 took the Strategist to inspect the orbital defences. The Silver Daleks escorting them grew impatient and began to fight the Mechanoids who destroyed them. Observing the skirmish, the Queen noted no reinforcements coming to their aid and wondered if the Emperor and Strategist were now the only Daleks left. The power was suddenly drained from the Mechanoid City, leaving the planet defenceless, and the Emperor revealed to the Queen that he’d deliberately led the Entity there. (WC: Planet of the Mechanoids)

The Doctor's involvement
While in the company of Daleks, the Eleventh Doctor called Anke Von Grisel and asked to study the exhibits at her Verbier Museum of the Impossible, which he believed were symptoms of a problem with time. Anke regarded this as a repeat of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctor's prior telephone requests to take her exhibits away, so she hung up the phone.

The Curator called Anke on Christmas Day to explain that her exhibits were evidence of a time that he was arrogant and thought he could change things. In doing so, he "opened a door" and "let something in". As he spoke on the phone, the two cultist masks in her collection came to life: (PROSE: Canaries) Siblings Different and Same, the last remnants of a forgotten Time War faction. (PROSE: The Paradox Moon)

The Thirteenth Doctor helped the Shadow Proclamation investigate the anomalous moon that appeared in their orbit. She discovered that it was a trap constructed by Siblings Different and Same, who were seeking revenge on the Doctor for ending the War. However, the Siblings' makeshift TARDIS backfired, and the Doctor took Different as a companion. (PROSE: The Paradox Moon)

At a point in his life long before he became the Time Lord Victorious, the Tenth Doctor was brought to Skaro at the suggestion of the Strategist to help the Restoration Empire resolve the attack on Skaro by the Hond, (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks) which had also been unleashed during the invasion of the Archive of Islos. (PROSE: The Restoration Empire) Though disturbed at the Restoration Empire's existence and their lack of knowledge about the Time War, the Doctor agreed to help them stop the Hond, which he believed should have been extinct. Working with the Strategist he investigated the Vault of Obscenities and discovered a way to pacify the Hond. This method succeeded just as the Hond approached Skaro's defences; then, the Daleks turned on the Doctor. He escaped with the aid of the Thirteenth Doctor. The Strategist defended this failure to the Emperor and suggested the Daleks make use of other Doctors. (COMIC: Defender of the Daleks) The Emperor created a Time Squad to investigate the temporal fluctuations and return them to the Daleks' advantage. The Squad included the Strategist, Executioner, a Scientist and time sensitive Silver Daleks. It was led by the Time Commander. (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times)

The Eighth Doctor's involvement
In the Doctor's eighth incarnation, he began noticing fractures in time. After learning about the exhibits at the Verbier Museum of the Impossible, he warned the curator, Anke Von Grisel, that they meant "dark times [were] coming". (PROSE: Canaries)

Upon travelling to Atharna, he discovered that the ocean world was now inexplicably a desert. Finding Brian and Felicity wounded, he helped them get to the nearest town, Moslin. Despite his desire to investigate the change to time, the Doctor became embroiled in Brian's contract against Felicity and her wife, eventually agreeing to take the assassin off-world if he abandoned the contract. However, as they boarded the TARDIS, it was pulled away by the Daleks, causing Brian to fall into the Time Vortex. (AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not) After a "little nudge" by the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS, (PROSE: What the TARDIS thought of "Time Lord Victorious") Brian ended up in the Dark Times, where he helped the Time Lord Victorious. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Captured by the Daleks, (AUDIO: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not) the Doctor was brought before the Time Commander. He was told about the Time Squad's mission and agreed to help their investigation. They travelled to Wrax to analyse the planet's altered timeline, though the Daleks were also interested in the Devolver, a superweapon on the planet. While the Strategist and the Doctor explored the Wraxians' gallery of artefacts from civilisations they'd defeated, the Commander, Scientist, and Executioner met the Wraxian President. After tempting them with offers of an alliance and a demonstration of the Devolver, she trapped the three leaders with the intention of using the Devolver against them. The Commander ordered the Silver Daleks to invade Wrax to stop her; however, the Strategist convinced him to let the Doctor negotiate. The Doctor agreed with the President that the Daleks would withdraw in return for the Devolver's dismantling, and in exchange the Doctor would tell the Daleks his theory regarding the source of the alterations. Secretly, the Commander sent the Executioner back to Wrax to use the Devolver against the Wraxians. (AUDIO: The Enemy of My Enemy) The Devolver was left abandoned until being discovered by the Master, who created a smaller version that he could wield as a weapon. (AUDIO: Master Thief)

The Doctor told the Daleks the source of the alterations was in the Dark Times and connected his TARDIS to their timeship's engines so they could travel back there. (AUDIO: The Enemy of My Enemy)

The Ninth Doctor's involvement
Arriving in the Dark Times, the Ninth Doctor and Rose were caught up in the Eternal War between Gallifrey and the Great Vampires. They were captured by Gallifreyan forces commanded by Rassilon and escaped during an attack of Curcubites. Rose was abducted by a primordial class Vampire, forcing the Doctor to turn back and aid the Gallifreyans. He conspired to steal Rassilon's spaceship with a Gallifreyan scientist. Androkan, who had despaired at what Gallifrey had become after the War and the Ultimate and deduced the Doctor came from their future.

They followed the Curcubites to a coffinship, unware Rassilon was tracking them, and infiltrated it. They found it run by Vampires who had been turned and enslaved by the Three Mad Sisters, who obeyed the Great One. After they were captured, Androkan was killed by an acolyte of the Sisters who took the Doctor before them and revealed Rose had been turned by them. The Doctor held off the Vampiric Rose’s attacks and managed to send her to sleep when Gallifreyan forces began attacking the coffinship. The Sisters were killed in the attack and the Doctor convinced a Vampire, Drogann, to seize the chance for freedom. Using a synth-blood the Doctor and Androkan had developed he freed the slaves from addiction whilst the Doctor sent out Rassilon’s ship to distract the Gallifreyans so the coffinship could escape. The Doctor used the synth-blood to cure Rose however she passed out, needing some time to recover. Whilst she rested, the Doctor stayed with the Vampires. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Battle of Mordeela
The Time Lord Victorious, having adopted Time Lord robes, returned to his mercenary fleet which he'd ordered to approach Mordeela. He intended to seal it off so no-one else could use the Kotturuh's power source. As they arrived, Kotturuh ships transmitted to the Doctor, begging him to show mercy as they died. He refused and prepared to order his ships to attack Mordeela. A Dalek saucer led by the Eighth Doctor and a Vampire coffinship commanded by the Ninth Doctor arrived on front of his fleet. The two Doctors begged their future self to halt his attack, but he dismissed them as a Kotturuh trick and ordered his fleet to fire. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead)

Further adventures in the Dark Times
The Tenth Doctor, still wearing the Time Lord robes, fled alone to a desert planet where he was feasted on by ghosts, who convinced him he’d saved a species. Brian, who considered the Tenth Doctor the only person he had who was close to a friend, tracked him down and destroyed the ghosts, releasing the Doctor from their influence.

The Dalek Time Squad harvested Velosia under the pretence of saving their best and brightest from the oncoming Kotturuh. Once they left the planet, the Daleks killed them, leaving the Velosians to face the Kotturuh’s judgement without their best minds.

Working with the Time Squad, the Eighth Doctor discovered the abandoned spaceship left as a memorial. The Daleks attempted to absorb the Huon energy, forcing him to help them again when it went wrong.

Travelling with the Vampires, the Ninth Doctor visited Parvanna accompanied by Ikalla. They were hunted by an invisible creature, which the Doctor held off by setting a sonic stake alight, until being picked up by their ship.

The Eighth and Ninth Doctors went in search of the Time Lord Victorious, travelling to Hoolan. There they discovered a malfunctioning time machine, whose pilot had attempted to witness the Big Bang, linking the Dark Times to the future. They repaired it and sent her home. (COMIC: Tales of the Dark Times)

The Ninth Doctor eventually found a moon where Rose could recover whilst Drogann oversaw the free Vampires. When she finally awoke, she noticed he battered appearance. Together they returned to his TARDIS and left the Dark Times. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Behind the scenes
The Kotturuh crisis and its repercussions drove the plot of the Time Lord Victorious multimedia project.