Looking into a Tomorrow Window, the Eighth Doctor saw an "elderly, kindly-faced Doctor" in his future. (PROSE: More Short Trips, The Tomorrow Windows [+]Jonathan Morris, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2004).)
Eternal return, (PROSE: The Eternal [+]Evan Forman, Cwej: The Series (Arcbeatle Press, 2020).) also known as cyclical time, (PROSE: Diamond Dogs [+]Mike Tucker, BBC New Series Adventures (BBC Books, 2017).) was the concept that history repeated itself in similar forms countless times. (PROSE: The Eternal [+]Evan Forman, Cwej: The Series (Arcbeatle Press, 2020).) By some accounts, this was how Gallifreyan history and also time generally functioned. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998)., Cold Fusion [+]Lance Parkin, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996)., Head of State [+]Andrew Hickey, Faction Paradox novels (Obverse Books, 2015).)
Indeed, "the same patterns turn[ed] up all over space-time", which explained the similarity between Haitian voodoo and the Faction Paradox. Another example was the similarities between the life stories of the Doctor and the Devil, which were so great that some cultures believed them to be one and the same. (PROSE: Interference - Book One [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).)
By one account, the Doctor's time stream was an eternal recursive spiral in the Ocean of Time, which branched off into New Selves. Through this, the Doctor had far more than just 13 lives. (COMIC: Vortex Butterflies [+]Nick Abadzis, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor (Titan Publishing Group, 2017).)
An ancient Gallifreyan proverb stated that “Time moves in circles”, (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997)., The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) which was literally true due to the shape of time being a coiled spiral. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) The Pythia, originators of the proverb, (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) believed that reincarnation existed on Gallifrey before regeneration. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle (Marc Platt), Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
By some accounts, regeneration was introduced with the invention of looms at the end of the Intuitive Revelation. The artificial nature of the loom-born created a timeless stagnancy in Time Lord culture, such that little changed in the following millions of years due to every generation being made from the same template. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle (Marc Platt), Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992)., Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997)., The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) Every generation of Time Lord society initially possessed a spirit of ambition towards a golden age of progress which eventually faded as Gallifrey fell back into tradition and change was forgotten before the pattern repeated. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) Ultimately, the society into which the First Doctor was loomed had the same structure and institutions as the society which Rassilon established ten million years earlier. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle (Marc Platt), Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992)., Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997)., The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) This pattern would continue beyond the Doctor's lifetime, with even the final generation of Time Lords, the Children of Kasterborous, being said to fit within it. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).)
Even monumental events such as Gallifrey going to time war seemed to be caught in this repetition, with aspects of the ancient Time Wars bearing notable resemblance to the Millennium Wars and War in Heaven. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).)
Some time travellers would notice that they sometimes repeated the exact same events in different contexts. (PROSE: Dear Friend [+]Jim Sangster, A Life of Surprises (Bernice Summerfield short stories, Big Finish Productions, 2002)., AUDIO: Shadow of a Doubt [+]Paul Cornell, Doctor Who: Lockdown! (2020).)
