The planet Gallifrey, homeworld of the Time Lords, had a long and storied history (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus [+]Craig Hinton, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994)., et. al) across its time stream. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) Gallifreyan civilisation lasted billions of years. By one account, it existed in the distant past at the dawn of time, (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus [+]Craig Hinton, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994).) meaning that by the 20th century there was no sign of any civilisation on Gallifrey. (PROSE: Goth Opera [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994).) By another account, Gallifrey's time stream was separate from the rest of the Web of Time, (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) which the planet sat at the centre of. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
Nature[]
Changeability[]
The Protocols of Linearity forbade the Great Houses from interacting out of sync with the history of their Homeworld. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) However, while travelling into Gallifrey's distant past was nearly unheard of by the Doctor's time, it was possible in extreme circumstances; the Doctor themselves did so in several of their incarnations, including as the First Doctor (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) and the eleventh. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017).) According to one source, Gallifrey's history was in fact constantly shifting in great and small ways. (PROSE: Gallifrey: A Rough Guide [+]Steve Lyons and Chris Howarth, DWM short stories (Panini Publishing Ltd, 2000).) Indeed, the opening of From Urizen to Oblivion referred to the "often contradictory nature of the Gods' history". (PROSE: Night of the Yssgaroth [+]James Hornby, SIGNET (Arcbeatle Press, 2023).)
Additionally, if one managed to gain access to the early Dark Times, before the Time Lords had risen to power and established the conventional laws of Time and logic, it was theoretically possible to retcon away Gallifrey's entire later history if one could annihilate the early Gallifreyans. This was attempted by the Dalek Emperor of the Restoration's Time Squad, who only failed due to several incarnations of the Doctor preventing them from harming the primitive Gallifrey in the first place. (PROSE: All Flesh is Grass [+]Una McCormack, Time Lord Victorious release order (BBC Books, 2020).)
Dating[]
Dating Time Lord history was a difficult task. When telling a story drawn from the Matrix's archives, the Fourth Doctor once commented that it did not matter when it had taken place, as dates were held in little regard by a species of time travellers. (COMIC: The Stolen Tardis [+]Steve Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1979).)
Several different dating systems existed for the numbering of individual years. A number of innovations were made to calculate the time elapsed on Gallifrey in relation to time passed elsewhere, such as Rassilon's Chronometer of Absolute Time. (COMIC: The Tides of Time [+]Steve Parkhouse, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1982).) The Celestial Intervention Agency's files gave dates followed by "TL", in which calendar the First Doctor's stealing the TARDIS was dated to "101,188 TL", (PROSE: CIA File Extracts [+]J. Andrew Keith, The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1986).) while other accounts showed that the Time Lords used "Gallifreyan Years" counting forward from Gallifreyan Year 0, the date of the creation of the Eye of Harmony. (COMIC: The Final Chapter [+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics UK, 1998).) The latter system dated the Second Doctor's trial for interference to Gallifreyan Year 309906. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) "Gallifreyan Years" given for various events of Romana II's Presidency had formats such as "Gallifreyan Year 6796.8". (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) According to one account, the Time Lords' archives of the Second Doctor's trial recorded its verdict as "Malfeasance Tribunal order dated 309906", (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 14 (BBC1, 1976).) although other accounts instead treated the figure as a reference number for the trial itself rather than a date, speaking of "Malfeasance Tribunal 309906" (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) or "Malfeasance Tribunal order 30906". (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin [+]Terrance Dicks, adapted from The Deadly Assassin (Robert Holmes), Target novelisations (Target Books, 1977).)
By some accounts, Gallifreyan years lasted exactly as long as Earth years, due to the two planets sharing many physical similarities. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999)., Dead Romance [+]Lawrence Miles, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1999).) Time on Gallifrey was sometimes measured in centuries. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) Gallifreyan history was seemingly described in human temporal terms in situations such as the Sixth Doctor accusing the Time Lords of having held "absolute power" for "Ten million years". (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) The Book of the War likewise gave "ten million years" as the span of the period of stagnancy dividing the anchoring of the thread from the broken generation and subsequent War in Heaven, though it pointed out that this was "a number so round that many feel it must have been picked by the Houses out of thin air, a purely arbitrary figure chosen just to suggest 'a very long time'". (PROSE: "The Imperator Presidency" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) On the Last Day of the Last Great Time War, Rassilon claimed that the surviving High Council had "a billion years" of Time Lord history "riding on their backs". (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
In the context of the War in Heaven, The Book of the War made use of a completely different calendar, as it found no purpose in affording any space to events prior to the very first warning signs of the War. The Year +1 of that calendar was the year of the first offensive of the War; "Year -1" and so on and so forth were used for events predating the official beginning of the War. This timeline thus began at the first flaws in the breeding engines being noticed, in the form of numerous renegades-in-the-making among the newly-loomed (including the Imperator, the War King and Grandfather Paradox). This event was placed in "-1,152" by the timeline, and the Imperator's Presidency between "-870" and "-866"; the Book's timeline went as far as "Year +50" after the beginning of the War. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
Predecessors[]
According to some accounts, an earlier race of Time Lords ruled over a previous universe which was destroyed right as the Big Bang gave birth to the Doctor's universe. A few of their numbers survived, including the military strategist Yog-Sothoth and other beings such as Nyarlathotep or Cthulhu, fleeing into the new universe where they acquired godlike powers and were known as the Great Old Ones. (PROSE: Millennial Rites [+]Craig Hinton, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1995)., Divided Loyalties [+]Gary Russell, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).)
Gallifrey before the Time Lords[]
- Main article: Dark Times
Before the anchoring of the thread, the universe was unstructured and chaotic. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) There were no laws of physics, only infinite possibility. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet [+]Lawrence Miles, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).)
The Dark Times, also known as the "Old Times" or the "Age of the Pythias", were divided into the Time of Empires and the Time of Chaos. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) The history of this period was recorded in the Black Scrolls of Rassilon, which became forbidden by the time of the Doctor. (PROSE: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, adapted from The Five Doctors (Terrance Dicks), Target novelisations (Target Books, 1983).)
Evolution of life on Gallifrey[]
Life on Gallifrey first evolved in -600,000,000 TL. (PROSE: A Sourcebook for Field Agents [+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1985).)
During the Last Great Time War, the Daleks tried to travel back to prehistoric Gallifrey to prevent the Time Lords evolving, during an era where a large lizard-like species existed on the planet. (PROSE: Engines of War [+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014).)
The Gallifreyans were an ancient species, one of the first humanoid species to evolve. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising [+]Jim Mortimore and Andy Lane, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993)., TV: The Beast Below [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).) The Eighth Doctor once told Sarah Jane Smith that in contrast to humanity evolving from apes, Gallifreyans "[weren't] descended from anything even remotely embarrassing", which he speculated was part of the reason for their arrogance. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) Bearing this out, the Ninth Doctor, when disappointed with humanity, sometimes disdainfully referred to them as "apes". (TV: Father's Day [+]Paul Cornell, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).)
One account suggested the inhabitants of Gallifrey were originally known as the Shobogans. (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).) During this era, Gallifreyans were also known as the Shadow People, caught between the warm darkness of magick and the cold light of science. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin [+]Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).)
Early Gallifreyan civilization[]
In -100,500,000 TL, the beginnings of civilisation evolved on Gallifrey. (PROSE: A Sourcebook for Field Agents [+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1985).)
During the Dark Times, the Kotturuh visited the Gallifreyans and judged them as having much to offer the universe. (PROSE: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead [+]Steve Cole, Time Lord Victorious (BBC Books, 2020).)
At one point, which the Tenth Doctor described as the "deep, distant past", he and Cindy Wu were dragged to Gallifrey where they bore witness to Time Sentinels throwing time sensitives into the Untempered Schism. (COMIC: Old Girl [+]Nick Abadzis, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor (Titan Comics, 2016).)
Before the stellar age, there were many brutal battles on Gallifrey which left battlefields riddled with arrows. (PROSE: The Third Wise Man [+]Dave Rudden, Twelve Angels Weeping (2018).)
By one account, the Gallifreyans had originally been a primitive tribe before the arrival of an old man from the Victorian era who introduced them to the concepts of civilisation and granting them the secrets of space/time travel. (PROSE: Human Nature [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1995).)
In -99,998,000 TL, the first manned spaceflight and interplanetary probes were made. In -99,997,800 TL, the first manned interstellar probes left Gallifrey. In -99,997,400 TL, Gallifrey achieved faster-than-light space travel with the invention of the hyperdrive engine. (PROSE: A Sourcebook for Field Agents [+]The Doctor Who Role Playing Game supplements (FASA, 1985).)
Magick dominated Gallifreyan culture for a long time, (PROSE: So Vile a Sin [+]Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) but their technological advancement was also unparalleled. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) According to the Matrix, the first explorer to leave Gallifrey was Tecteun using what the Spy Master described as "dangerous, unsophisticated space travel". Tecteun explored worlds and galaxies, finding the Timeless Child beneath a gateway to another dimension. She would eventually return to Gallifrey with her child. (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).) A Time Lord emissary once reminded the Fourth Doctor that Gallifrey had "transcended such simple mechanical devices" as transmat beams when the universe "was less than half its present size". (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).)
Pythian Empire[]
Empowered by the transmat and other techniques of interstellar travel, Gallifreyans spread throughout the universe, subjugating or shepherding all new species they encountered. They built alliances with any powers they couldn't conquer, creating the Fledgling Empires. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) Soon, their colonies were spread throughout the galaxy. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
The Gallifreyans were involved in a large slave trade, with slaves brought back to Gallifrey and used in precursors to the Game of Rassilon. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) The Monaxi were large business partners with Gallifrey in this matter, causing much harm across the universe. (COMIC: Medicine Man [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Gallifreyans fought against the Old Ones. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).)
Despite being protested by some, slave trading was common in Gallifreyan colonies. Gallifrey was ruled by the Pythia, a line of female seers who divined the future and ruled Gallifrey. They also perpetuated mysticism on Gallifrey and opposed the use of reason. Many Gallifreyans worshipped the Menti Celesti. Telepathy was used for communication rather than speech, and few individuals kept their own secrets. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) Gallifreyan religious classes, including priests, monks and wardens of the church, had a high place in Gallifreyan society until after the rise of the Time Lords. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).)
Founding of the Time Lords[]
Many accounts, many claims[]
Many accounts offered different perspectives on the origins of Time Lords society. While documents from this time would be the main source of information for later Time Lords, these documents were never completely true and a fragmentary vision of Gallifrey's past was common in the Doctor's era. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997)., A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017)., The Scrolls of Rassilon [+]John Peel, 1991.)
Compounding this, key events of this era of history were often directly influenced by time travellers from the relative future, (COMIC: Star Death [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1980)., The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017)., PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992)., The Scrolls of Rassilon [+]John Peel, 1991.) with Alice Obiefune noticing that reality was constantly shifting at the edges. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017).) In later times, interventionists often planted new mythologies and false histories into the past via the caldera for political gain. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
Anchoring of the thread and opposition thereto[]
- Main article: Anchoring of the thread
- Main article: Time Wars
- Main article: Founding Conflict
As new cultures evolved and began to impose their own understandings and versions of meaning onto the universe, a definite framework began to emerge. Since these other species could be completely different to the people of the Homeworld, their assembled history was feared to grow unkind to the Empire. Indeed, some unclassifiable events were glimpsed in the formative future, the first time technology was developed and used to avert such events. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) The first time machine, the Time Scaphe, was powered psychically rather than technologically. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) The Archons claimed that the Time Lords didn't discover time travel for themselves, but developed it after they declared war on the Archons and stole their technology, leaving only seven survivors trapped in the Nameless City at the Great Desolation. (PROSE: The Nameless City [+]Michael Scott, Puffin eshort (Puffin Books, 2013).)
To permanently fix the problem, Rassilon decided to make the universe rational. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin [+]Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) By conducting the anchoring of the thread, the Homeworlders created history with themselves at the centre. Their laws became the laws of time and physics. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) This caused whole civilisations to disappear and drove the children of Pythia to powerlessness as they lost their power of precognition. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet [+]Lawrence Miles, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).)
The binding of Time, which had previously "run wild", was achieved through six Mouri in the Temple of Atropos on the artificial planet Time. (TV: War of the Sontarans [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021)., Once, Upon Time [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One, 2021).) Opposing this attempt to end the Dark Times, two Ravagers, Swarm and Azure, led the side of unbound Time in the Founding Conflict. They viewed spatial creatures like the Time Lords' attempt to control Time as "heresy". (TV: Once, Upon Time [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One, 2021).)
The Diaspora began as Great Houses fled the Homeworld in fear of the changes that had occurred. Amongst those who fled were the Eremites, who were regarded as the first renegades. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) The Time of Chaos began. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
Time of Chaos[]
- Main article: Time of Chaos
During the anchoring of the thread (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) or another experiment, Rassilon accidentally opened a doorway into another universe. (PROSE: The Pit [+]Neil Penswick, adapted from Hostage, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993).) The Great Vampires escaped and caused mass destruction. (TV: State of Decay [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who season 18 (BBC1, 1980).) Gallifrey, led by Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu, tried to stop them, leading to the thousand year Eternal War. They eventually pushed them back into their own universe, (PROSE: The Pit [+]Neil Penswick, adapted from Hostage, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993).) plugging the holes with planets. (PROSE: Interference - Book One [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) One account suggested Rassilon was a commander during the war. Her forces encountered the Ninth Doctor and Rose on a shadow planetoid. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty [+]Scott Gray, DWM Comics (Panini Comics, 2020).)
Whilst the war raged, Gallifrey was attacked by the Dalek Time Squad who sought to prevent the rise of the Time Lords only for the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Doctors to come to their homeworld's defence. Aboard the HMS Donna, and assisted by three coffin ships of Free Undead, they held the Daleks back until Inyit's final judgement killed most of the Dalek Drones who had been modified with Symbiont DNA. The Eighth Doctor then boarded their ship and caused an explosion, sending the Daleks careening into the Time Vortex and away from Gallifrey. (PROSE: All Flesh is Grass [+]Una McCormack, Time Lord Victorious release order (BBC Books, 2020).)
During the Time of Chaos, validium came into use by the Time Lords. (TV: Silver Nemesis [+]Kevin Clarke, Doctor Who season 25 (BBC1 and TVNZ, 1988).) The First Doctor later took the validium with him when he left Gallifrey. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).)
The power of the Pythia declined and the Neo-Technologists, led by Rassilon, rose to power. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) According to Omega's unreliable memories, Rassilon rose to power through a revolution that lit the Capitol ablaze. Omega begged for Rassilon to stop the bloodshed, but Rassilon argued it was the only way they could establish a government that would test their scientific theories. (AUDIO: Omega [+]Nev Fountain, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).) The last Pythia committed suicide, cursing Gallifrey to sterility. Members of the Pythian order fled to Karn and became the Sisterhood. War and chaos threatened the empire; an ice age began and Gallifrey's colonies demanded their freedom. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).)
Ordaining of Time Lord society[]
The Time Lords had three main founders: the technological polymath Rassilon, (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 14 (BBC1, 1976).) the stellar engineer Omega, (TV: The Three Doctors [+]Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1972-1973).) and an other. (PROSE: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Ben Aaronovitch, adapted from Remembrance of the Daleks (Ben Aaronovitch), Target novelisations (Target Books, 1990).) They lived at the same time. (COMIC: Star Death [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1980)., TV: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who season 25 (BBC1, 1988).) There were three other Founders of Gallifrey, but no one could agree who they were; (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) candidates included Apeiron, Pandak, and Eutenoyar. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998)., PROSE: The Ancestor Cell [+]Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) The Nechronomancers worshipped a paradoxical seventh founder. (PROSE: And To Dust We Shall Return [+]Alexandra Marchon, The Book of the Peace (Faction Paradox, Obverse Books, 2018).) According to one account, Tecteun was involved in the foundation of the Time Lords after discovering regeneration by cracking the Timeless Child's genetic code. (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).)
In the “time of the Triumvirate”, the Time Lords grew afraid of Axos's feeding and imprisoned it on a prison planet, using temporal technology to make time pass slower for the creature to limit it growing. Only one scion escaped the imprisonment. (AUDIO: Hellbound [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
To enable the Time Lords to travel through time without ill effects, Rassilon created the Rassilon Imprimatur. (PROSE: Interference - Book One [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) Some accounts suggested he was also involved in development of regeneration (AUDIO: Zagreus [+]Alan Barnes and Gary Russell, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003)., Trial of the Valeyard [+]Alan Barnes and Mike Maddox, The Sixth Doctor Adventures (Big Finish Productions, 2013).) but another claimed that it came about from the First Tecteun's experiments on the Timeless Child. (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).)
Omega used two stellar manipulators, the "hands" of Omega, to detonate a star (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who season 25 (BBC1, 1988)., PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) known as Qqaba, to create a black hole from which the Time Lords drew the power for time travel. Omega travelled into Qqaba to detonate it. According to one account, Fenris, a time-travelling assassin sent by the Order of the Black Sun, sabotaged the shielding on Omega's ship and Omega was pulled into the newly created black hole. Through sheer force of will, Rassilon kept the Gallifreyan space station from being pulled into the black hole. He then found Fenris and banished him into the Zone of No Return. (COMIC: Star Death [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1980).) Although he survived in the anti-matter universe, Omega was presumed dead. (TV: The Three Doctors [+]Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1972-1973)., AUDIO: Omega [+]Nev Fountain, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).) It was later rumoured Omega's "death" had been arranged by Rasslion and carried out by Omega's treacherous assistant. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017).)
Recruiting time sensitives from the outer regions beyond the Capitol, Rassilon began developing the Type 1 TARDISes, (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017).) using time-travel technology salvaged from Fenris' belt to create a navigational system. (COMIC: Star Death [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1980).) The Archons claimed they had invented the seeds from which TARDISes grew. (PROSE: The Nameless City [+]Michael Scott, Puffin eshort (Puffin Books, 2013).) After a failed test flight of a Type 1 by "Theta-Sigma", (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]George Mann, et al., Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2017).) the first successful flight of a prototype TARDIS took place on Henlen. (AUDIO: Collision Course [+]Guy Adams, The Legacy of Time (Big Finish Productions, 2019).) Twelve War TARDISes were subsequently created to use against the Vampires. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Eternal War came to an end after the creation of bowships, originally designed by General Skellis and ordered into construction by Rassilon. All the Great Vampires were killed, except the King who Rassilon spent a decade searching for in vain. (PROSE: The Multi-Faceted War [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) When Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu returned to Gallifrey after the war, he discovered that religion had fallen out of favour and Rassilon had risen to power. He then left to guard the final opening. (PROSE: The Pit [+]Neil Penswick, adapted from Hostage, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1993).)
To stabilise Gallifreyan society after the Pythia's Curse, the Looms and Great Houses were created (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) and the High Council dissolved the monasteries and churches of Gallifrey. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) In the time of the anchoring of the thread, (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) the Watchmakers eventually surrendered the creative and changeable parts of their minds. (PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet [+]Lawrence Miles, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).) The first batch of loom-births produced aberrations and monsters; some were used as special operatives, but the majority were destroyed. Once the Breeding Engines were functional, the Houses created the Mappers, who became the first temporal explorers sent forth by the Great Houses into their domain, tasked with mapping out the meridians of Time and creating the first maps of the brand new Spiral Politic. Although they were successful, the Mappers all went insane some time after their mission was completed, and were subsequently forgotten, "like most Homeworld history". (PROSE: Going Once, Going Twice [+]Jayce Black, The Book of the Peace (Faction Paradox, 2018).)
Beginning of Rassilon Era[]
In year zero of the Rassilon Era, (COMIC: The Final Chapter [+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics UK, 1998).) Rassilon retrieved the Eye of Harmony and stored it in a vault beneath the Time Lord capitol as a source of power. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998).) The Eye acted as the "hitching post" for the Web of Time. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) With his Five Principles, Rassilon led Gallifrey into a more enlightened age, including the abolition of slavery. (AUDIO: Forever [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Matrix was set up during the reign of Rassilon. Following damage to the Time Vortex, a robotic construction, Dawn 726-Alpha Continua, was set up to repair the damage. (COMIC: Dawn of Time! [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Game of Rassilon was a blood sport played in the Death Zone on Gallifrey using the Time Scoop, which relocated beings from all of time and space (except for Daleks and Cybermen, considered too dangerous to try to contain) and placed them in the Death Zone to fight each other to the death. Rassilon's rule saw the end of the games in the Death Zone. (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (Public Broadcasting Service, 1983).)
Twenty years after the loss of Omega, the Special Executive retrieved Fenris from the Time Vortex for interrogation. In the Question Hall of the Prydonian Chapter, the parahuman Viridian discovered he was working for the Black Sun. However before she could obtain more information, Black Sun assassins teleported into the Hall and massacred the assembled Time Lords, killing Fenris to silence him. They then departed, leaving the Time Lords no closer to understanding the Black Sun. (COMIC: 4-D War [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1981).)
Sometime after the creation of TARDISes, the Time Lords and the Fledgling Empires waged the Racnoss Wars against the Racnoss, (AUDIO: Empire of the Racnoss [+]Scott Handcock, Classic Doctors and New Monsters: Volume Two (Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) wiping out their species save the Empress and her children. (TV: The Runaway Bride [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2006 (BBC One, 2006).) Officially all the Racnoss' Huon energy was destroyed, unofficially it was incorporated into Gallifreyan time travel machines. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).)
One of Rassilon's great engineers was Artron, who had been responsible for discovering artron energy. He eventually travelled to Kolstan where he experimented on the native Kolstani to see if their abilities with temporal energy could be used to enhance regeneration. He encountered the Bruce Master who attempted to force him to transfer the Kolstani's powers to him. Artron instead transferred them to himself, resulting in the Kolstani being starved of temporal energy and becoming the Ravenous. At the same time, Rassilon sent a fleet of timeships to destroy Kolstan. (AUDIO: Day of the Master [+]John Dorney, Ravenous 4 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) The Ravenous were attracted to the Time Lords to feed on their regeneration energy and became a collective nightmare for the Time Lords, attacking their pioneers. Rassilon led the near-genocide of the Ravenous, with all except one clan being wiped out. The survivors were imprisoned in a pocket dimension. (AUDIO: Deeptime Frontier [+]Matt Fitton, Ravenous 3 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) Artron's disappearance remained a mystery and a statue of him was displayed in the Panopticon. (AUDIO: Day of the Master [+]John Dorney, Ravenous 4 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous, Big Finish Productions, 2019).)
Ten years after the Question Hall massacre, Gallifrey had its first formal contact with the Order of the Black Sun at trade negotiations over uranium on Desrault. The Time Lord and Black Sun ambassadors developed a good relationship and agreed to divide the uranium equally. The budding diplomatic partnership was sabotaged by the Sontaran ambassador Brilox, who used a psy-snare on Millenium (a parahuman who was part of the Time Lord delegation) and had her assassinate the Black Sun Elder at the closing ceremony of the negotiations. This began the Black Sun War, leading to the Order initiating the attacks that Gallifrey had already experienced in its past. (COMIC: Black Sun Rising [+]Alan Moore, DWM backup comic stories (Marvel Comics, 1981).)
The Time Lords tried doing business with the Hoothi. The Hoothi caused a war on one of the worlds with which Gallifrey was negotiating, and later attacked Gallifrey itself using a Time Lord ambassador as a host. The Time Lords struck back with a counterattack and put the Hoothi worlds in a time loop. The Hoothi were forced to leave the galaxy. (PROSE: Love and War [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992)., AUDIO: Love and War [+]Jacqueline Rayner, adapted from Love and War (Paul Cornell), Novel Adaptations (Big Finish Productions, 2012).)
During Rassilon's rule, the Time Lords fought a war against the Vondrax. As the Time Lords were about to win, the Vondrax created a paradox which erased one of Rassilon's generals from the timeline. Only the general's wife could remember that he had ever existed, and in her attempts to change time to restore him she eventually became the Watchmaker. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines [+]David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2016).)
During a conflict with the Nestenes, the Time Lords managed to contain them to the Illia Galaxy. The Moment was created by Roppen and used by Rassilon to destroy the Nestenes in the Illia Galaxy. (PROSE: Pandoric's Box [+]Richard Dinnick, Myths & Legends (BBC Books, 2017).) According to the Eleventh General, the Moment was the "last work of the ancients of Gallifrey". (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
Beginning of non-interference[]
After dreaming of a future Time Lord empire that used its power to suppress the weak of the universe, Rassilon instituted the non-interference policy. (COMIC: The Final Chapter [+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics UK, 1998).) It would be remembered that policy was created due to the damage that had been done by the Time Lords to other species, including the Minyans and inhabitants of Klist and Plastrodus 14. (TV: Underworld [+]Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Doctor Who season 15 (BBC1, 1978)., PROSE: The Quantum Archangel [+]Craig Hinton, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2001).)
Rassilon's rule began to move closer to despotism, with Gallifrey's borders being sealed. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) With hostility against the natural-born rising, Patience, one of the last womb-born Gallifreyans, was taken by her husband to the Machine for safety. (PROSE: Cold Fusion [+]Lance Parkin, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).) According to one account, the slide into tyranny forced the Other to send his granddaughter and her nanny to the Spaceport for safety and cast himself into the Prime Distributor of the Looms. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).)
The Division was founded on Gallifrey, (TV: Survivors of the Flux [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021).) to intervene at times when policy and reality diverged. An incarnation of the Timeless Child was recruited into its ranks. (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).) Over time the Division grew in size and influence across the cosmos, (TV: Survivors of the Flux [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021).) recruiting agents from "every species". (TV: Village of the Angels [+]Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021).) Notably the Division resolved the Siege of Atropos in which two Ravagers had discovered the Temple of Atropos and seized it, evicting the Mouri and endangering the Time Lords' structure of Time. Four agents of the Division, including the Fugitive Doctor and Karvanista, were dispatched. The Doctor's plan to restore the Mouri succeeded, though multiple Passenger forms filled with millions of hostages were killed by the Ravagers during the confrontation. (TV: Once, Upon Time [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One, 2021).) The Ravagers were imprisoned by the Division. (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021).)
150 million years BC, Rassilon defied the non-interference policy and led the Time Lords against the Mad Mind of Bophemeral in the Millennium War. (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel [+]Craig Hinton, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2001).)
One legend said that despite Rassilon's great achievements, the Time Lords rebelled against him and imprisoned him in the Dark Tower in the Death Zone. Rassilon survived both in the tower (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (Public Broadcasting Service, 1983).) and in the Matrix. (COMIC: The Tides of Time [+]Steve Parkhouse, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1982)., AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002). et al)
Eons of stability[]
Little change in sight[]
Following the establishment of the Time Lords, Gallifrey entered a long period where very little changed. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).)
The Scrolls of Gallifrey, which only contained information up to the beginning of the Sixth Doctor's lifetime posited that only a few generations existed between Rassilon and the First Doctor. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Gary Russell, DWM prose stories (Marvel Comics, 1985).) The Fifth Doctor similarly once remembered that only a few thousand years had passed since Gallifreyans first pioneered the Time Vortex in the time of the other. (PROSE: Cold Fusion [+]Lance Parkin, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).) The Infinity Doctor and Marnal both came from a time two million years after the Time Lords began. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998)., The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).) Meanwhile, at his trial, the Sixth Doctor accused the Time Lords of having held "absolute power" for "Ten million years", (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) which would be corroborated by later Doctors (PROSE: Vampire Science [+]Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) and The Book of the War. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) At yet another point, the final day of the Last Great Time War, Rassilon claimed that the surviving High Council had "a billion years" of Time Lord history "riding on their backs", a legacy which he refused to see perish at any cost. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
Millennia of isolation induced a complacency among the Time Lords. Their technology and power stagnated, even as other races became more powerful and dangerous. (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 14 (BBC1, 1976).)
- The specific order of the following events is unknown.
- Mawdryn and a group of scientists tried to steal the secrets of regeneration from Gallifrey, stealing a metamorphic symbiosis regenerator, but they were unsuccessful and they became stuck in a cycle of never-ending mutated regeneration. (TV: Mawdryn Undead [+]Peter Grimwade, Doctor Who season 20 (BBC1, 1983).)
- When the natives of Exclon began attacking and looting neighbouring planets, the Time Lords launched a full scale attack on Exclon and devastated it. (PROSE: Vorton's Revenge [+]Doctor Who Annual 1985 (Doctor Who annual, 1984).)
- After a schism developed in the Time Lords' College of Cardinals, Cardinal Thorac declared himself Lord President and established his own High Council on the planet Drornid. He put together an army with the hopes of overthrowing the Gallifreyan High Council. The Time Lords on Gallifrey dealt with this rival President by ignoring him. (PROSE: Shada [+]Gareth Roberts, adapted from Shada (Douglas Adams), BBC Books novelisations (BBC Books, 2012)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) Eventually the renegade President was dragged back to Gallifrey, leaving a lot of Gallifreyan time technology still on the planet. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
- Ambitious Time Lady Pandora became President. She intended for Gallifrey to use its power to reshape the Web of Time and declared herself Imperiatrix, using an alien bodyguard to enforce her will. The High Council rebelled against her, triggering a civil war. Eventually they convinced the bodyguard to betray her. The bodyguard was returned home, but their planet was then trapped in a time loop. Pandora was erased, with the only evidence she'd ever existed being the ruined Vaults and a remnant of her consciousness in the Matrix. (AUDIO: Lies [+]Gary Russell, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
- The Time Lords tried to prevent human researches centred on the USS Eldridge, which was tearing a hole in space. Though they succeeded, the ship was believed to be lost. (AUDIO: The Macros [+]Ingrid Pitt and Tony Rudlin, adapted from The Macro Men, The Lost Stories (Big Finish Productions, 2010)., GAME: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada [+]Phil Ford, The Adventure Games (BBC Wales Interactive, 2010).)
- The Time Lords imprisoned the Kin. (PROSE: Nothing O'Clock [+]Neil Gaiman, Puffin eshort (Puffin Books, 2013).)
- The Time Lords forced the Phaeron to shut down their wormholes. (PROSE: Deep Time [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
- The High Council of Time Lords foresaw a future where every planet in the universe was infected by God Seeds and decided to break their law of non-intervention to conduct a universe-wide purge. The purge was not completely successful as at least one God Seed survived. (AUDIO: Fiesta of the Damned [+]Guy Adams, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2016).)
- Cardinal Magos, one of Gallifrey's greatest scientists, was put on trial for experiments attempting to resurrect the dead as automatons. The High Council sentenced him to banishment. (AUDIO: The Castle of Kurnos 5 [+]David Llewellyn, Hearts of Darkness (The War Master, Big Finish Productions, 2020).)
Further activities of the Division[]
Information from Origins [+]Jody Houser, Doctor Who Comic (Titan Comics, 2022). needs to added
The Fugitive Doctor later attempted to escape her service to the Division, using a Chameleon Arch to hide on Earth in 2020. Gat pursued her with a platoon of Judoon and they tracked her down, only to discover another Doctor in her company who revealed she came from a time where Gallifrey was in ruins. Gat attemped to kill the Fugitive Doctor however the Doctor had her weapon to backfire. With Gat dead, the two Doctors escaped the Judoon. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon [+]Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).) The Division eventually wiped all the Doctor's memories of her origins and service for them, (TV: The Timeless Children [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 12 (BBC One, 2020).) storing the memories within a Weeping Angel, who later went rogue, alongside all of Division's other knowledge. (TV: Village of the Angels [+]Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton, Doctor Who series 13 (BBC One and BBC America, 2021).)
Changing times[]
After eons of cultural stasis, irregularities appeared in the breeding-engines, creating a generation of renegades. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
As recorded by Marnal in The Monkey to Time saga, the Time Lords of this era began having visions of a future where they were erased save for only five survivors, their primate shadows ruling the spaces between history under a great Black Eye. Most of Gallifrey dismissed the visions. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).)
The Imperator Presidency[]
One of the mutations in the Looms was a member of House Dvora (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) named Morbius. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976).) He had a strong personality and endless ambition, qualities which had not been seen among the Great Houses for generations. He quickly rose to power over the High Council (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) and led the Imperator Presidency. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) He wanted the Time Lords to abandon their non-interference policy and intervene in the outside universe in their own self-interest, and he campaigned for conquest of the lesser species. He gathered an army of mercenaries to himself, making extravagant promises to them about time travel and immortality. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) He also appointed Thessalia to lead the newly-created Order of the Weal, to prepare the Homeworld for a future war.
However, Thessalia denounced the Imperator to the High Council, (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) and he was exiled from Gallifrey with his army of mercenaries, which he led in wreaking havoc on the outside universe. The High Council created an alliance to fight his army. The ensuing war saw the planets Sylvana, Zandir, Tanith and Electra fall to Morbius. According to one account, the Fifth Doctor travelled back in time to the war and was placed in charge of the Alliance Battle Fleet by the High Council. (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002).) Morbius' forces were finally defeated on Karn where he was captured, put on trial, and executed. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976)., PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) However, Mehendri Solon removed Morbius' brain prior to his disintegration, (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002).) and he began building a new body for Morbius. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976).)
After Morbius' death, his followers became known as the Cult of Morbius (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002).) in year 5725.3 of the Rassilon Era. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) The cultural shift Morbius caused on Gallifrey resulted in the rise of interventionists. (PROSE: Warmonger [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
The Doctor's life on Gallifrey[]
- Main article: The Doctor's early life
When the Doctor was very young, Ulysses was told by Larna, a Time Lady from the future, that the fate of Gallifrey was mixed with that of the Doctor and that the Doctor would have a part to play in its downfall and resurrection. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).)
After the Time Lords developed a chemical that could turn vertebrate blood into acid, the Doctor successfully campaigned for it to be banned. (PROSE: The Age of Ambition [+]Andrew Campbell, Short Trips: Life Science (Short Trips, 2004).) The Doctor also convinced the Time Lords to put aside their non-interference policy and ban miniscopes from the universal market. (TV: Carnival of Monsters [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1973).)
Madrigor became the youngest Gallifreyan to be appointed a Time Lord. He began secretly using his TARDIS to steal from other planets. The other Time Lords discovered Madrigor's thievery and he was tried and found guilty. Before he could be punished, Madrigor ran away from Gallifrey and hid on Lunargov III. (PROSE: The Time Thief [+]Doctor Who Annual 1975 (Doctor Who annual, 1974).)
According to one account, near the end of the Doctor's time on Gallifrey, the Master led a student revolt against President Pundat the Third. They wanted to restore "Rassilon's Law" by replacing Pundat with a descendant of Rassilon. After Pundat died of stress, the rebels found the last living relative of Rassilon: a seven-year-old Time Lady named Larn. The students attempted a coup, but were stopped by citadel guards. During the coup, the Master managed to assassinate the new president Slann. Shortly afterwards, both the Doctor and the Master left Gallifrey. Lady Larn stowed away on the Doctor's TARDIS. (PROSE: Birth of a Renegade [+]Eric Saward, Radio Times short stories (Radio Times, 1983).)
According to another account, the Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey during a major conflict. Fearing that one of the sides would get the Hand of Omega, the Doctor and Susan stole a TARDIS and took the hand far away from Gallifrey. (COMIC: Time & Time Again [+]Paul Cornell, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1993).)
Other accounts indicate that the Doctor and Susan did not leave Gallifrey during or shortly after a major conflict. (TV: The Name of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 7 (BBC One, 2013)., PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997)., AUDIO: The Beginning [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Doctor's missions for the CIA[]
Although the Second Doctor tried to avoid the Time Lords during his travels, he was forced to contact his people when he encountered a situation too difficult to sort out on his own. The renegade War Chief had allied himself with the War Lords to collect soldiers from various battles from Earth history to create an army to conquer the universe. The Time Lords came and erased the War Lords from time. They returned all the soldiers and the Doctor's companions to their native times and places. The Doctor was put on trial for stealing his TARDIS and sentenced to forced regeneration and exile to Earth in the late 20th century. (TV: The War Games [+]Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 6 (BBC1, 1969).) The Doctor's sentence was postponed by the CIA and he went for several missions for them. (PROSE: World Game [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005)., Players [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999)., That Time I Nearly Destroyed the World Whilst Looking for a Dress [+]Joseph Lidster, Short Trips: Past Tense (Short Trips, 2004)., Save Yourself [+]Terrance Dicks, The Target Storybook (2019).) The Doctor's sentence of exile to Earth was later enforced, however he escaped before they could change his appearance and hid at the Carlton Grange Hotel. The Time Lords used animated scarecrows to lure him and forced his regeneration, placing him aboard his TARDIS (COMIC: The Night Walkers [+]Roger Noel Cook, TVC comic stories (Polystyle Publications, Ltd., 1969).) which took him to 20th Century Earth where he joined UNIT as their scientific adviser. (TV: Spearhead from Space [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 7 (BBC1, 1970).)
The CIA discovered that the Second Doctor had created a paradox shortly before encountering the War Lords during a visit to London in 1688. They sent an agent to meet with Jamie McCrimmon near the end of his life. The agent restored Jamie's memories and had Jamie tell the story of his visit to 1688. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe had met King James II shortly before the Glorious Revolution. Jamie had created an alternate timeline by encouraging James not to flee England. In the new timeline, the Doctor never met Jamie and therefore nobody encouraged James II to stay in England. The agent stabilised the timelines while the Doctor fixed history in the past. The agent then removed Jamie's memories of the Doctor and left. (AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution [+]Jonathan Morris, The Companion Chronicles (Big Finish Productions, 2009).)
The exiled Doctor contacted the Time Lords for assistance in stopping the Mim's invasion of Earth. A messenger met him who informed him the Time Lords would deal with the Mim's invasion flotilla but wouldn't interfere with events on the ground. (AUDIO: Shadow of the Past [+]Simon Guerrier, The Companion Chronicles (2010).)
The Doctor's exile had unforeseen consequences. His presence on Earth changed history when he inspired Liz Shaw to create renewable energy using alien technology. After she left the Doctor, Liz began working with the United Nations to create twenty one SunTrap stations across the planet. Helios last of the Solarians was attracted to Earth by the solar energy stations and took control of its governments. After trapping the Doctor, he shaped the population of Earth into the perfect army to get revenge on the Time Lords for destroying his species' home Qqaba.
Using technology from the Doctor's TARDIS, Helios' battle fleet came to Gallifrey and burst the transduction barrier with plasma beams. The High Council of Time Lords hid from the attack in a fallout shelter and traced the invaders back to Earth. Realising their mistake, they sent the Third Doctor on a mission into his future to murder Helios before he could attack Gallifrey. The Doctor was successful and the Time Lords took him back to his "native" time with evidence of the potential future. He showed this evidence to Liz Shaw and set history back onto the correct course by convincing her to become a writer instead.
The Gallifreyans became furious that their planet was almost destroyed by Time Lord meddling. The CIA redirected the revolution against the clergy. Several cardinals were executed and the Supreme Pontiff of Time was paraded around the citadel on a pike staff. Due to the Doctor's skill in saving Gallifrey, the CIA decided to continue to give him missions. To ensure the Doctor was kept busy between missions, they released the Master from Shada. A messenger was sent to inform the Doctor that the Master was coming to Earth. (PROSE: Prisoners of the Sun [+]Tim Robins, Decalog (Virgin Decalogs, 1994).) The messenger arrived in time to forewarn the Doctor about a trap the Master had left him at a radio tower. (TV: Terror of the Autons [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 8 (BBC1, 1971).)
In year 5892.5 of the Rassilon Era, the Master stole information on the Doomsday Weapon from the Matrix. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) After he went to Uxarieus to get the weapon, the Time Lords temporarily fixed the Doctor's TARDIS and took him and Jo Grant to Uxarieus. The Doctor stopped the Master and destroyed weapon before it could be used. (TV: Colony in Space [+]Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 8 (BBC1, 1971).)
The Time Lords arranged the Doctor's trip to Peladon (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy [+]David A. McIntee, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1998).) where he and Jo prevented schemes to stop the planet joining the Galactic Federation. (TV: The Curse of Peladon [+]Brian Hayles, Doctor Who season 9 (BBC1, 1972).)
After the Amulet of the Wastelands was lost in Earth's history, the Conclave of Grails and Antiquities recruited the Doctor to retrieve it before it could be used to rewrite Earth's timeline. The Doctor found it in 1943 and prevented it being used by occultist Nazis. Leaving the Amulet in the care of a LCS Wing Commander, The Doctor informed the Time Lord messenger that the Time Lords would have to do without it. (AUDIO: Operation: Hellfire [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Time Lords were easily rendered helpless when Omega began to drain energy from Gallifrey. They forced to rely on the Doctor, with the President authorising the allying of him with his previous two incarnations. The Doctors discovered that Omega was responsible and managed to end his energy drain. (TV: The Three Doctors [+]Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1972-1973).)
After discovering the Master's role in the Daleks' Operation Divide and Conquer, the Doctor contacted the Time Lords. (TV: Frontier in Space [+]Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1973).) They piloted his TARDIS to Spiridon, where he prevented the Daleks awakening an army of ten thousand Daleks. (TV: Planet of the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1973).)
The Time Lords continued to give the Doctor missions after his third regeneration. Whilst the Doctor was travelling with Sarah Jane, the Time Lords took control of his TARDIS and brought the two of them to several points in history. First, they were to taken to the planet Ercos, where they stopped the Daleks from drilling into the planet's core and turning it into a missile to fire at Earth. (COMIC: The Dalek Revenge [+]John Canning, TVC comic stories (1975-1976).) The Time Lords then directed them to Station 251, a Bendriggan space dock which had been infected with a virus deadly to Bendriggans. The entire Bendriggan race would have landed on the station and died, but the Doctor made contact with the leading ship and saved the species. (COMIC: Virus [+]John Canning, TVC comic stories (1976).) The Time Lords brought the Doctor and Sarah Jane to the Italian village Borosini in the summer of 1944. There, they helped the villagers take back an entire shipment of artwork stolen by Nazis. The Doctor brought the art into his TARDIS and returned it after the war ended. (COMIC: Treasure Trail [+]John Canning, TVC comic stories (1976).) Finally, the Time Lords diverted the Doctor to Karn where he aided the Sisterhood by stopping the decline of their sacred flame and prevented the resurrection of Morbius by Solon. (TV: The Brain of Morbius [+]Robin Bland, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1976).)
The CIA came to regard the Doctor as their most talented agent. When he was nearly killed on Beta Osiris, a Time Lord interfered with events and inadvertently saved the Doctor's life. (PROSE: Scarab of Death [+]Mark Stammers, Decalog (Virgin Decalogs, 1994).)
The Fourth Doctor was once brought before the Convocation of Oblivion, chaired by the Zero Nun, to explain his actions. In response he told them of his encounter with the Scratchman. (PROSE: Scratchman [+]Tom Baker and James Goss, adapted from Doctor Who Meets Scratchman, BBC Books novelisations (BBC Books, 2019).)
Constitutional crisis[]
The Time Lords faced "the most dangerous crisis in their long history" when, during the President's resignation, he was assassinated by Chancellor Goth before he could name his successor. Goth was plotting with the Decayed Master to frame the Fourth Doctor and take power uncontested. The Doctor ran against Goth in the election to buy himself time to investigate the death; he succeeded in unraveling the scheme, but in the process, the Master killed Goth. The Master gained access to the Eye of Harmony after taking the Sash of Rassilon from the President's corpse and attempted to open the Eye, causing an earthquake. The Doctor stopped him, however half the Capitol had already been destroyed. With Goth dead, the Doctor was the only candidate left to be President however he didn't want this responsibility so left in his TARDIS. (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 14 (BBC1, 1976).)
With both of the other candidates unexpectedly withdrawn from the race, Greyjan the Sane, a Time Lord academic who never seriously intended to become President, was left in charge of Gallifrey. His Presidency lasted for only three years before he killed himself, distressed by his visions of war. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell [+]Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).)
The Capitol was severely damaged when the Eye of Harmony was opened. Overseer Luther designed a grand reconstruction of the city. The Watchtower was built on top of the ruins of the Panoptican. The Watchtower was secretly a huge TARDIS that got its power directly from the Eye of Harmony which Luther planned to eventually use to take over Gallifrey. (COMIC: The Final Chapter [+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics UK, 1998).)
When the Fourth Doctor returned to Gallifrey, he found the planet without a President and led by Lord Chancellor Borusa. Claiming his right to the Presidency from the old election, he briefly became the 407th President (TV: The Invasion of Time [+]David Agnew, Doctor Who season 15 (BBC1, 1978)., PROSE: The Ancestor Cell [+]Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) as part of a plot to defeat a Vardan invasion, which he achieved by allowing them to materialise fully on Gallifrey so their home planet could be traced and placed in a time loop. This invasion was a front, however, for a Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey. Although defeated, these invasions exposed weaknesses in Gallifrey's defences. (TV: The Invasion of Time [+]David Agnew, Doctor Who season 15 (BBC1, 1978).) Following the invasion, Borusa was made Acting President of Gallifrey. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Gallifrey was again invaded, this time by the Dominators, who "flooded" the Capitol with Quarks, 39 of which were destroyed by Leela and K9 Mark I. Though the Fifth Doctor would claim that there was never "any serious risk of us being conquered", one of the Quarks was fitted with a bomb which heavily damaged the Capitol, necessitating the construction of a replacement building. (AUDIO: Time in Office [+]Eddie Robson, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2017).)
The Killer Cats of Gin-Seng rose up against the Time Lords (AUDIO: Erasure [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) in the Crisis of Gin-Seng, (AUDIO: The Last Fairy Tale [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) which was stopped by the Fourth Doctor. The CIA erased all records of this incident. (AUDIO: Erasure [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) The cats later evacuated the planet in fear of the future Time War. (PROSE: The Return of the King [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Borusa's presidency[]
Borusa was later officially inducted as Lord President of Gallifrey and dealt with Omega's attempted incursion into normal space via the Arc of Infinity. Omega utilised the Fifth Doctor's biodata extract (supplied by Hedin) to do so. To prevent Omega's incursion Borusa ordered the Doctor's termination, however Hedin ensured his survival. The Doctor dealt with Omega himself. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Johnny Byrne, Doctor Who season 20 (BBC1, 1983).) Afterwards the Time Lords sent the Doctor to investigate another manifestation of Omega in the Sector of Forgotten Souls. (AUDIO: Omega [+]Nev Fountain, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).)
Having acquired a piece of Vampire DNA to transform himself into a Vampire, Cardinal Hemal summoned the Fifth Doctor back to Gallifrey to use him and his companions to spread vampiric infections. He killed a Time Lord to create a pretext and then boarded the Doctor's TARDIS whilst he investigated. When the Doctor returned he forced him to take him to Earth by threatening his companions. Nyssa and Tegan. He was killed upon opening the doors as Nyssa had altered the timing of their arrival to be the middle of the day. (COMIC: Blood Invocation [+]Paul Cornell, Doctor Who Yearbook comic stories (Marvel Comics UK, 1994).)
Once again, a group of Gallifreyans began pushing to make the President of Gallifrey a descendant of Rassilon. The Tremas Master tried to use this movement to become the next president. He kidnapped Lady Larn, the last descendant of Rassilon, and allied himself with the Cybermen. He was going to gain the support of the rebels with Larn and use the Cybermen as his personal army. The Fifth Doctor stopped him before he got to Gallifrey. (PROSE: Birth of a Renegade [+]Eric Saward, Radio Times short stories (Radio Times, 1983).)
Following another regeneration, Lord President Borusa began to investigate the legacy of Rassilon, specifically immortality. Borusa sought to be "President Eternal" ruling Gallifrey forever. Utilising the time scoop he summoned four of the Doctor's incarnations to the Death Zone, using them gain access for him to the Tomb of Rassilon. Ultimately Borusa gained the immortality he sought by Rassilon, entombed as a living statue on Rassilon's sarcophagus. Following the close of the crisis induced by Borusa the full High Council utilised its emergency powers and made the Doctor President of Gallifrey. The Doctor departed briskly, giving Chancellor Flavia "full deputy powers until (he) returned", (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (Public Broadcasting Service, 1983).)
The Doctor's presidency[]
Due to the bungled succession, Flavia stepped down as Chancellor and Vorena took over. After he crossed the frontier in time, the Doctor was recalled to Gallifrey to fulfil his duties as President whilst his current companion Tegan became Ambassador to Earth. Guided by Castellan Lowri and Leela, he announced a plan to end the Academy's monopoly on awarding Time Lord status and fulfilled presidential duties such as a diplomatic mission, which was complicated by the Doctor's past with the other party. The Doctor faced protests on a visit to the Academy and had to intervene to stop Scandrius, a student inspired by him, causing a catastrophic paradox when he stole a TARDIS.
The Doctor's final presidential duty was opening the new Capitol building. After they began to encounter dimensional anomalies whilst touring the building, Vorena confessed the building was actually a giant TARDIS. She and her political allies has infiltrated the project to give the Doctor this power, so he could put right the evils of the cosmos. The Doctor refused her offer and escaped the malfunctioning TARDIS, which dematerialised with Vorena aboard. The Doctor gifted the relics of Rassilon to Lowri, handing the presidency to her, and then departed with Tegan in his TARDIS once more. (AUDIO: Time in Office [+]Eddie Robson, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2017).)
Whilst Acting President, Lowri sent Leela to recruit the Doctor to stop Abby and Zara, whose powers were threatening time and space. (AUDIO: The Garden of Storms [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Corruption and revolution[]
Flavia eventually became Acting President. She became aware of murmurings that the High Council wanted to make its own choice for President, as she had not been properly elected. She offered herself for re-election to resolve this, unexpectedly losing to Niroc. Niroc's rise had been brought about by the CIA, who wanted a more easily controllable President. Flavia returned to the High Council, which Niroc began to fill with sycophants. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
After years of planning their revenge, the natives of Exclon created a spacecraft strong enough to destroy the Time Lords. Using a gravity controller, they brought the Sixth Doctor's TARDIS to Exclon. They planned to use the Time Lords' trust of the Doctor against them by saying that they had formed a peace treaty with the Doctor. While testing the spacecraft was being tested, it accidentally caved-in a cave in which the Doctor was being kept. He managed to escape before he could be used against the Time Lords and the natives of Exclon were all killed when the caves collapsed. (PROSE: Vorton's Revenge [+]Doctor Who Annual 1985 (Doctor Who annual, 1984).)
A Time Lord on the High Council intervened to stop the Doctor altering the Vipod Mor's journey into the past, as it would be vital to the Big Bang. (AUDIO: Slipback [+]Eric Saward, BBC Audio Dramas (BBC Radio 4, 1985).)
An ambassador, Anzor, was sent to Magnus after the natives' petitioned the Time Lords for aid in their conflict. (PROSE: Mission to Magnus [+]Philip Martin, adapted from Mission to Magnus, Target Missing Episodes (Target Books, 1990)., AUDIO: Mission to Magnus [+]Philip Martin, adapted from Mission to Magnus, The Lost Stories (Big Finish Productions, 2009).)
The High Council detected violent temporal disturbances on Marinus caused by a worldshaper. They sent a Time Lord to investigate, but he was attacked by Voord. The Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown, and Frobisher followed a distress signal from his TARDIS to Marinus and found his corpse. They then left the planet, picked up Jamie McCrimmon, and returned. Jamie sacrificed his life to destroy the worldshaper and time stabilised. A group of Time Lords then came to the planet to clean up the worldshaper technology and prevent the Doctor from interfering with Cyberman history. (COMIC: The World Shapers [+]Grant Morrison, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1987).)
After the Sleepers stole secrets from the Matrix, the High Council decided to physically move Earth in order to contain their escape. Earth was dragged across two light-years. Most of the humans remaining on Earth were wiped out. Those that survived degenerated to a primitive, tribal culture. The planet came to be known as Ravolox, with Earth being completely forgotten. (TV: The Mysterious Planet [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).)
The Doctor later stumbled across Ravolox and the K4 robot guarding the Sleepers' secrets. (TV: The Mysterious Planet [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) After this, and his meddling in the CIA's attempt to destroy the Nestene Consciousness, (PROSE: Synthespians™ [+]Craig Hinton, BBC Past Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2004).) the High Council decided to deal with the Doctor by putting him on trial. They made a deal with the Valeyard for him to prosecute and adjust the evidence in return for the Doctor's remaining regenerations. (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).)
The Doctor was summoned from Thoros Beta (TV: Mindwarp [+]Philip Martin, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) to Space Station Zenobia where he was tried, with Inquisitor Darkel overseeing proceedings. The Valeyard presented his case with the Doctor's recent actions on Ravolox (TV: The Mysterious Planet [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) and Thoros Beta, which revealed that the Time Lords has extracted the Doctor moments before he could save his companion Peri from being killed. (TV: Mindwarp [+]Philip Martin, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) The Doctor decided to use evidence from his future as his defence (PROSE: Interstitial Insecurity [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) however found the evidence had been altered upon presenting it to the court. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids [+]Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) He was unable to prove this however and looked set to lose his case until the Master intervened. The Master revealed the fallibility of the Matrix by speaking from within it, provided witnesses to prove the Doctor's version of events, exposed the High Council's recent actions and the Valeyard's true identity. The Valeyard fled into the Matrix, with the Doctor pursuing him and stopping his plan to assassinate the court. (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) Whilst he dealt with the Valeyard, the Eighth Doctor and a temporal duplicate of the Sixth Doctor (created in a failed attempted by the Valeyard to impose an alternate timeline where he was successful) forced Niroc to begin an presidential inquiry. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) The Master's revelations meanwhile caused a revolution on Gallifrey (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) so the Eighth Doctor made deal with Rassilon for Borusa's temporary release in a saner incarnation to oversee the situation as numerous factions were now attempting to capitalise on the situation. Borusa convened the Council of Administration which officially deposed the corrupt High Council and ruled during the following interregnum. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
In the ensuing political chaos on Gallifrey, five iterations of Peri were created as various Time Lord factions modified her fate to suit their beliefs. These versions of Peri all co-existed in the same timeline. (AUDIO: Peri and the Piscon Paradox [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) During this period, a magnetron was used to return Ravolox to its original location, (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) the Valeyard was put on trial, (AUDIO: Trial of the Valeyard [+]Alan Barnes and Mike Maddox, The Sixth Doctor Adventures (Big Finish Productions, 2013).) Zenobia was decommissioned (AUDIO: The Brink of Death [+]Nicholas Briggs, The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure (Big Finish Productions, 2015).) and Rigan became Coordinator of the CIA, overseeing a project on Earth to transplant TARDIS minds into Human bodies which the Seventh Doctor put an end to. (AUDIO: Unregenerate! [+]David A. McIntee, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2005).) The interregnum came to an end with new elections which returned Flavia to the presidency after which Borusa returned to Rassilon. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
During Flavia's presidency, the Committee of Three brought Agonal to Gallifrey to fight Rassilon so they could free Borusa. Having redeemed himself with Rassilon, Borusa refused to go with them and worked with the Seventh Doctor and Romana to defeat Agonal by linking their minds. In the aftermath Romana decided to remain on Gallifrey. (PROSE: Blood Harvest [+]Terrance Dicks, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994).) Immediately afterwards, Vampire cultist Ruath used the Time Scoop to seek the Vampire messiah Yarven and targeted the Fifth Doctor. Romana was invited to join the High Council at the same time. (PROSE: Goth Opera [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1994).)
By the Rassilonian year 10639.5, centuries after the Capitol was redesigned by Overseer Luther, the Doctor was thought by some to be a myth. Elucidator Ziggi wrote the book Doctor Who?: In Search of the Old Times Fraud. This group were surprised when a wounded Eighth Doctor was brought to Gallifrey by the Higher Evolutionaries with Fey Truscott-Sade and Izzy Sinclair.
As the Doctor recovered, Luther decided that it was the perfect time to initiate his plan to rewrite Gallifrey's history. The Final Chapter assembled in the Watchtower over the old Panoptican. Draining power directly from the Eye of Harmony, the Final Chapter journeyed to the Rassilonian year zero. The Doctor, Fey, Izzy, and Shayde managed to get into the Watchtower before it dematerialised. As the tower left Gallifrey it tore apart the entire Capitol. In the past, Shayde pretended to be the Doctor and jumped into the Watchtower's time column. He then redirected the Watchtower back to the now ruined present Gallifrey. (COMIC: The Final Chapter [+]Alan Barnes, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics UK, 1998).)
Romana's Presidency[]
Enter the new President[]
Romana II succeeded Flavia as Lady President (PROSE: Happy Endings [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1996).) after a coup overthrew Flavia's government. (AUDIO: Lies [+]Gary Russell, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005)., Insurgency [+]Steve Lyons, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
In year 6776.7 of the Rassilon Era, (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) Romana was on a routine visit to Etra Prime when it disappeared. She was imprisoned there by the Daleks for twenty years. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element [+]Stephen Cole, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2000).) During the ensuing caretaker presidency the Sirens of Time manipulated three incarnations of the Doctor to alter history to enable the Knights of Velyshaa to conquer Gallifrey. With the aid of the Temperon, the Doctors were able to correct the timeline. (AUDIO: The Sirens of Time [+]Nicholas Briggs, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 1999).)
In year 6796.8 of the Rassilon Era, (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) the Sixth Doctor arrived on Archetryx during the Archetryx Convention. Vansell was at the convention spying on the other Temporal Powers' time machines. When Romana escaped the Daleks back to Gallifrey, they followed her and tricked Vansell into allowing them on the planet thinking them to be a deposition from the Monan Host. When on Gallifrey they slaughtered the Chancellery Guard as they needed the use of the Eye of Harmony, which was keyed to Evelyn Smythe's retina scan due to restricting the Dalek Movement around Gallifrey, in order to stop the Apocalypse Element's destruction of the Seriphia Galaxy this action killed all the Daleks on Gallifrey. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element [+]Stephen Cole, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2000).)
During Romana's presidency, the Temporal Powers and the Time Lords established greater relations thanks to more adventurous Gallifreyan students. Commended by Romana for their bravery, Gallifreyan students had started to study in new ways not outlined by the Great Curriculum. These same students also started sharing their knowledge with other Temporal Powers, with Vansell even claiming the CIA was helping them. In truth, Vansell wanted even stronger ties between Gallifrey and her allies, believing that the Time Lords had held themselves back by not removing the aggressors and injustices of history. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).)
The Time Lords under President Romana agreed the Act of Master Restitution with the Daleks. (PROSE: Meet the Doctor [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Annual 2006 (Panini UK, 2005).) She summoned the Doctor back to Gallifrey to give him a mission to Skaro. His TARDIS instead brought him to the House of Lungbarrow, when the Doctor discovered what has become of his cousins since his departure. When he failed to arrive, Romana had Dorothee McShane transducted to Gallifrey, but she was intercepted by the CIA. Believing Romana was off-world and neglecting her duties, CIA Head of Allegiance Ferain launched a military coup, capturing Leela. After they were rescued by K9, Romana ordered Dorothee and Leela to find the Doctor.
They helped him and some of his cousins escape Lungbarrow before it collapsed. Ferain later agreed to stand down if Romana gave the Doctor the mission to Skaro. The Doctor set off for Skaro, with his companion Chris deciding to stay on Gallifrey. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) Another account suggested the President gave the Doctor the mission to Skaro after he captured the Eleven and had him imprisoned on Gallifrey, (AUDIO: The Eleven [+]Matt Fitton, Doom Coalition 1 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Doom Coalition, Big Finish Productions, 2015).) whereas other accounts held that she simply contacted the Doctor's TARDIS to give him the mission, (PROSE: The TV Movie [+]Gary Russell, adapted from Doctor Who (Matthew Jacobs), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2021).) or that Gallifrey was not involved in the Master's trial at all. (PROSE: The Novel of the Film [+]Gary Russell, adapted from Doctor Who (Matthew Jacobs), BBC Books novelisations (BBC Books, 1996).)
When Leela's pregnancy ended the Pythia's Curse, Romana negotiated peace with the Sisterhood of Karn and ended the long rift that existed between them and the Time Lords. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) According to the Book of Lies, within his tomb the "Great Grey Eminence" was upset by the return of life to Gallifrey, so he made a pact with Faction Paradox to fold the Doctor's life back upon itself and undo the changes. (PROSE: Unnatural History [+]Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) One incarnation of the Doctor, who existed at some point after the life of the Seventh Doctor, said that, by his time, Gallifrey had yet to repeal the First Law of Time. (COMIC: Party Animals [+]Gary Russell, DWM Comics (Marvel Comics, 1991).) Later in the life of this incarnation, the planet was destroyed due to traumatic matters. As such, this future incarnation gave up his status as being part of his former identity's lifecycle so that a man in black could restore his homeworld, (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt [+]Callum Phillpott, Novelisations in Time & Space (BBV Productions, 2021).) resulting in ensuing incarnations of the Doctor having no relation (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).) to the man who became known as "Fred". (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt [+]Callum Phillpott, Novelisations in Time & Space (BBV Productions, 2021).)
Rassilon's spirit guided the amnesiac Eighth Doctor to make "small improvements to the pattern of history," after which Flavia was the current President and the Doctor went to travel with Sam Jones (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) rather than someone who would try to "screw" him. However, the Eighth Doctor was later able to remember both Flavia and Romana as the current President, (PROSE: Unnatural History [+]Jonathan Blum and Kate Orman, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) and he had memories of parents as well as being born of a Loom. (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon [+]Paul Cornell, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) Later, he discovered that Romana was the current President. (WC: Shada [+]Douglas Adams and Gary Russell, adapted from Shada (Douglas Adams), BBCi animations (2003)., AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002)., Zagreus [+]Alan Barnes and Gary Russell, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003)., PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon [+]Paul Cornell, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).)
The Eighth Doctor recruited President Romana and her K9 to come with him to resolve a temporal discrepancy by finishing their adventure in Cambridge in 1979 which had been erased (WC: Shada [+]Douglas Adams and Gary Russell, adapted from Shada (Douglas Adams), BBCi animations (2003).) by Borusa time-scopping them. (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (Public Broadcasting Service, 1983).) He brought them back to Gallifrey afterwards, in time to deal with an incident caused by a vampire cult led by Handrel. (PROSE: The Time Lord's Story [+]Iain McLaughlin and Claire Bartlett, Short Trips: Repercussions (Short Trips short stories, 2004).)
Anti-Time crisis[]
On his travels, the Eighth Doctor saved Charlotte Pollard on the R101. (AUDIO: Storm Warning [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2001).) According to Romana and Vansell this action wouldn't normally have changed the Web of Time, but the Neverperson Sentris used this event to break into the universe and caused an anti-time incursion which stretched the web to its limits. Vansell set the Matrix to remembering the correct path of history. At this point the matrix was predicting only one future, Romana becoming Imperiatrix. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).)
A fleet of TARDISes began patrolling the Time Vortex to find the Doctor and Charley. (AUDIO: Embrace the Darkness [+]Nicholas Briggs, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) Using many Battle TARDISes the Celestial Intervention Agency captured the Doctor and Charley and planned to use Charley as a way to enter the universe of anti-time. Vansell thought that Rassilon was in this universe and planned to bring him back. This was a ploy by Sentris as the casket containing the supposed Rassilon was an anti-time bomb, which the Neverpeople planned to detonate passed the transduction barrier, as Gallifrey was the only place in the universe that hadn't been tainted by anti-time. The Doctor used his TARDIS to contain the explosion. (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).)
Irving Braxiatel was tasked with tracking the remnants of the Doctor's TARDIS, and notified Romana when it disappeared six months later. She went with Leela into the Death Zone, After Leela has a dream where Rassilon seemingly communicated woth her, where they discovered a Matrix door to Rassilon's Foundry, where she met the Doctor in the throes of Anti-Time infection and calling himself Zagreus. Rassilon intended to use Zagreus to destroy the Divergence, however Zagreus turned on him and cast him into the Divergent Universe. Despite his infection eventually being stabilised by his TARDIS, the Doctor banished himself to the Divergent Universe and Romana told him that he would never be able to return. (AUDIO: Zagreus [+]Alan Barnes and Gary Russell, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).)
The new Coordinator[]
After the Anti-Time Crisis, Romana discontinued the use of the Oubliette of Eternity, having discovered it sentenced its victims to be Neverpeople, (AUDIO: Neverland [+]Alan Barnes, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2002).) however the new Coordinator Narvin asked to use it one last time to erase Bellascon. (AUDIO: Erasure [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Whilst Narvin was Coordinator, the Time Lords fell under the influence of the Now, pan-dimensional parasites. Struggling to resist, Narvin orchestrated for an alternate version of the Doctor from a parallel universe, who was currently travelling in Gallifrey's universe with Bernice Summerfield, to be brought to Gallifrey in hopes of him finding a solution as the only unaffected Time Lord. (AUDIO: Gallifrey [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) After a failed attempt to capture them, (AUDIO: The Undying Truth [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) the Time Lords caught up with the Doctor and Benny after the Doctor activated a signal device. (AUDIO: Inertia [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) On Gallifrey Doctor was placed on trial for existing and appointed Benny his defender. Benny found the Time Lords' behaviour very odd and Narvin discreetly aided her by directing her to the archivist, who gave Benny enough knowledge about Gallifreyan law to find a way to transport the Doctor into the Matrix instead of being executed. He and Benny deduced the Now's influence and he devised a solution to force every Time Lord to regenerate with the Crown of Rassilon, though backed down when he realised it would wipe out the entire Now and kill many Time Lords in the process. Narvin initiated the plan himself to the Doctor and Benny's horror and revealed his true intentions, earning a punch from Benny. The Doctor and Benny then departed Gallifrey. (AUDIO: Gallifrey [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Free Time Movement and the Return of Pandora[]
Soon after on the planet Gryben, the Time Lords holding planet of unlicensed travel through the Time Vortex, the Free Time movement obtained a Timonic Fusion Device and planned to detonate it and destroy the Time Lords. The current Celestial Intervention Agency Coordinator Narvin sent Torvald and Leela there to discover its location. Whilst on this mission it was discovered that the Monan Host had agents on the planet, and if Narvin used the Battle TARDISes in orbit to stop the escalating actions of the human Nepenthe he would have provoke the third space war. To counteract this Romana head to the planet knowing that if the TARDISes had to bomb the planet the action was just as they chose to kill their president. The Timon Fusion Device was found to be a contrivance, as it jumped forward in time when the countdown finished instead of detonating, and there was no real threat. Narvin then initiated a presidential inquiry into Romana's actions. (AUDIO: Weapon of Choice [+]Alan Barnes, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2004).)
Leela was then sent to investigate a temporal summit to see if it was a neutral as it was supposed to be, considering the actions of the Archetryx Convention. There Leela discovered that time was being rewritten to make the summit go smoothly. This removed the accidental death of an exotic dance by the Nekkistani ambassador Flinkstab and the murder of Pule of Unvoss. Leela told Romana of this and she arrived at the summit to expose Hossak as well as Narvin's actions after the Dalek attack on the Monan Host world as the Monan V'rell was committing terrorist acts because of it. (AUDIO: Square One [+]Stephen Cole, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2004).)
By now Romana's inquiry was ready and Inquisitor Prime Darkel, who had previously resided over the Sixth Doctor's trial, was presenting the case for the prosecution. In obtaining evidence for his mistress, K9 Mark II accidentally set of a data bomb in the Matrix. It was extrapolated that Irving Braxiatel had intended to set it there to expose Glower and Narvin's Project Alpha. In discovering this information, Romana found that Braxiatel was transgressing the Laws of Time by conversing to his past and future selves in creating the Braxiatel Collection. As Braxiatel did not recall actually having planted the bomb due to the project's discontinuing, Romana realised history had been changed ans confirmed from Narvin that Alpha had stopped due to the Timonic Fusion Device disappearing. She and Braxiatel corrected history by travelling back in time and stopping servitors stealing the Device to deliver to Free Time, resulting in Project Alpha going ahead and destroying the planet Minyos, which was covered up by the High Council at the time and the start of Narvin's career in the CIA. Darkel abandoned the inquiry, as due to the temporal machinations the Device on Gryben had now been both fake and real. (AUDIO: The Inquiry [+]Justin Richards, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2004).)
Mephistopheles Arkadian invited Romana to France in 1939, as she would find something useful about the Free Time movement and the CIA agent Torvald. As she, Leela, Narvin and Torvald encountered Torvald's past self, it was revealed that Andred was not dead and had been impersonating Torvald for months, as he could not account for the younger Torvald's actions. It was also discovered that Torvald had been behind the theft of the Device to spark a crisis on Gryben, though he had not lived to see it through himself. (AUDIO: A Blind Eye [+]Alan Barnes, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2004).)
Romana decided to allow non-Gallifreyans to attend the Time Lord Academy, much to the disdain of Darkel. It was at this time that an ancient evil from Gallifrey's past started to regain a presence by hijacking Narvin's brainwaves. As Leela was combing the catacombs after discovering that her husband was not dead, she encounter Pandora, Gallifrey's first Imperiatrix was manifesting itself in the Matrix. Romana had encountered Pandora in her youth and was given the Imperiatrix Imprimatur. Pandora wanted to make herself corporeal by taking over Romana's biodata. K9 managed to squeeze her back into the Matrix. (AUDIO: Lies [+]Gary Russell, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).) Leela and Romana went to Davidia to recuperate, when a rogue TARDIS passed through the security barriers and a severely burnt Time Lord came out. As his TARDIS was currently present on Gallifrey, it was assumed he had come from the future. (AUDIO: Spirit [+]Stephen Cole, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
On returning back to Gallifrey, Darkel manipulated the situation to put Castellan Wynter, who was inexperienced, in charge of the investigation of the burnt Time Lord. She also persuaded Romana to allow Braxiatel to become Chancellor. Meanwhile the student Gillestes tried to poison the water in the name of Free Time, though Andred stopped her. K9 analysed the poison and found it to be the Dogma Virus. Pandora then invaded Wynter's mind who went mad and tried to stop her but drinking the Dogma Virus vial, crushing his hands and burning himself with K9's laser becoming the burnt Time Lord he was investigating. Pandora managed to escape the Matrix using Braxiatel's ambition, but Braxiatel stopped her. He had to be banished to stop her manifesting again, as she was still in his minf, and Darkel had his chancellorship stripped from him. (AUDIO: Pandora [+]Justin Richards, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
Leela then started teaching at the academy as Braxiatel's last request. Here she taught about how to live in Time Lord society. With the new Chancellor Valyes, Darkel proceeded to try to find any ways to get the alien students of the planet. In the process she caused the death of Taylor Addison who was trying to keep his friends together throughout this time, he discovered a chamber under the Panopticon and was killed trying to find its secrets. By this time Romana was conversing with the future aspect of Pandora still in the Matrix, usually through K9, to find a way to stop this insurrection. It was during one of these conversations she was briefly taken over by Pandora and killed Andred. Darkel openly challenged her presidency, and started an election. (AUDIO: Insurgency [+]Steve Lyons, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).)
After this challenge, there was an open terrorist attack on the Academy, caused by Antimon. This gained Darkel many followers and, after a second bombing in the scapheport, a full High Council session was called to deal with this crisis where Darkel intended to launch a coup. Guided by the future aspect of Pandora, Romana thought that the only answer was declare herself Imperiatrix and become a dictator, letting Pandora possess K9 to find the Great Key. Ar the session, Romana saw off Darkel's coup and Antimon revealed himself to be a Free Time agent and planned to kill the High Council, Romana and Darkel. Romana had to free K9 of Pandora to allow him to stop the bombs, which Pandora demanded she connect to the Matrix first. In doing this, Romana allowed Pandora manifested herself completely through her first incarnation. She claimed her title back and declared civil war. (AUDIO: Imperiatrix [+]Stewart Sheargold, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2005).) Pandora was supported by Darkel and Valyes. (AUDIO: Fractures [+]Stephen Cole, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).)
Romana spent most of the civil war destroying infrastructure of the capitol, on one such mission she instructed Leela and Narvin the destroy the Artron forum. After the failure of the mission, leaving Leela blind and Narvin severely injured, they fled to the outlands and to the Anomaly Vaults to find a way to defeat Pandora. In the vaults they discovered the CIA assassin Aesino and became trapped in the vaults. They escaped via the use of Braxiatel's transmat that K9 gave Romana to the academy. (AUDIO: Fractures [+]Stephen Cole, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).) Pandora accelerated her attack by creating a technological variant of the Dogma virus. Darkel tried to trick Matthias into infecting Romana with the virus but instead infected Hallan. Romana then won the war by trapping Pandora in the Matrix and then wiping it clean. (AUDIO: Warfare [+]Stewart Sheargold, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).)
With the Matrix lost to them and the technological variant of the virus infecting systems across the Capitol, Gallifrey was prone to invasion. The Sunari, Nekkistani and Warpsmiths of Phaidon took advantage of this and invaded to emancipate their students who were caught up in the war. Romana was incapacitated due to her defeat of Pandora, and Valyes became acting president and planned to resign and give the presidency to Darkel. Mathias used the situation to become de facto vice president of Gallifrey and negotiated a peace settlement. (AUDIO: Arbitration [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) There was a power struggle, and a presidential elections was called, with Romana, Darkel, and Matthias contesting the role. Matthias found a loophole and got Romana's candidacy revoked as she would have been impeached. Darkel also had Romana's presidency annulled up to the point Pandora escaped from the Matrix. Because of this Braxiatel returned to the planet as chancellor and became president. Darkel tried to get him to loose control of the part of Pandora in his mind, which occurred and she was killed as a result. Braxiatel then resigned and named Matthias as his successor. (AUDIO: Mindbomb [+]Justin Richards, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).)
Dogma Virus Outbreak and Restoration of Romana[]
To gain capital for the planet, Matthias invited Mephistopheles Arkadian to the planet to sell of Pandora's temporal weaponry. Romana then started to investigate the Dogma Virus infestation, and discovered that a large proportion of the population were infected and being contained in a zombified state. Elbon was trying to find a cure. As part of the bargain with Arkadian, Romana was sent with Elbon to deliver the weapons to the buyers as they had the cure to the Dogma Virus. Meanwhile Leela and Narvin weren't sure about Arkadian and chased him to the Biodata Archive just when it was time scooped by Braxiatel. Braxiatel then asked for a decision on whether to use the cure for the Dogma Virus, however it was taken out of his hands when Elbon seized the cure and ran for the TARDIS. He was shot by a servitor Braxiatel had set to guard it from Arkadian, and regenerated into a zombie which dematerialised the TARDIS. Without a cure or way home, Braxiatel left it up to a Romana what they did now. (AUDIO: Panacea [+]Alan Barnes, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).) Romana, Braxiatel, Narvin and Leela then went to the Axis to explore alternative Gallifreys for a better cure for the Dogma Virus. (AUDIO: Reborn [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Disassembled [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Annihilation [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Forever [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Emancipation [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Evolution [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Arbitration [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) In the meantime, the Dogma Virus pandemic escalated when the contagious zombies escaped. (AUDIO: Panacea [+]Alan Barnes, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2006).) Matthias ordered them quarantined in time-locked facilities. After this was carried out, he resigned as President and went into exile. (AUDIO: Ascension [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Romana, Narvin and Leela returned to the main universe after the Dalek invasion of the Gallifrey they settled on. (AUDIO: Extermination [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) On returning to a ruined Gallifrey, Romana encountered her next incarnation who told her that they needed to rebuild Gallifrey, and transplanted her capitol with the current one. Trying to keep the Eye of Harmony and Transduction barrier from destroying Gallifrey she accidentally killed the Unvossi ambassador who came to the planet. When the balance between the Eye and the Barrier became unstable Romana managed to fix it but the dimensional forces started her regeneration. (AUDIO: Renaissance [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) This occurred in the Matrix.
Romana returned to Gallifrey and discovered the state that the Dogma Virus had left the planet in. Having discovered a workable cure and now restored as President, she rewrote the biodata of the Time Lords and destroyed the virus. It was during this time that Slyne, a Castellan from an alternate Gallifrey, opened the Matrix and allowed the Daleks to invade. Leela gave Romana a message from her future incarnation saying that her plan was ready. Romana lured the Daleks into the Matrix and sealed herself in there, seemingly trapping herself. (AUDIO: Ascension [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Narvin realised that Gallifrey would fall without her and sent Valyes to meet the Fourth Doctor and order him to avert the creation of the Daleks, not knowing that the Romana trapped in the Matrix was actually an avatar. In doing so Narvin accidentally started the Last Great Time War. (AUDIO: Ascension [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) Valyes told the Doctor that the Time Lords has foreseen a future where Daleks became the dominant lifeform in the universe and that they had brought him and his companions, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan, to Skaro during the creation of the Daleks. He informed them that they had to stop Davros' experiments and gave them a time ring to escape. The Doctor was unable to stop the creation of the Daleks, but still changed history by forcing Davros to rush the creation. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) The Time Lords monitored the changes to history, with a few hundred worlds now saved from the Daleks, and supplied the Doctor with a replacement time ring after distortions from his alterations to history caused damage to it. (PROSE: A Device of Death [+]Christopher Bulis, Virgin Missing Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).) Another account suggested the mission had actually occurred earlier in Time Lord history and that it had been Ferain who had met the Doctor on Skaro. (PROSE: Lungbarrow [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Lungbarrow, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1997).)
As President, Romana deployed Leela as an Time Lord agent to investigate time breaks in the 1890s (AUDIO: Dead Men's Tales [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) and someone impersonating her. (AUDIO: Emancipation [+]Lisa McMullin, The Eighth of March (The Eighth of March, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) She and Leela together investigated the Sirens of Time's meddling with the Henlan test flight, working with nine incarnations of the Doctor to correct the timeline. (AUDIO: Collision Course [+]Guy Adams, The Legacy of Time (Big Finish Productions, 2019).) An earthquake occurred during this time, causing Narvin and Leela to shelter in the House of Heartshaven's cellar. (AUDIO: Erasure [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
In the original timeline, Romana boarded a malfunctioning Monan vessel on the edge of Gallifreyan space, the Moros, intending to regenerate to save its failing engines and prevent a diplomatic incident. Leela followed her, forcing Romana to transmat her to safety on Legion. Alone, Romana regenerated into her third incarnation, saving the Moros. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines [+]David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2016).)
War on Gallifrey[]
For centuries, Time Lords like Greyjan the Sane (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell [+]Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) and Thessalia had been predicting that their civilisation would be ravaged by a great war. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) Matrix prophecies increasingly predicted that Gallifrey itself would be destroyed. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Books (1998)., The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005)., AUDIO: The Crucible of Souls [+]John Dorney, Doom Coalition 3 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Doom Coalition, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) After the Seventh Doctor regenerated into the Eighth, (TV: Doctor Who [+]Matthew Jacobs, Doctor Who Television Movie (Fox Broadcasting Company, 1996).) these events came to pass. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997)., TV: The Night of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Specials minisode (BBC One, 2013).)
Micen Island, Tannis and Rathen[]
In one account, all but a few Time Lords were killed during the Seventh Doctor's lifetimes. These survivors were wandering renegade Time Lords, including the Doctor himself as well as the Minister of Chance, the Saints Antenor and Valentine, and Castellan Casmus. Though these were seemingly all that Tannis knew about, (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Colin Meek, BBCi animations (BBCi, 2001-2002).) there were others in various states of exile, including the Horseman, the Sage of the Waves, the Pilot and the Summer King. (PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Dan Freeman, adapted from The Minister of Chance, The Minister of Chance (Arcbeatle Press, 2022).) Tannis himself was another, secret, power-hungry survivor, who once referred to "the Time Lords of the Fraction" among the other survivors he'd quashed, without clarifying whether this was a name for the group which included the Doctor, Minister and so on, or a distinct designation. At any rate Gallifrey was intact if depopulated, with the Kingmaker still present in her cave on Mount Plutarch, ready to invest new Time Lords.
Although whether this was the same event which wiped out the Time Lords, whether it predated that near-extinction, or whether it postdated it, was not clear, this account made much of the fact that at some point, the Time Lords tried to help the people of the planet Micen Island. Using their power too openly, they accidentally caused the population to be wiped out. In shame, the surviving Time Lords built the Temple of the Fourth on the depopulated Micen Island, then scattered as wanderers, renewing vows of non-interference: they could manipulate events, but not openly alter the course of history. Additionally, they were sworn not to travel without mortal companions to keep them grounded.
The Minister of Chance broke his vows, however, and began to use his powers more and more wantonly in well-intended effort to save lives. This caused temporal distortions and "corrupted Time". Tannis noticed these distortions and had the vampire assassin Nessican murder Antenor and Valentine, who'd been studying the distortions, making it appear as though the source of the distortions was a villainous mastermind trying to cover up its actions. This served as a distraction for the Doctor while Tannis continued amassing power as supreme general of the Canisian Empire, all without breaking the Laws of Time directly so that his actions would not be detected. Casmus, however, realised that "Time was against [them]". Foreseeing that the era of the Gallifreyan Time Lords was coming to an end, he rescued the Doctor's companion Ace from a Canisian prison ship where she'd wound up after wandering off, and took her back to Gallifrey to train her to become a new kind of Time Lord. She sent her to Anima Persis in his TARDIS, then, after she completed this final test, sent her into the cave of Mount Plutarch to face the Kingmaker, who approved her as a Time Lord. By the time she came out again, Tannis had murdered Casmus.
Meanwhile, the Doctor learned that Tannis had launched an invasion of Earth itself. After forewarning UNIT, who were able to dispatch the Canisian fleet on arrival, he went to Salisbury Plain where Tannis himself had landed, and, after a brief goodbye to Ace, confronted him. Breaking the laws and oaths, he used his power to save Ace then "rewrite the course of Time" to destroy both himself and Tannis (though he reminded Tannis that he had "been dead before"), having agreed with Casmus that their days were over and it was time for humans like Ace to inherit the universe. (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Colin Meek, BBCi animations (BBCi, 2001-2002).)
However, the Minister of Chance, now in a new incarnation, continued travelling the universe using the formula for doors. (AUDIO: The Broken World [+]Dan Freeman, The Minister of Chance (Radio Static, 2012)., et al.) He remained in contact with several additional survivors; these included the Horseman, who had willingly accepted exile to a ravaged planet in punishment for misusing his powers, as well as the Sage of the Waves, who had become a recluse in the Great Keep, the Summer King, who dwelled on the Isle of Apples, and the Pilot, who ran his barge on the alter-dimensional river Hex through which the Isle could be accessed. These survivors had been part of a dissipation pact, who agreed to lock most of their power away in talismans to reduce the temptation of using them frivolously; together, they killed another of their number who had taken a human wife and begun to misuse his powers. Unbeknownst to them, this renegade had a hybrid child, Rathen. As Rathen grew up, they began to realise the extent of what they could do, and tried to conquer the universe, causing further distortions which displaced several celestial bodies, (PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Dan Freeman, adapted from The Minister of Chance, The Minister of Chance (Arcbeatle Press, 2022).) such as the one known as the "Near Cluster". (AUDIO: The Broken World [+]Dan Freeman, The Minister of Chance (Radio Static, 2012).) The Minister and the Horseman initially blamed one another for the act, but the Minister's companion Kitty allowed him to realise that there was another hand at work and they eventually identified and defeated Rathen, killing them beyond their ability to heal (AUDIO: Paludin Fields [+]Dan Freeman, The Minister of Chance (Radio Static, 2012)., In a Barque on the River Hex [+]Dan Freeman, The Minister of Chance (Radio Static, 2013)., PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Dan Freeman, adapted from The Minister of Chance, The Minister of Chance (Arcbeatle Press, 2022).) using Nemorant. (PROSE: The Minister of Chance [+]Dan Freeman, adapted from The Minister of Chance, The Minister of Chance (Arcbeatle Press, 2022).)
This sequence of events seemingly conflicted with the accounts of the Seventh Doctor's regeneration into the Eighth Doctor in 1999 San Francisco, (TV: Doctor Who [+]Matthew Jacobs, Doctor Who Television Movie (Fox Broadcasting Company, 1996).) and with the fact that the Eighth Doctor would go on to interact with an intact Gallifrey and Time Lords. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).) Indeed, after being exposed to anti-time, the Eighth Doctor of one reality where he interacted with Gallifrey saw an alternate reality where the Time Lords had "terrible mind powers", (AUDIO: Zagreus [+]Alan Barnes and Gary Russell, Main Range (Big Finish Productions, 2003).) matching the mysterious powers which, in this account, Time Lords were said to inherently possess as "God[s] of the Fourth", despite being sworn never to use them. (WC: Death Comes to Time [+]Colin Meek, BBCi animations (BBCi, 2001-2002).) On the other hand, according to one account relevant to the Eighth Doctor's life, the Doctor's parents Ulysses and Penelope Gate knew that Tannis was a future threat to Gallifrey which the Doctor would play a key role in defeating; (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).) another account dealing with this same version of the Eighth Doctor acknowledged the Canisian invasion as a recent event. (PROSE: Trading Futures [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2002).)
Return of Omega[]
Sometime after Romana II regenerated into her third incarnation while fixing the engines of the Moros, (AUDIO: Enemy Lines [+]David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2016).) a threatening anomaly began growing in Mutter's Spiral. Romana discovered that the Adherents of Ohm were still active on Gallifrey and were planning the return of Omega. One of their members, Tauras, took Celestial Intervention Agency operative Ace to Earth and used the Hand of Omega to create a black hole to Omega's domain. Omega then possessed Tauras and, despite pursuit from Narvin and Romana, escaped in Ace's TARDIS. Romana, Ace, and Narvin tried to follow but were trapped in the black hole until Romana was rescued by Irving Braxiatel. (AUDIO: Intervention Earth [+]Scott Handcock and David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2015).)
After the return of Omega, a war began that devastated Gallifrey. However, Braxiatel went back in time and stopped Romana II from regenerating on the Moros, then guided her in stepping down from the Presidency in an attempt to avoid the start of the conflict. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines [+]David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2016).)
The War in Heaven[]
- Main article: War in Heaven
The Homeworld's most infamous renegade returned several times over the course of decades with warnings of an enemy preparing for war against the Great Houses. These warnings were largely ignored, climaxing in the Head of the Presidency's attempt to disprove the rumours through the Faraway Declaration. However, the Declaration instead proved the enemy's existence and malice, and the Homeworld began to prepare for war, with the former renegade becoming the War King. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) In fear of the fight to come, the Celestial Intervention Agency preemptively erased themselves from time to become the noncorporeal Celestis. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997).)
Increased tensions between enemy representatives and Time Lord forces on Dronid climaxed in the Cataclysm and the beginning of the War in Heaven. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) Immediately, the House Military engaged the enemy across the Spiral Politic, including the Thousand-Year Battles on Utterlost, Kaiwar, and Mohandassa. However, the approach of this "First Wave" was ineffective against the enemy, leading to further innovations in subsequent Waves. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) The enemy launched a direct attack on the Homeworld which destroyed many technologies, including the Sash of Rassilon, Hand of Omega and De-mat Gun. Despite the attack having caught the Time Lords by surprise, the War King's preparations prevented Gallifrey's destruction. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997)., The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
The War in Heaven brought substantial changes to Gallifreyan society. (PROSE: Alien Bodies [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1997)., The Taking of Planet 5 [+]Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) Many renegade Time Lords like Borusa and the Rani returned to Gallifrey to help train soldiers, (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5 [+]Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 1999).) By the Fourth Wave, the House Military had begun recruiting "regen-inf" soldiers from the lesser species and, even more radically, incorporating foreign biodata into the Looms. The Army of One project saw the regen-inf soldier Chris Cwej multiplied into an entire army of Cwejen, with consequences that would outlast the War itself. Many Newblood Houses were created, and the identities of the six ruling Houses was in constant flux, with a deep divide opening between the traditional political Houses and the new, Military ones. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).)
During the War, several duplicates of Gallifrey were constructed. These were collectively known as the Nine Gallifreys, (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon [+]Paul Cornell, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) although there were truly far more than nine. Many of these duplicate Homeworlds believed themselves to be the original, creating their own cloneworlds in kind. (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Lawrence Miles, et al., Faction Paradox novels (Mad Norwegian Press, 2002).) On one duplicate, (PROSE: The Story So Far... [+]Jayce Black, The Book of the Peace (Faction Paradox, Obverse Books, 2018).) ruled by Romana III, the Time Lords predicted the oncoming War by observing the war in the Obverse. (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon [+]Paul Cornell, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) However, before the fighting reached her Gallifrey, it was attacked by Faction Paradox forces led by Mother Mathara. To prevent the Faction from taking control, the Eighth Doctor destroyed Gallifrey. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell [+]Peter Anghelides and Stephen Cole, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2000).) The Doctor preserved the minds of all the Time Lords by downloading the entire Matrix into his own mind, suppressing his memories. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).)
In the sixth decade of the War, the Homeworld was fighting against the enemy on 920 fronts. (AUDIO: Body Politic [+]Lawrence Miles, The True History of Faction Paradox (Magic Bullet Productions, 2008).) House Lolita gained support among the War Council after its sole member, the rogue timeship Lolita, destroyed Faction Paradox's Eleven-Day Empire. (AUDIO: The Shadow Play [+]Lawrence Miles, The Faction Paradox Protocols (BBV Productions, 2001)., In the Year of the Cat [+]Lawrence Miles, The Faction Paradox Protocols (BBV Productions, 2003).) She successfully infiltrated several societies throughout the Spiral Politic, becoming Queen of England, (AUDIO: In the Year of the Cat [+]Lawrence Miles, The Faction Paradox Protocols (BBV Productions, 2003).) President of the United States, (PROSE: Head of State [+]Andrew Hickey, Faction Paradox novels (Obverse Books, 2015).) and, after killing the War King, Lady President of the Homeworld. (AUDIO: Body Politic [+]Lawrence Miles, The True History of Faction Paradox (Magic Bullet Productions, 2008).) However, she was defeated by the combined forces of Horus and the Osirian Court in a plot organised by Cousin Justine of Faction Paradox. (AUDIO: The Judgment of Sutekh [+]Lawrence Miles, The True History of Faction Paradox (Magic Bullet Productions, 2009).)
In the post-War universe, the Time Lords appeared to have been erased from history. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2001).) Four Time Lords were known to have survived, (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Lawrence Miles, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2001)., The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).) including the amnesiac Eighth Doctor. He encountered a fellow survivor, Marnal, on Earth. Marnal attempted to hold him accountable for the destruction of Gallifrey, however relented when the Doctor discovered the Matrix's presence in his mind with the aid of K9. Though Marnal subsequently perished during the Vore invasion of Earth, the Doctor intended to find a way to restore the Time Lords. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Lance Parkin, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2005).) He had previously glimpsed restored Time Lords in the Tomorrow Windows. (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows [+]Jonathan Morris, BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures (BBC Books, 2004).)
V-Time[]
According to one account, the planet was eventually restored to existence. During the period that followed, it was commonly referred to as the Base of Operations, and its inhabitants referred to themselves simply as the Superiors. (PROSE: A Bright White Crack [+]Hunter O'Connell, Cwej: The Series (Arcbeatle Press, 2020).) The original Chris Cwej was subjected to the V-Time Experiment, which stripped him of his flesh and transformed him into an artificial intelligence capable of possessing the bodies of other Cwejen. The Surgeon who performed the procedure told Cwej that the War had been an inevitable result of history balancing the Superiors with an equal but opposite Enemy, and that the solution was to "divide the War's W-Time into V-Time, leaving just the Superior perspective on reality". (PROSE: The V Cwejes [+]Tyche McPhee Letts, Down the Middle (Cwej: The Series, Arcbeatle Press, 2020).)
In the years that followed, Cwej was one of the Superiors' most important agents in the outside universe, performing countless military missions, and otherwise dwelling in the virtual world known as the Vicinity. The possibility that the Enemy would resurface, reigniting the War in Heaven, remained a source of worry for the Superiors, and led them to interfere with timelines on War-damaged planets such as Golgalith. (PROSE: Crushing Reality [+]James Hornby, Cwej: The Series (Arcbeatle Press, 2020).)
When Cwej admitted to harbouring the interdimensional fugitives Larles and Kwol, the High President pronounced the V-Time Experiment a failure and sentenced Cwej to execution. However, the Vicinity rescued Cwej as it was being destroyed, and he returned in another body to shoot and kill the President. (PROSE: The Aftermath [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) As a result, the Cwejen population was stirred into an Uprising against the Superiors. Cwej went into hiding in a rebuilt version of the Vicinity. Meanwhile, a Cwej named Thomas Mackeray took command of the Uprising, which became increasingly violent.
Years later, Cwej was pulled out of hibernation by Christina Cwej; she brought him to Mackeray, who wished to recruit him. After an encounter with the Superior criminal Koschei, Cwej attempted to use the praxis-filled Tree of Life to rewrite history and erase the Uprising; however, Koschei distracted him telepathically, causing the Uprising to be only half erased, and leading to an unstable new status quo. Cwej then quit the service of the Superiors. (PROSE: Rebel Rebel [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
The Last Great Time War[]
- Main article: Last Great Time War
After a timeline change by Braxiatel and the Watchmaker, meaning Romana didn't regenerate on the Moros and stepped down as President for Livia, (AUDIO: Enemy Lines [+]David Llewellyn, Gallifrey (Big Finish Productions, 2016).) hostilities between the Time Lords and the Dalek Empire began to escalate. (AUDIO: Dark Eyes [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
Various Time Lord factions began to prepare for war, which the Matrix had begun to predict. Cardinal Prime Padrac assembled a coalition of renegades to takeover Gallifrey and destroy the rest of the universe to safeguard the Time Lords. (AUDIO: Songs of Love [+]Matt Fitton, Doom Coalition 4 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Doom Coalition, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) Their scheme was stopped by the Eighth Doctor and Helen. (AUDIO: Stop the Clock [+]John Dorney, Doom Coalition 4 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Doom Coalition, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) Under-Cardinal Rasmus began research into alternate power sources, in case the Eye of Harmony was compromised, on Deeptime Frontier, which resulted in the release of the last surviving Ravenous. (AUDIO: Deeptime Frontier [+]Matt Fitton, Ravenous 3 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) Deputy CIA Coordinator Narvin undertook clandestine missions under the title "Coordinator in Extremis" to avert the war, which his superior Coordinator Romana was well aware of. (AUDIO: Desperate Measures [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).)
Narvin recruited the Reborn Master to use the Eminence against the Daleks, (AUDIO: Eyes of the Master [+]Matt Fitton, Dark Eyes 2 (The Eighth Doctor Adventures: Dark Eyes, Big Finish Productions, 2014).) however the Master went rogue, using the Eminence to his own ends, forcing Narvin to work with the Doctor to stop him. (AUDIO: Dark Eyes 3 [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) Narvin would later recruit the Master again, in a later incarnation, to obtain swenyo needed for constructing battleships from Callous. By this point Narvin had accepted the war as an inevitability. (AUDIO: Sins of the Father [+]Guy Adams, The Master of Callous (The War Master, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) Eventually President Livia founded the War Council, which frequently came into conflict with the CIA and commenced Project Revenant to enable the resurrections of Time Lords. (AUDIO: Celestial Intervention [+]David Llewellyn, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).)
The Daleks began attacking the Temporal Powers, (AUDIO: Desperate Measures [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) seeking to eliminate potential allies of the Time Lords. (AUDIO: The First Days of Phaidon [+]Sophie Iles, Allegiance (Gallifrey: War Room, Big Finish Productions, 2022).) After the fall of Phaidon, President Livia called for a halt in the rivalry between the CIA and War Council, following the CIA's discovery of Project Revenant, and hours later officially declared the Last Great Time War against the Daleks. (AUDIO: Celestial Intervention [+]David Llewellyn, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).)
In the early days of the War, the Time Lords fought the Daleks at Keetol, (AUDIO: The Heavenly Paradigm [+]Guy Adams, Only the Good (The War Master, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) the Spiral Furl, the Gates of Elysium, (PROSE: The Third Wise Man [+]Dave Rudden, Twelve Angels Weeping (2018).) the Obscura, (AUDIO: Soldier Obscura [+]Tim Foley, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) Seramiphius V, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) and Saracassar. (AUDIO: The Scaramancer [+]Lisa McMullin, Hearts of Darkness (The War Master, Big Finish Productions, 2020).) The Time Lords initially did not regard the conflict as a true war, rather a series of skirmishes. Despite the conflict dragging on some of the High Council kept believing just one more battle displaying Time Lord superiority would send the Daleks fleeing. (PROSE: The Third Wise Man [+]Dave Rudden, Twelve Angels Weeping (2018).)
The Time Lords turned away from governing established history and protecting the Web of Time, and instead threw all their resources into battling the Daleks and their allies. (PROSE: Ghost of Christmas Past [+]Scott Handcock, Twelve Doctors of Christmas (2016).) The War Council sent a reactivation signal to any surviving N-Forms, (AUDIO: Desperate Measures [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) and dreadnoughts including the Septima were assembled in the quantum yards to assault Seriphia. (AUDIO: Hostiles [+]David Llewellyn, Time War: Volume Three (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2020).) A group of Gallifreyan children working in a munitions factory on Gallifrey were targeted by Daleks from a later point in the Time War and were saved by the War Doctor from the same future time period. (PROSE: The Stranger [+]Gary Russell, Heroes and Monsters Collection (Heroes and Monsters Collection, 2015).) The Time Lords achieved victories in the Nevarra Cluster and the Prylus system. (AUDIO: Desperate Measures [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).)
The War Master was commissioned by the Time Lords to create the Rage (AUDIO: Darkness and Light [+]David Llewellyn, Rage of the Time Lords (The War Master, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) and war seeds. (AUDIO: War Seed [+]Johnny Candon, Missy and the Monk (Missy, Big Finish Productions, 2021).) He was eventually recruited directly by the CIA, however quickly went rogue. (AUDIO: The Devil You Know [+]Scott Handcock, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) The Twelve was used as an agent of the High Council, equipped with a neural inhibitor to keep her other incarnations' personalities in check. (AUDIO: Planet of the Ogrons [+]Guy Adams, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Two (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).)
Two months into the War, Project Revenant was destroyed by the CIA to prevent the Daleks capturing it after they invaded the pocket dimension where it was housed, however its true purpose was served regardless as Rassilon was resurrected by the War Council. He was declared Lord President Eternal. (AUDIO: Desperate Measures [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) He established a new regime, making Livia his Prime Minister and dismantling the Chancellery Guard in favour of Cardinal Mantus's Interior Defence Unit. Rassilon declared that any worlds who refused to aid the Time Lords in their campaign would be considered enemies, (AUDIO: Havoc [+]David Llewellyn, Time War: Volume Two (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) and in the first year of the War he wiped out the Tharils, the Porfue and the Krajonnu so that they didn't threaten the Time Lords' supremacy. (PROSE: Lords and Masters [+]Cavan Scott, The Missy Chronicles (2018).) After learning that Rassilon had authorised the destruction of neutral planet Ysalus as an example, (AUDIO: Collateral [+]Lisa McMullin, Time War: Volume Two (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) CIA Coordinator Romana attempted to assassinate him via the Sicari incursions. She failed, though forced him to regenerate, and was exiled from Gallifrey with her Deputy Narvin, with the CIA being subsumed into the IDU. (AUDIO: Assassins [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume Two (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) After his regeneration, Rassilon largely distanced himself from the running of government, delegating to Livia and Mantus in the Capitol and the General and Ollistra in the field, and became obssessed with the idea of the Time Lords ascending to higher dimensions. (AUDIO: Homecoming [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume Four (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2021).)
In the course of their campaign, the Time Lords formed alliances and collaborated with many other powers. This included old foes of the Daleks such as the Thals, (AUDIO: Temmosus [+]Rossa McPhillips, Battlegrounds (The War Doctor Begins, Big Finish Productions, 2022).) and Anti-Dalek Force, (AUDIO: The Uncertain Shore [+]Simon Guerrier, Susan's War (Big Finish Productions, 2020).) and localised resistance groups, such as on Uzmal. (AUDIO: Jonah [+]Timothy X Atack, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Two (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) The Time Lords also worked with with the Nestene Consciousness, (PROSE: Decoy [+]George Mann, The Target Storybook (2019).) and the Voord, (COMIC: Four Doctors [+]Paul Cornell, Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2015).) and employed a Tharil, Biroc, as a spy. (AUDIO: Lion Hearts [+]Lou Morgan, Forged in Fire (The War Doctor Begins, Big Finish Productions, 2021).)
The Doctor refused to join the Time Lords' cause, (AUDIO: Soldier Obscura [+]Tim Foley, Time War: Volume One (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) though his granddaughter Susan did answer their call to arms. (AUDIO: All Hands on Deck [+]Eddie Robson, Short Trips (Big Finish Productions, 2017).) Cardinal Ollistra attempted to conscript him on the Moon of Tenacity, but was forced to abandon the effort when the Daleks invaded. (AUDIO: The Conscript [+]Matt Fitton, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume One (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) The Doctor did occasionally work with the Time Lords away from the front lines, such as investigating Doctor Ogron, (AUDIO: Planet of the Ogrons [+]Guy Adams, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Two (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) assisting the resistance on Uzmal, (AUDIO: Jonah [+]Timothy X Atack, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Two (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) helping Major Tamasan track down Shonnath (AUDIO: Fugitive in Time [+]Roland Moore, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Three (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) and attempting to save Osskah's world. (PROSE: Osskah [+]Gary Owen, Short Trips: Snapshots (Short Trips short stories, 2007).) Over time the Doctor's stance against his people hardened after witnessing actions such as their occupation of Derilobia, (AUDIO: The Lords of Terror [+]Jonathan Morris, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Two (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2018).) devastation of Drakkis, (AUDIO: The Sontaran Ordeal [+]Andrew Smith, Classic Doctors and New Monsters: Volume One (Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) and bombings on Reave. (AUDIO: A Heart on Both Sides [+]Rob Nisbet, Short Trips (Big Finish Productions, 2017).)
After his recreation, (AUDIO: Fugitive in Time [+]Roland Moore, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Three (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) the Time Lords pressed the Valeyard into service. Without the Doctor's morality, the Valeyard won them many battles and managed to erase the Daleks completely by turning their own superweapon against them on Grahv, where the Time Lords promptly imprisoned him in a time lock. (AUDIO: The War Valeyard [+]John Dorney, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Three (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2019).) As a side-effect of the superweapon, the Time Lords lost all memory of the Daleks, leaving them to decomission a war effort without understanding why they'd fought it, and their prisoner of war camps were filled with former conscripts who had surrendered after forgetting their superiors. Rassilon ordered they all be kept imprisoned, regardless of their cooperation, so the Time Lords could discover who their enemy had been. During this time the Eighth Doctor returned to Gallifrey, also losing his memory of the Daleks and subsequently working with the General and Cardinal Rasmus to investigate the unknown enemy, and the Twelve attempted to use a Dreadshade to force her way onto the High Council. Her attempt backfired when she reminded the Time Lords of the Daleks, restoring their memories and losing her control of the Dreadshade. The General believed that the Time Lords would now return to non-interference, however upon taking the Dreadshade away from Gallifrey the Doctor remembered the reason he had returned in the first place was to warn the Time Lords about the imminent restoration of the Daleks. (AUDIO: Dreadshade [+]Lisa McMullin, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Four (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2020).) Despite the Time Lords' efforts to prevent the Daleks' return to the universe at the Gulf of Ithon, the Dalek Time Strategist was able to stabilise the Dalek Empire's existence using dimensional engineering, recommencing the Time War. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks [+]Matt Fitton, The Eighth Doctor: Time War: Volume Four (The Eighth Doctor: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2020).)
After dying on Karn, the Doctor was finally convinced by the Sisterhood that he could not escape the War and regenerated into a warrior. (TV: The Night of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Specials minisode (BBC One, 2013).) After initially choosing to fight as a free agent, (AUDIO: Light the Flame [+]Matt Fitton, Forged in Fire (The War Doctor Begins, Big Finish Productions, 2021)., COMIC: Ambush [+]George Mann, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe, 2017).) the War Doctor eventually fought alongside the Time Lords for centuries, including at Skull Moon (TV: Hell Bent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).) and the Keska incident, (AUDIO: The Thousand Worlds [+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015)., The Heart of the Battle [+]Nicholas Briggs, Only the Monstrous (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2015).) gaining a reputation among Gallifreyan soldiers. (TV: Hell Bent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).) He served under the command of Commodore Tamasan and Cardinal Ollistra. (AUDIO: Warbringer [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW., Only the Monstrous [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) Sontarans told legends of the Doctor leading the Time Lords into battle. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).)
A resistance to Rassilon's rule grew from exiled Time Lords and aliens whose worlds had been devastated by his campaign. Rassilon issued two speeches in response, first condemning the resistance and calling for their extermination, rhetoric which unsettled Livia, and then denouncing them as irrelevant. The exiled Narvin agreed to help the resistance's plan to pollute the Time Vortex to deprive both sides of time travel (AUDIO: Deception [+]Lisa McMullin, Time War: Volume Four (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2021).) and they constructed a stealth Battle TARDIS primed to detonate, intended to be placed by the Untempered Schism. As the resistance initiated their plan, with Narvin and Leela piloting the TARDIS into Kasterborous, the Daleks launched a gambit to seize Gallifrey with null zone technology by using it to pilot a saucer right above Gallifrey, bypassing the Vortex and the Time Lords' defences. Whilst the Daleks waited for their null zone power source to recharge, Rassilon ordered the Fifth Battle Fleet to attack them, which proved futile, and then summoned more forces and conscripted Livia and Mantus into the fight. They were intercepted by Narvin and worked with him to detonate the Battle TARDIS onboard the saucer, as he realised the resistance's plan was useless if the Daleks could simply bypass the Vortex. After the incident Rassilon decided to take a more personal role in the conduct of the Time War, (AUDIO: Homecoming [+]Matt Fitton, Time War: Volume Four (Gallifrey: Time War, Big Finish Productions, 2021).) personally overseeing Leela's conscription. (AUDIO: The Last Days of Freme [+]Lou Morgan, Allegiance (Gallifrey: War Room, Big Finish Productions, 2022).)
The Time Lords allied with the Technomancers to resurrect their soldiers. After discovering this alliance, the War Doctor wiped the Technomancers out upon learning they were exploiting the arrangement to bring the Horned Ones into existence. For this Cardinal Ollistra had him imprisoned as a war criminal. (AUDIO: Legion of the Lost [+]John Dorney, Infernal Devices (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) To regain his freedom, Ollistra manipulated him into investigating the anima device (AUDIO: A Thing of Guile [+]Phil Mulryne, Infernal Devices (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) and the Neverwhen, where the Doctor found hundreds of Time Lord soldiers stuck in a perpetual battle. (AUDIO: The Neverwhen [+]Matt Fitton, Infernal Devices (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) The Doctor continued to answer to Ollistra, stopping the Daleks invading Earth via the Shadow Vortex on her orders, (AUDIO: The Shadow Vortex [+]David Llewellyn, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) rescuing her from the Sontarans (AUDIO: The Eternity Cage [+]Andrew Smith, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016).) and helping her escape from the Time Strategist's forces which subsequently pursued them. (AUDIO: Eye of Harmony [+]Ken Bentley, Agents of Chaos (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2016)., Pretty Lies [+]Guy Adams, Casualties of War (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2017)., The Lady of Obsidian [+]Andrew Smith, Casualties of War (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) When the Dalek Time Strategist blackmailed the Enigma, Gallifrey was briefly overwritten to be a Dalek planet until the War Doctor convinced it to stand up to the Daleks and play no further part in the war, though he did suggest it could wipe out both sides to finally end the conflict. This caused him and Ollistra to fall out. (AUDIO: The Enigma Dimension [+]Nicholas Briggs, Casualties of War (The War Doctor, Big Finish Productions, 2017).) The War Doctor later attempted to stop Ollistra's plan to unleash the Great Vampires on a Dalek fleet. (COMIC: The Bidding War [+]Cavan Scott, Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor (Titan Comics, 2017).)
After more than 400 years of war, the Dalek Eternity Circle developed the Temporal Cannon in the Tantalus Eye, intending to fire it at Gallifrey and erase it from existence. After being warned of the scheme by the War Doctor, Rassilon devised a plan to foil their scheme by detonating the Tear of Isha in the Eye, wiping out numerous innocent planets in the process. In the ensuing Battle for the Tantalus Eye, the War Doctor saw to the destruction of the Cannon and Gallifrey's survival by alternate means. Appalled by the Time Lords' measures. Afterwards the War Doctor turned against his people, vowing to end the War for good. (PROSE: Engines of War [+]George Mann, BBC New Series tie-in novels (BBC Books, 2014).) Rassilon officially declared the Doctor a traitor and exiled him from Gallifrey. (PROSE: The Whoniverse [+]George Mann and Justin Richards, BBC Books (2016).)
After they successfully assaulted Kasterborous, (PROSE: Dalek [+]Robert Shearman, adapted from Dalek (Robert Shearman), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2021).) the last days of the War saw the Daleks breach Gallifrey's defences, (TV: The Last Day [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary arc 50th Anniversary Prequel 2 (2013).) and invade Gallifrey's second city, Arcadia. The Doctor left a message for the Time Lords at the battle, "NO MORE", and then stole the Moment from the Omega Arsenal, intending to destroy both sides to finally end the War. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).)
Refusing to die, Rassilon initiated the Ultimate Sanction to end time itself to free the Time Lords from physical bodies. He implanted a four-beat signal into the Master's mind and then sent a White-Point Star diamond to 2009 Earth. With the drumming as a signal and the diamond as a connection, the Saxon Master, who had survived the war, broke the Time lock at the end of the war and pulled a group of Time Lords through to Earth, and also pulled Gallifrey through, beginning a chain reaction which would tear the Time Vortex apart. However, Gallifrey was returned to the last day of the Time War inside the Time lock when the Tenth Doctor destroyed the White-Point Star within the Nuclear Bolt that was generating the signal, with the Master turning on Rassilon and attacking him, resulting in him brought back to the Time War too. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
Unable to breach the Capitol's sky trenches, the Daleks surrounded and bombarded Gallifrey. Thanks to the Moment, the Doctor found an alternative to destroying Gallifey. He worked with twelve of his other incarnations to freeze Gallifrey and the surviving Time Lords in time and transfer Gallifrey to a pocket universe, "like a painting", where it was safe from the Daleks, who destroyed themselves in their own crossfire. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013).) The shock from this transition caused various natural disasters to befall Gallifrey with rescue operations being overseen by the Twelfth Doctor who had summoned a "blizzard" of versions of himself from along his timeline. (PROSE: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, adapted from The Day of the Doctor (Steven Moffat), Target novelisations (Target Books, 2018).) Due to the memory of these events being wiped from every incarnation before the Eleventh Doctor, the Ninth Doctor believed himself responsible for the destruction of both the Time Lords and Gallifrey. (TV: The End of the World [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., Dalek [+]Robert Shearman, adapted from Jubilee (Robert Shearman), Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) For their part, the Time Lords considered themselves to be safe in their pocket universe, though not in a better position than before. While the Time Lords were readily capable of leaving this realm and returning to N-Space, they had no way of determining which of the nearby universes was theirs. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).)
However, at least one account showed that the widespread belief in the Time Lords' destruction was correct, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Time War [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who: Lockdown! (2020).) with the Eleventh Doctor encountering a version of the Matrix which had been driven to demented sentience by the sudden death of all the Time Lords on Gallifrey at the hands of the Doctor. The upload of these millions of Gallifreyans' experience to the Matrix had overloaded its system and turned it into one jumbled, sentient entity thirsting for revenge; having been born of untold death, it knew no other purpose than to visit the same death on the rest of creation by enacting Rassilon's "Final Sanction" itself. (COMIC: Sky Jacks [+]Andy Diggle and Eddie Robson, Doctor Who (2012) (IDW Publishing, 2013).)
After the Last Great Time War[]
While the Time Lords were hiding in the pocket universe, most believed them to be dead. (TV: The End of the World [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., et al) Their position as keepers of the Web of Time was fought over by many time-active races, including the Cybermen, the Sontarans, and the Unon. The Time Agency eventually asserted themselves as the new protectors of time. (COMIC: Weapons of Past Destruction [+]Cavan Scott, Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor (Titan Comics, 2015).)
Return of Gallifrey[]
After the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS was destroyed by the Silence, a number of cracks in the fabric of reality appeared in the universe. (TV: The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).) When the Matrix detected this breach, the Time Lords took control of the last of these cracks, hoping that the Doctor would answer and confirm that they had found the right universe. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) From the planet Trenzalore, the Time Lords sent out the message "Doctor who?" in order that the Eleventh Doctor might speak his true name and confirm that it was safe to return. The message was received by a great number of species. Some came to Trenzalore to fight the Time Lords should they return. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) Others, such as the Voord, feared that the Time Lords would restore history to as it was before the Time War and hid. (COMIC: Four Doctors [+]Paul Cornell, Titan summer events (Titan Comics, 2015).)
Rather than restart the Time War, the Doctor defended Trenzalore for hundreds of years in what became known as the Siege of Trenzalore. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) The New Dalek Paradigm, fearing that the Time Lords would destroy them upon their return, devoted the totality of its military might to ensuring that their foes would remain lost. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]George Mann, Justin Richards and Cavan Scott, Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (Ebury Publishing, 2017).) The conflict endured to the point that the Doctor was dying of old age, no longer able to regenerate. At the behest of Clara Oswald, the Time Lords saved the dying Doctor's life by granting him the a new cycle of regenerations, allowing him to regenerate into the Twelfth Doctor and destroy the Daleks before closing the crack. (TV: The Time of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2013 (BBC One, 2013).) The Twelfth Doctor later stopped the Daleks and Cybermen from taking control of the Gallifreyan starship Starbane. (GAME: The Doctor and the Dalek [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)
With Clara's pleas allowing the Time Lords to confirm that they had found N-Space, (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Steve Tribe, BBC Books (2017).) the Time Lords and Gallifrey left the dimension they were frozen in, returning to the universe, but were now at the extreme end of the time continuum, "for its own protection". (TV: Hell Bent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).) The Time Lords cured the Master of his "condition" and he soon left Gallifrey in a TARDIS in "a mutual kicking [him] out". (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)