Suspended animation, or cryogenic stasis, was the temporary cessation of a life form's vital functions, often used to transport individuals from one time period to another without ageing or degeneration.
Dreaming didn't occur during suspended animation. (AUDIO: Time's Horizon)
History[]
Azal was placed in suspended animation by the Kotturuh, (PROSE: The Guide to the Dark Times) until eventually being awoken by the Master in the 20th century. (TV: The Dæmons)
Time Lord stasis cubes, which were created to preserve moments in time as art, could be used for suspended animation. On Earth, stasis cubes were used by Zygon survivors of the Last Great Time War to survive from the Elizabethan era into the 21st century. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Whenever they journeyed across the universe in their great Guerner Transport Ships, Guerners placed themselves into suspended animation by laying in berths under sonic beams. When the sonic beams were switched off, the Guerners would awaken, not having aged a day, although the process erased their memories. (PROSE: The Sleeping Beast)
Amy Pond observed that the Silurians used a sort of suspended animation. (TV: Cold Blood)
In 1893, Winifred Gillyflower used diluted red leech venom to create a chemical form of suspended animation to preserve her followers at Sweetville. (TV: The Crimson Horror)
In 1901, Torchwood Three placed Jack Harkness (who had been buried alive since 27 A.D.) in cryogenic suspension so he could return to the 21st century without crossing his own time stream. (TV: Exit Wounds) In 1918, they placed Tommy Brockless in cryogenic suspension so that he could one day close a fracture in the Cardiff Space-Time Rift. (TV: To the Last Man)
By the late 1960s, after he died, Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead, AUDIO: The Web of Time)
In the 21st century, Jack placed his brother Gray in cryogenic suspension after chloroforming him when he threatened Cardiff and fatally wounded Jack's teammate, Toshiko Sato. He planned to keep Gray frozen indefinitely until he could find a way to sort out the anger his brother harboured towards him. (TV: Exit Wounds) However, the Torchwood Hub was destroyed when a bomb implanted inside Jack detonated. It is unknown if the cyrogenic chambers of the Hub survived the explosion. (TV: Children of Earth: Day One)
In 2119, the pilot of the ship picked up by the Drum was thought to be suspended in a suspended animation chamber. (TV: Under the Lake/Before the Flood)
After the Thal-Dalek battle, the Dalek Supreme and the embryo Daleks who existed on the Dalek City's incubation level went into a state of suspended animation until the Thal scientist Tryana discovered the level. (AUDIO: Return to Skaro) On Spiridon in the 26th century, the Daleks used refrigeration units to preserve themselves in suspended animation. (TV: Planet of the Daleks) By one account, the Daleks placed themselves in suspended animation in the 28th century until the 45th century. (AUDIO: Plague of the Daleks) During the Kotturuh crisis, the Dalek Prime Strategist awakened an army of Red Daleks from suspended animation only to find that they had all been corrupted by the Entity. (WC: The Sentinel of the Fifth Galaxy)
Davros was sentenced to be placed in suspended animation as punishment for his crimes. (TV: Resurrection of the Daleks)
Tranquil Repose placed dying millionaires and politicians in suspended animation until cures for their conditions could be found. (TV: Revelation of the Daleks)
Abigail Pettigrew was cryogenically frozen by Elliot Sardick against a loan of 4,500 gideons to her family. She suffered from a fatal disease that would soon claim her life unless she remained frozen. Her family kept her in this state, hoping a cure would be found for her condition. She remained frozen past Elliot's ownership and was passed down to his son, Kazran Sardick. The Eleventh Doctor woke her to calm a sky shark hunting himself and a younger Kazran by singing to it. He continued to visit Kazran every year at Christmas Eve, waking up Abigail each time. Abigail's life expectancy was limited to a very small number of days estimated by a counter on her stasis pod, which fell by one each time she was removed from cryogenic freeze. Though Kazran and Abigail fell in love with each other, her counter ran down to one final day, which he withheld until he became an old man for a last outing with her on Christmas Eve. (TV: A Christmas Carol)
In 6087, humans placed themselves in suspended animation on the Nerva Beacon in order to survive the solar flares that devastated Earth. (TV: The Ark in Space)
Millions of years later, in the what the humans of that era call the 57th Segment of Time, the human race were miniaturised and placed in suspended animation on the Ark to survive the long voyage to Refusis II. (TV: The Ark)
The Seventh Doctor once spent unspecified millions of years in a coma, frozen within a block of ice. Though his clothing had mostly rotted away over the years, his body survived and he recovered fully. (AUDIO: Frozen Time)
During the Last Great Time War, following the Dalek Time Strategist's restoration of the Dalek Empire to N-Space, the resurrected Dalek Prime ordered the alternate Davros placed in stasis, believing that the simulacrum might be of use in the future. (AUDIO: Restoration of the Daleks) Later in the conflict, Vassarian suspended himself in the Eternity Cage until his TARDIS repaired itself or help arrived. As the Cage activated however, Vassarian began to regenerate. With both procedures cancelling the other out, Vassarian burnt through his entire regeneration cycle. While the Cage suspended his ruined body, Vassarian's mind remained active. (AUDIO: The Eternity Cage)
Following the Time War, the Time Lord prison Shada had several Time Lord prisoners held in suspended animation. (COMIC: The One)