The Celestial Intervention Agency is a fictional organization of Time Lords in the universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Very little was actually said about the Agency in the television series. The Agency was only mentioned once on screen, in The Deadly Assassin. There, it was stated that the Agency had intervened in the sentence of exile that had been imposed on the Doctor (The War Games). The only other remark made was that the Agency had connections to many areas of Time Lord society.
The name, an obvious parody of the real-world Central Intelligence Agency, has led many fans to assume that the CIA is a clandestine organisation which carries out covert operations. However, since its existence is a matter of Gallifreyan public record and its influence is well-known, it appears to be less of a secret agency than an agency whose operations are sometimes secret, much like the actual CIA.
The spin-off media have expanded on this fan conception, making the Agency an explanation and driving force behind many events in the Doctor Who universe. The most often cited example is the assignment given to the Fourth Doctor in Genesis of the Daleks, to attempt to change history and avert the Daleks' creation. Since this seemed to be in direct contradiction to the Time Lords' stated policies of non-interference the assumption (not at all mentioned in the story) was that it was the CIA that gave the Doctor his mission. Other missions that the Time Lords have apparently manipulated the Doctor into performing include The Curse of Peladon, The Brain of Morbius and Attack of the Cybermen, the Doctor noting during all three occasions that his presence at such a crucial occasion in history or such a crucial location could hardly be a coincidence; the Time Lords' role in his involvement in events was made more specifically clear in Colony in Space and The Mutants.
Read more about Celestial Intervention Agency: Other Appearances
Famous quotes containing the words celestial, intervention and/or agency:
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—Thomas Traherne (1636–1674)
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