Time Lord - History

History

Details of the Time Lords' history within the show are sketchy and are fraught with supposition and contradiction. The Time Lords became the masters of time travel when one of their number, the scientist Omega created an energy source to power their experiments in time. To this end, Omega used a stellar manipulation device, the Hand of Omega, to rework a nearby star into a new form to serve that source. Unfortunately, the star flared, first into a supernova, and then collapsed into a black hole. Omega was thought killed in that explosion but unknown to everyone, had somehow survived in an anti-matter universe beyond the black hole's singularity. Rassilon, the ultimate founder of Time Lord society, then took a singularity (assumed by fans and the spin-off media to be the same one as Omega's) and placed it beneath the Time Lords' citadel on Gallifrey. This perfectly balanced Eye of Harmony then served as the power source for their civilisation as well as their time machines. In "The Satan Pit", the Doctor states that his race "practically invented black holes. In fact, we did", presumably a reference to the singularity created by Omega.

At some point in their history the Time Lords interacted with the civilisation of the planet Minyos, giving them advanced technology (including the ability to "regenerate" to a limited degree, by rejuvenating their bodies when they grow too old). This met with disastrous results, (which is said by some to be the reason the Time Lords adopted a philosophy of "non-interference"). The Minyans destroyed themselves in a series of nuclear wars ("Underworld").

As of the current series, the Time Lords have, according to the Doctor, all perished at the conclusion of a Time War with the Daleks, leaving the Doctor the sole survivor and the last of his race. It was also revealed by the Beast that the Doctor was responsible for the extinction of both races.

However, there may have been survivors other than the Doctor. The fate of Time Lady Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana) – a one-time companion of the Doctor – is unknown, as in her last appearance in the television series ("Warriors' Gate") she was in the parallel dimension of E-Space. In the episode "Gridlock", the Face of Boe told the Doctor with his dying breath that "you are not alone". In the episode "Utopia" the Doctor learns that the Master survived. The Doctor had failed to sense him because he had used a chameleon arch to turn himself into a human (as the Doctor did in "Human Nature"), while hiding at the end of the Universe. While the Master is commonly presumed to have been the one to whom the Face of Boe referred (the Master's pseudonym, Professor Yana, was an acronym of the Face of Boe's final message, "You are not alone." Y.A.N.A.), this also opens a possible plot hook for the similar survival of other Time Lords throughout time and space. The Master is supposed to have died during the events of "Last of the Time Lords"; shortly after having his plans of universal conquest foiled by the Doctor and his companion Martha Jones, the Master was shot by his human wife Lucy Saxon. He chose to repress his ability to regenerate and subsequently died, leaving the Doctor to mourn him and to burn his body on a pyre. However, a short scene at the end of the episode shows a female hand picking the Master's signet ring out of the ashes, while the Master's voice can be heard laughing in the background. The Master returns and plays a significant role in "The End of Time".

In the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", after landing on planet Messaline the Doctor was forced to place his hand inside a progenation machine, which used his DNA to create a new soldier, to fight in the war taking place. The new female soldier – his daughter, Jenny, possesses the DNA of a Time Lord. While the Doctor argues that a Time Lord is more than simply genetics, he is impressed by the superhuman abilities she displays, and intelligence on par with his own. By the end of the episode he becomes more willing to accept her as his daughter and a Time Lord. Donna Noble also gains the mind of a Time Lord or at least part of the Doctor's. After being trapped on the TARDIS as it is about to be destroyed, she is drawn towards the Doctor's hand, which was severed in the 2005 Christmas special and loaded with unused energy from a partial regeneration (see "Journey's End", 2008). Touching the hand triggers the remaining regeneration process, and causes a second Doctor to be created, one who is part human, borrowing traits from Donna just as she absorbs part of his mind.

"The End of Time" saw their first appearance in character since the series returned. The Time Lords portrayed were the high council of Gallifrey led by a resurrected Rassilon in the final days of the Time War. After hearing a prophecy from the Time Lady 'the Visionary' that the final day of the Time War would see the end of the Time Lord race barring two survivors, the Doctor and the Master, Rassilon devised a method to escape the Time Lock and materialise Gallifrey outside the Time War. He had the drum beat in the Master's head implanted in the past as part of a link between the Time Lords and Earth, and sent a White Point Star, a flawless uncut diamond found only on Gallifrey, to Earth in 2010 to be retrieved by the Master, and used in a machine to open a pathway for the Time Lords and Gallifrey to materialise. Rassilon states his intention is to bring about the end of time so the Time Lords can transcend to a noncoporeal state. As Gallifrey approaches Earth, the Doctor destroys the device, sending Gallifrey and the Time Lords back into the events of the Time War and leaving the fate of the Master unclear.