History of The Time Lords - On Screen

On Screen

What little has actually been established on screen, arranged roughly in chronological order, is as follows:

The Time Lords become the masters of time travel when one of their number, the scientist Omega, creates an energy source to power their experiments in time (The Three Doctors). To this end, Omega uses a stellar manipulation device, the Hand of Omega, to rework a nearby star into a new form to serve as that source (Remembrance of the Daleks). Unfortunately, the star flares into a supernova, then collapses into a black hole. Omega is thought killed in the explosion, but unknown to everyone, somehow survives in an antimatter universe beyond the black hole's singularity. In "The Satan Pit", the Tenth Doctor refers to this event when he claims that his people "invented black holes".

The founder of Time Lord society, however, and its most revered figure, is Rassilon. Rassilon's name reverberates through Time Lord legend and culture, and is applied to many artifacts of power. Rassilon takes a singularity (assumed by fans and the spin-off media to be the same one as Omega's) and places it beneath the Time Lords' citadel on Gallifrey. This perfectly balanced Eye of Harmony then serves as the power source for their civilization as well as their time machines (The Deadly Assassin).

The early part of Time Lord history is known as the Dark Time, when the first Time Lords abuse their powers over time by manipulating lesser species. Among these abuses is the use of the Time Scoop to abduct beings from throughout history to participate in gladiatorial games (with the exception of such races as Daleks and Cybermen who "play the game too well" and are thus considered too dangerous to be used) in an area of Gallifrey known as the Death Zone (The Five Doctors).

During his rule, Rassilon leads the Time Lords in a war against the Great Vampires, a war so horrific that the Time Lords forswear violence from that point on. The weapons used by the Time Lords against the vampires in that war include Bowships that fired giant bolts through the Great Vampires' hearts. The Doctor encounters a surviving vampire in E-Space in the serial State of Decay.

Eventually, Rassilon dies, or is deposed; contradictory legends surround his demise. His body is placed in the Dark Tower in the Death Zone, which becomes known as the Tomb of Rassilon (The Five Doctors).

Over 4.6 billion years prior to 2007 AD, the Time Lords wipe out the Racnoss for unstated reasons, although it was most likely because of their devouring of entire worlds. The surviving Racnoss escape in their ship, which drifts into the Solar System and eventually forms the core of the planet Earth ("The Runaway Bride").

At some point in their history the Time Lords interact with the civilization of the planet Minyos, giving them advanced technology. This has disastrous results, with the Minyans destroying themselves in a series of nuclear wars (Underworld).

Apparently as a result of this, the Time Lords adopt an official policy of neutrality and non-interference, acting only as observers save in cases of great injustice. However, given the existence of the Celestial Intervention Agency and of renegade Time Lords such as the Doctor, the Master, the Meddling Monk, the Rani and the War Chief, the policy seems to have frequently been breached.