Time Lord
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2008-07-14T12:15:47Z
78.150.32.147
/* Physical characteristics */
{{otheruses4|the Time Lords from ''Doctor Who''}}
{{Doctorwhorace
| image=[[Image:Prydonian.jpg|225px]]
| name=Time Lord
| type=Humanoids
| affiliation=Time Lords
| planet=[[Gallifrey]]
| start=[[An Unearthly Child]]<br />[[The War Games]] (named)
| Status=Uncertain (Presumed destroyed)
}}
The '''Time Lords''' are a [[fictional characters|fictional]] race and civilisation in the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', of which the series' main character, [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]], is a member. Time Lords are so called because they are able to [[time travel|travel in]] and manipulate time through technology to a far greater degree than any other civilization.<ref>A female Time Lord, such as [[Romana]], is sometimes referred to as a '''Time Lady''', particularly in the tie-in fiction related to the programme and ([http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/companions/ on the series' official website]), though it should be noted that Romana refers to herself as a Time Lord in the television series.</ref> The Time Lords' home planet is [[Gallifrey]].
==Overview==
Although the Doctor was identified as an alien, his home planet and race were not identified at the start of the series. Only after six years, in ''[[The War Games]]'', other aliens from his world appeared and were named as the Time Lords.<ref name="The War Games">{{cite episode | title = The War Games | episodelink = The War Games | series = Season 6 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_6_.281968.E2.80.9369.29 | credits = David Maloney, Malcolm Hulke, Terrance Dicks | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1969}}</ref> The nature and history of the Time Lords were gradually revealed as the television series progressed. Each story to feature them and their home planet added additional layers of complexity and intrigue, stemming from the dissatisfaction of various scriptwriters wrestling with the question of why the Doctor is in exile in the first place. Among other things, Time Lords are increasingly revealed as being corrupted by their inaction and Time Lord society as stagnant. Over the course of the show's initial 26-year run, it was never made entirely clear what purpose or mission the Time Lords served, or what exactly they did with their mastery over time.
Nor, ultimately, was it ever explicitly made clear what had caused the Doctor to leave his people, although it is suggested in some stories that he was an involuntary [[exile]]<ref>{{cite episode | title = An Unearthly Child | episodelink= An Unearthly Child | series = Season 1 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_1_.281963–64.29 | credits = Waris Hussein, Anthony Coburn, C. E. Webber | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1963}}</ref> and in others that he had simply grown tired of the restrictions of Time Lord society and left.<ref>{{cite episode | title = Resurrection of the Daleks | episodelink = Resurrection of the Daleks | series = Season 21 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_21_.281984.29 | credits = Matthew Robinson, Eric Saward | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1984}}</ref>
The Time Lords are normally considered one of the oldest and most technologically powerful races in the ''Doctor Who'' universe. The small number of beings more powerful than the Time Lords includes the (now extinct) [[Pyramids of Mars|Osirans]] and higher powers of the universe such as the [[Black Guardian|Black]] and [[White Guardian]]s<ref>{{cite episode | title = Enlightenment | episodelink = Enlightenment (Doctor Who) | series = Season 20 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_20_.281983.29 | credits = Fiona Cumming, Barbara Clegg | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1983}}</ref> and, from the [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off novels]], which are of uncertain [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]], [[the Also People|The People]], with whom the Time Lords signed a [[Non-aggression pact|non-aggression treaty]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Aaronovitch
| first = Ben
| authorlink = Ben Aaronovitch
| title = [[The Also People]]
| publisher = [[Virgin Books]]
| series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
| month = November
| year = 1995
| isbn = ISBN 0-426-20456-5 }}</ref> The power of the Time Lords appears limited by their policy of non-interference with the universe and sometimes by intense internecine division.
However, the view that they are, to a degree, custodians of time developed in the [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] media. This is also suggested in the television series; in ''The War Games'' the Time Lords return time-displaced humans abducted by the War Lord to their proper time zones on Earth.<ref name="The War Games"/> The name of the Time Lords' central hall, the [[Panopticon]], suggests that they are perpetual observers of all existence.
In "[[Father's Day (Doctor Who)|Father's Day]]"<ref>{{cite episode | title = Father's Day | episodelink = Father's Day (Doctor Who) | series = Series 1 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_1_.282005.29 | credits = Paul Cornell, Joe Ahearne | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2005}}</ref> the [[Ninth Doctor]] remarks that prior to their destruction, the Time Lords would have prevented or repaired [[paradox]]es such as that which attracted the [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Reaper|Reapers]] to 1987 Earth. In "[[Rise of the Cybermen]]",<ref>{{cite episode | title = Rise of the Cybermen | episodelink = Rise of the Cybermen | series = Series 2 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_2_.282006.29 | credits = Tom MacRae, Graeme Harper | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2006}}</ref> the [[Tenth Doctor]] mentions that while the Time Lords were around, travel between [[parallel universe (fiction)|alternative realities]] was easier, but with their demise, the paths between worlds were closed. In "[[The Satan Pit]]",<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Satan Pit | episodelink =The Satan Pit | series = Series 2 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_2_.282006.29 | credits = Matt Jones, James Strong | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2006}}</ref> the [[Tenth Doctor]] states that his people "practically invented black holes. Well, in fact they did."
==Physical characteristics==<!-- This section is linked from [[Romana]] -->
[[Image:Bicardial.jpg|thumb|right|The Binary vascular system of a Time Lord (from "[[Dalek (Doctor Who episode)|Dalek]]", 2005).<ref>{{cite episode | title = Dalek | episodelink = Dalek (Doctor Who episode) | series = Series 1 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_1_.282005.29 | credits = Robert Shearman, Joe Ahearne | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2005}}</ref>]]
Time Lords appear human, but differ from them in many respects. All Time Lords in the classic television series were portrayed by [[White (people)|white]] adults, although in ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'' some of those white actors used [[yellowface]] to appear [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]]. A [[black (people)|black]] Time Lord appears in the 2007 episode "[[The Sound of Drums]]"<ref name="Sound of Drums">{{cite episode | title = The Sound of Drums | episodelink = The Sound of Drums | series = Series 3 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_3_.282007.29 | credits = Russell T. Davies, Colin Teague | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2007}}</ref> and others in the spin-off novel ''[[The Shadows of Avalon]]''<ref>{{cite book | last = Cornell | first = Paul | authorlink = Paul Cornell | title = [[The Shadows of Avalon]] | publisher = [[BBC Books]] | series = [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] | month = February | year = 2000 | isbn = ISBN 0-563-55588-2 }}</ref> and the comic strip ''Blood Invocation'',<ref>{{Comic book reference | writer=[[Paul Cornell|Cornell, Paul]] | artist=[[John Ridgway (comic artist)|Ridgway, John]] | story=Blood Invocation | title=Doctor Who Yearbook | volume= | issue= | date= [[1995]] | publisher=[[Marvel UK]] | page=51-52| panel=}}</ref>
both by [[Paul Cornell]]. In addition, Time Lord founder [[Rassilon]] was portrayed in several audio plays by black actor [[Don Warrington]], and a black Time Lord was seen in various crowd scenes in 1975's ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''. An 8-year-old Gallifreyan child (implied to be the renegade Time Lord known as the [[Master (Doctor Who)|Master]]) was depicted in "The Sound of Drums" and appeared identical to a human child of the same age.<ref name="Sound of Drums"/>
No explanation is given in the series as to why Time Lords look human, nor why the universe seems filled with predominantly humanoid species. The [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''[[Lucifer Rising (Doctor Who)|Lucifer Rising]]''<ref>{{cite book
| last = Mortimore
| first = Jim
| authorlink = Jim Mortimore
| title = [[Lucifer Rising (Doctor Who)|Lucifer Rising]]
| publisher = [[Virgin Books]]
| series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
| month = May
| year = 1993
| isbn = ISBN 0-426-20388-7 }}</ref> by [[Andy Lane]] and [[Jim Mortimore]] suggests that the Time Lords were the first [[Sentience|sentient]] life-form. As such, their evolutionary pattern created a [[Morphogenetic field (Rupert Sheldrake)|morphogenetic field]] that resonated across the universe, making the development of humanoids far more likely. The [[Big Finish Productions]] audio play ''[[Zagreus (Doctor Who audio)|Zagreus]]''<ref>
''[[Zagreus (Doctor Who audio)|Zagreus]]''. Gary Russell, Alan Barnes. Big Finish Productions. [[2003]]</ref>
offers a more sinister explanation, that the xenophobic Rassilon seeded the universe with biogenic molecules so that (save for worlds where humanoids could never evolve) only intelligent species that approximated the Gallifreyan humanoid norm would develop. However, in the Cushing movie ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' (though not necessarily thought to be canon), one of the Thals states that the 'humanoid' form has been proven to be ideal for survival, hence many species in the universe are humanoid. The [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]] of these accounts, as with all spin-off media, is unclear.
Time Lords are extremely long-lived, routinely counting their ages in terms of centuries. It is not known how long a Time Lord can live, although the Doctor claimed in ''[[The War Games]]''<ref name="The War Games"/> that Time Lords could live "practically forever, barring accidents." In ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Daleks' Master Plan | episodelink = The Daleks' Master Plan | series = Season 3 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_3_.281965.E2.80.9366.29 | credits = Terry Nation, Dennis Spooner, Douglas Camfield | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1965}}</ref> the [[First Doctor]] is able to resist the effects of the Time Destructor better than his companions, who are visibly aged by it; one of them, [[Sara Kingdom]], ages to dust before the Destructor device can be reversed, although the [[Fourth Doctor]] is briefly aged 500 years in ''[[The Leisure Hive]]'', which leaves him an old man but still somewhat active. A similar situation occurred in "The Sound of Drums", where the Master uses specially made technology to age the [[Tenth Doctor]] by a century, leaving him in a frail and helpless state. A further application of this in "[[Last of the Time Lords]]" ages the Doctor another 900 years and turns him into a shrunken, wrinkled humanoid.
The Doctor is quoted as saying 'I don't age' in the episode ("[[School Reunion (Doctor Who)|School Reunion]]") when talking to his companion, Rose, although in this he may have been referring to the results of regeneration rather than immunity to the ageing process. His statement is otherwise contradicted by the First Doctor's claims to be "wearing a bit thin" and encounters between different regenerations where the previous actors have necessarily aged noticeably (''[[The Two Doctors]]'', "[[Time Crash]]").
The series has occasionally suggested that Time Lords have a different concept of ageing to humans. In ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]'', the Doctor considers an age of 750 years to be "middle-aged". In "[[The Stolen Earth]]", he refers to being a "kid" at 90 years old.
It is implied (in ''The Invasion of Time'' and ''The Deadly Assassin'') that the terms "Gallifreyan" and "Time Lord" may not be synonymous, and that Time Lords are simply that subset of Gallifreyans who have achieved the status of Time Lord via achievement in the Gallifreyan [[college|collegiate]] system; in the episode "[[The Sound of Drums]]" The Doctor talks of 'children of Gallifrey' which implies that children are Gallifreyan before they are Time Lords. [[Romana]] and the Doctor have also referred to "Time Tots", or infant Time Lords,<ref name="Shada">{{cite episode | title = Shada | episodelink = Shada | series = Season 17 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_17_.281979.E2.80.9380.29 | credits = Douglas Adams, Pennant Roberts | network = British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> and (in "[[Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)|Smith and Jones]]") the Doctor refers his compatriots and he playing "with [[Röntgen|Röntgen]] [[Lego|bricks]] in the nursery".<ref name="Smith and Jones">{{cite episode | title = Smith and Jones | episodelink = Smith and Jones | series = Series 3 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_3_.282007.29 | credits = Russell T. Davies, Charles Palmer| network = British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> In "The Sound of Drums", the Master is seen as a child, apparently at the age of 8.<ref name="Sound of Drums"/>
Other physiological differences from humans include two [[heart]]s (which normally beat at 170 beats a minute), an internal body temperature of 15 degrees [[Celsius]] and a "respiratory bypass system" that allows them to survive strangulation. Time Lords can also survive full exposure to the vacuum of space with no ill effects, though in such cases, even with their respiratory bypass boosting the length of time they can go without air, when in vacuum for an extended period a Time Lord must take a supply of air along, or else suffocate. A commonly held piece of [[fanon (fiction)|fan continuity]] is that Time Lords only grow their second heart during their first regeneration,<ref>{{cite book | last = O'Mahony | first = Daniel | authorlink = Daniel O'Mahoney | title = [[The Man in the Velvet Mask]] | publisher = [[Virgin Books]] | series = [[Virgin Missing Adventures]] | month = February | year = 1996 | isbn = ISBN 0-426-20488-3 }}</ref> though in "The Shakespeare Code" one of the Tenth Doctor's hearts is stopped and he wonders aloud how humans can cope, and in "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]", Jenny is shown to have two hearts, although it is unclear if she has the ability to regenerate or if it was another force which returned her to life as her appearance did not change. If severely injured, Time Lords can go into a healing [[coma]] which lowers their body temperature to below freezing (this possibly explains the aforementioned Jenny's near-miraculous resurrection after being shot in the chest. During the period between her 'death' and revival, all concerned believed her to be dead.). In the serial ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'', [[Romana]] was able to voluntarily stop both of her hearts beating, to fool the Daleks into believing that she was dead. In "[[World War Three (Doctor Who)|World War Three]]",<ref>{{cite episode | title = World War Three | episodelink = World War Three (Doctor Who) | series = Series 1 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_1_.282005.29 | credits = Russell T. Davies, Keith Boak | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2005}}</ref> the Doctor is able to shake off an [[electric shock|electrocution]] attempt which is fatal to a number of humans, and appears unaffected by the energy whip wielded by the [[List of Doctor Who monsters and aliens#Sycorax|Sycorax]] in "[[The Christmas Invasion]]".<ref name="Christmas Invasion">{{cite episode | title = The Christmas Invasion | episodelink = The Christmas Invasion | series = Christmas Special 2005 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Christmas_special_.282005.29 | credits = Russell T. Davies, James Hawes | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2005}}</ref> Time Lords, or at least the Doctor, can read extremely quickly.<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Runaway Bride | episodelink = The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who) | series = Christmas Special 2006 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Christmas_special_.282006.29 | credits = Russell T. Davies, Euros Lyn | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2006}}</ref> They appear to have greater physical stamina than humans and need considerably less sleep. In "Smith and Jones" the Tenth Doctor says that [[X-ray|Röntgen radiation]] poses no real threat to Time Lords, and proceeds to absorb an amount that would be lethal to a human, which he subsequently expels through his foot.<ref name="Smith and Jones"/>
The Doctor states in ''[[The Mind of Evil]]''<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Mind of Evil | episodelink = The Mind of Evil | series = Season 8 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_8_.281971.29 | credits = Don Houghton, Timothy Combe | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1971}}</ref> that a pill (apparently [[aspirin]]) could kill him. It is not known whether this is a susceptibility shared by all Time Lords, or merely something like an [[allergy]] unique to the Doctor (or if he was lying for comedic effect).
The biological imprint (also known as bio-data) of a Time Lord, which also defines his personal history, is kept in the [[Matrix (Doctor Who)|Matrix]], a computer network that contains the sum total of all Time Lord knowledge. The unauthorised extraction of a Time Lord's bio-data is tantamount to treason.<ref name="Arc of Infinity">
{{cite episode | title = Arc of Infinity | episodelink = Arc of Infinity | series = Season 20 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_20_.281983.29 | credits = Johnny Byrne, Ron Jones | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1983}}</ref>
It is stated that the Time Lords are biologically suited for time travel. Also in ''The Two Doctors'', it is stated that the "Rassilon Imprimatur" allows Time Lords to safely travel through time, becoming [[Symbiosis|symbionts]] with their TARDISes, and that the reason other species are incapable of developing time travel are that they lack the imprimatur. At the beginning of ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'', the Doctor suggests that a number of elder Time Lords were able to use their combined mental energy to summon his TARDIS against his will.
It is stated and seen in the [[Fourth Doctor]] serial ''[[The Robots of Death]]'' that Time Lords are immune to the voice-changing effects of [[helium]]. However, the Doctor alludes to this being a learnt ability rather than a basic biological immunity.<ref name="The Robots of Death">{{cite episode | title = The Robots of Death | episodelink = The Robots of Death | series = Season 14 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Fourth_Doctor_.28Tom_Baker.29 | credits = Chris Boucher | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1977}}</ref>
In "[[The Unicorn and the Wasp]]", the [[Tenth Doctor]] is able to overcome the effects of [[cyanide#Toxicity|cyanide]] by "stimulating the inhibited enzymes into reversal". This is done by consuming ginger beer, protein (from walnuts) and salt (from anchovies, as pure salt is "too salty"). Finally a shock - which is given in the form of a kiss from Donna - triggers the 'detox' effect.<ref name="The Unicorn and the Wasp">{{cite episode | title = [[The Unicorn and the Wasp]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Gareth Roberts]], Director [[Graeme Harper]], Producer [[Susie Liggat]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One]] | city = [[Cardiff]] | airdate = 2008-05-18}}</ref>
===Mental powers===
Time Lords can also communicate by [[telepathy]]. The Doctor's granddaughter, [[Susan Foreman]], displays psychic abilities in ''[[The Sensorites]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Sensorites | episodelink = The Sensorites | series = Season 1 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_1_.281963.E2.80.9364.29 | credits = Peter R. Newman, Mervyn Pinfield | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1964}}</ref> and in ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' it is revealed the Doctor's old tutor Borusa also taught him telepathy. In both the final episode of ''[[Frontier in Space]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Frontier in Space | episodelink = Frontier in Space | series = Season 10 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_10_.281972.E2.80.9373.29 | credits = Malcolm Hulke, Paul Bernard, David Maloney | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1973}}</ref> and the first of ''[[Planet of the Daleks]]'', the Doctor communicates with the Time Lords via telepathic circuits in the [[TARDIS]], and in ''[[Castrovalva]]'', the Doctor activates the TARDIS' Zero Room mentally. In ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'',<ref name="The Deadly Assassin">
{{cite episode | title = The Deadly Assassin | episodelink = The Deadly Assassin | series = Season 14 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_14_.281976.E2.80.9377.29 | credits = Robert Holmes, David Maloney | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1976}}</ref> the Doctor mentions that Time Lords are telepathic. Additionally, in ''[[The Three Doctors]]'',<ref name="The Three Doctors">
{{cite episode | title = The Three Doctors | episodelink = The Three Doctors | series = Season 10 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_10_.281972.E2.80.9373.29 | credits = Bob Baker, Dave Martin, Lennie Mayne | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1973}}</ref> the Doctor's first three incarnations communicate with each other telepathically. This ability is exhibited by the Doctors during other occasions where multiple incarnations are present in one location and used primarily as a means of updating the other selves to the current situation. In ''[[Logopolis]]'',<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Logopolis | episodelink = Logopolis | series = Season 18 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_18_.281980.E2.80.9381.29 | credits = Christopher H. Bidmead, Peter Grimwade| network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1981}}</ref> the Doctor hints at a kind of shared consciousness among Time Lords when he comments of the Master: "He's a Time Lord. In many ways, we have the same mind." This comment may refer to the existence of a "reflex link" in his brain that is said to connect his thoughts to a Time Lord Intelligentsia, a sort of communal shared mind (although he does state in ''[[The Invisible Enemy]]'' that his own reflex link was disconnected when he went into exile).
In "[[The Girl in the Fireplace]]",<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Girl in the Fireplace | episodelink = The Girl in the Fireplace | series = Series 2 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_2_.282006.29 | credits = Steven Moffat, Euros Lyn| network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2006}}</ref> the [[Tenth Doctor]] reads the mind of [[Madame de Pompadour]]--and in the process, to his surprise, she is able to read his mind as well. In [[Paul Cornell]]'s [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''[[Love and War (Doctor Who)|Love and War]]'',<ref>{{cite book
| last = Cornell
| first = Paul
| authorlink = Paul Cornell
| title = [[Love and War (Doctor Who)|Love and War]]
| publisher = [[Virgin Books]]
| series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
| month = October
| year = 1992
| isbn = ISBN 0-426-20385-2 }}</ref> the Doctor uses a similar method to read the mind of his companion [[Bernice Summerfield]]. He later displays his telepathic communion powers in "[[Fear Her]]" and in "[[The Shakespeare Code]]", where by using his mind melding technique he is partially able to relieve a man of his mental illness as he traces back through his memories. In "[[Planet of the Ood]]", he seems able to temporarily confer some degree of telepathy on his companion Donna Noble, so that she can hear the telepathic song of the Ood. When she is unable to bear the song, the Doctor removes the ability. It is unclear at this point whether the Doctor is actually able to gift another being with telepathy or if he simply switches on or off telepathic potential that those beings already possess.
The Doctor also contacts the Time Lords by going into a trance and creating an assembling box (suggesting [[telekinesis]] as well) in ''The War Games''.<ref name="The War Games"/> In ''[[The Two Doctors]]'', the Doctor engages in [[astral projection]], but warns that if he is disturbed while doing so, his mind could become severed from his body and he could die. In "[[Last of the Time Lords]]", the Doctor telepathically interfaces with a network tapped into the [[human population]] who collectively chant his name.<ref name=LastoftheTimeLords>{{cite episode
| title = [[Last of the Time Lords]]
| episodelink =
| series = [[Doctor Who]]
| serieslink =
| credits = [[Russell T. Davies]], [[Colin Teague]]
| network = [[BBC]]
| station =
| city =
| airdate = 2007-06-30
}}</ref> The focus of psychic energy granted the Doctor the ability to de-age himself, float through the air, deflect shots from the Master's laser screwdriver, and telekinetically disarm the Master while surrounded in a powerful blue glow.
In addition, it is implied that Time Lords may be [[clairvoyance|clairvoyant]], or have additional time-related senses. In ''[[The Time Monster]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Time Monster | episodelink = The Time Monster | series = Season 9 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_9_.281972.29 | credits = Robert Sloman, Barry Letts, Paul Bernard | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1972}}</ref> and ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Invasion of the Dinosaurs | episodelink = Invasion of the Dinosaurs | series = Season 11 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_11_.281973.E2.80.9374.29 | credits = Malcolm Hulke, Paddy Russell | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1974}}</ref> the [[Third Doctor]] is able to resist fields of slow time, being able to move through them even though others are [[paralysis|paralysed]]. In ''[[City of Death]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = City of Death | episodelink = City of Death | series = Season 17 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_17_.281979.E2.80.9380.29 | credits = David Fisher, Douglas Adams, Graham Williams, Michael Hayes | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1979}}</ref> both the [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Romana]] notice distortions and jumps in time that no one else does. In the [[List of Doctor Who serials#Series 1 (2005)|2005 series]], the [[Ninth Doctor]] claims that he can sense the movement of the Earth through space<ref>{{cite episode|title=Rose|episodelink=Rose (Doctor Who)|series=Series 1|serieslink=List of Doctor Who serials#Series 1 (2005)|credits=Russell T Davies, Keith Boak|network=British Broadcasting Corporation|airdate=2005}}</ref> as well as being able to perceive the past and all possible futures.<ref>{{cite episode|title=The Parting of the Ways|episodelink=The Parting of the Ways|series=Series 1|serieslink=List of Doctor Who serials#Series 1 (2005)|credits=Russell T Davies, Joe Ahearne|network=British Broadcasting Corporation|airdate=2005}}</ref> He is also able to concentrate and time his motions well enough to step safely through the blades of a rapidly spinning fan and later claims that if any Time Lords still existed, he would be able to sense them.<ref name="Sound of Drums"/> As the Tenth Doctor he repeats this assertion, adding also that he is somehow innately able to sense which events in time are 'fixed' and which are in 'flux'.<ref>{{cite episode|title=The Fires of Pompeii|episodelink=The Fires of Pompeii|series=Series 4|serieslink=List of Doctor Who serials#Series 4 (2008)|credits=Russell T Davies, Colin Teague|network=British Broadcasting Corporation|airdate=2008}}</ref> In the original series episode [[Warrior's Gate]], Romana is called a 'time-sensitive' by a marauding slaver and, though she seems to deny this, is able to interface with his spaceship in ways that only a 'time-sensitive' is supposed to be able to.<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Warrior's Gate | episodelink = Warrior's Gate | series = Season 18 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_18_(1980-81) | credits = Stephen Gallagher, Paul Joyce, Graeme Harper | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1981}}</ref> In "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]" the Doctor states that he finds it difficult to look at [[Captain Jack Harkness]] because Jack's existence has become fixed in time and space. The [[Tenth Doctor]] also mentions to [[Donna Noble]], in the episode [[The Fires of Pompeii]], that Time Lords can see the past, presents, and all possible futures (as the [[Ninth Doctor]] told [[Rose Tyler]] in [[The Parting of the Ways]]). This also implies, because he is the last of the Time Lords, that the burden is much more difficult to bear.
In the [[Doctor Who (series 4)|Series 4]] episode [[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|"Journey's End"]], the Tenth Doctor was shown to use his telepathic abilities to wipe Donna Noble's mind of certain memories, specifically the memories of her travels in the TARDIS.
===Regeneration===
{{main|Regeneration (Doctor Who)}}
[[Image:Regeneration4to5.gif|thumb|right|The Fourth Doctor regenerates into the Fifth Doctor (from ''Castrovalva'',<ref name="Castrovalva">
{{cite episode | title = Castrovalva | episodelink = Castrovalva | series = Season 19 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_19_.281982.29 | credits = Christopher H. Bidmead, Fiona Cumming | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1982}}</ref> 1982).]]
Time Lords also have the ability to regenerate their bodies when their current body is mortally wounded. This process results in their body undergoing a transformation, gaining a new physical form.
Regenerations can be traumatic events. In ''[[Castrovalva]]'',<ref name="Castrovalva"/> the Doctor requires the use of a Zero Room, a chamber shielded from the outside universe that provides an area of calm for him to recuperate. He comments that there is an excellent polygonal zero room beneath the junior senate block on Gallifrey. The Time Lord's personality also sometimes goes through a period of instability following a regeneration.<ref name="Christmas Invasion"/>
It was first stated in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> that a Time Lord can regenerate twelve times before dying (thirteen incarnations in all). There were exceptions to this rule, however: when the Master reached the end of his regenerative cycle, he took possession of the body of another person to continue living. The Master was also offered a new cycle of regenerations by the High Council to save the Doctor from the Death Zone, which may indicate that there are methods to circumvent the 12 regeneration limit. The Master says in "The Sound of Drums" that the Time Lords "resurrected" him to fight in the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]], which appears to support this. It was revealed in "[[The Brain of Morbius]]" that the Time Lords also use the Elixir of Life in extreme cases, where regeneration is not possible. This may be the reason for additional regeneration cycles being granted.
Also in ''The Deadly Assassin'', several Time Lords including the President are stated to have been "murdered" and are not stated to have regenerated. Although it is possible that all of the Time Lords killed were at the end of their regeneration cycles (somewhat more likely with a retiring President: potentially his reaching the end of his regeneration cycle was the very reason for his retirement), it is also possible that regeneration regardless of how many regenerations the individual Time Lord has already undergone is a conditional and non-inevitable phenomenon. In ''The Deadly Assassin'' at least one of the murders was carried out with a 'staser', possibly a weapon designed to both kill and prevent regeneration (stasers are also stated to have little effect on non-living tissue).<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> Some victims, such as Runcible, were possibly "just Gallifreyans" and not Time Lords (see above), and so may not have had the ability to regenerate.
In ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'',<ref name="Destiny of the Daleks">{{cite episode | title = Destiny of the Daleks | episodelink = Destiny of the Daleks | series = Season 17 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_17_.281979.E2.80.9380.29 | credits = Terry Nation, Ken Grieve | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1979}}</ref> Romana showed the ability to rapidly change form several times in a row during her first regeneration and apparently had the ability to change into whatever appearance she desired. This brings up many questions about the degree of control that Time Lords have over their regeneration process. It should be noted, however, that, despite showing several appearances, Romana regenerated only once on that occasion.
Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is not made entirely clear in the original television series. In ''The Deadly Assassin''<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> an old classmate recognizes the 4th Doctor despite his changes in appearance. And in a later serial, ''[[The Armageddon Factor]]'',<ref name="The Armageddon Factor">
{{cite episode | title = The Armageddon Factor | episodelink = The Armageddon Factor | series = Season 16 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_16_.281978.E2.80.9379.29 | credits = Bob Baker, Dave Martin, Michael Hayes | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1979}}</ref> another alumnus immediately recognises the Doctor, though the Doctor does not recognise him. In ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'', the Third Doctor has trouble recognising his former mentor. In ''[[The Five Doctors]]'',<ref name="The Five Doctors">
{{cite episode | title = The Five Doctors | episodelink = The Five Doctors | series = Season 20 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_20_.281983.29 | credits = Peter Moffat, Terrance Dicks | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1983}}</ref> the [[Third Doctor]] is also unable to initially recognise the Master in his non-Gallifreyan body. Similarly, the [[Eighth Doctor]] is unable to recognise the Master while he possesses a human body in the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 television movie]].<ref>{{cite video
| people = Matthew Jacobs, Geoffrey Sax
| year = 1996
| title = Doctor Who
| url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116118/
| publisher = British Broadcasting Corporation
}}</ref> The Master recognises the [[Seventh Doctor]] on sight in ''[[Survival (Doctor Who)|Survival]]'',<ref>{{cite episode | title = Survival | episodelink = Survival (Doctor Who) | series = Season 26 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_26_.281989.29 | credits = Rona Munro, Alan Wareing | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1989}}</ref> although this may simply point to an earlier, unseen encounter.
The [[Tenth Doctor]] does not recognise the human form of the Master in "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]", although the Doctor did recognise him, and name him "Master", as soon as he recovered his Time Lord physiology and mind. Also in Utopia, the Master, just before regeneration, claims that he shall regenerate into a younger body, implying that a time lord can even choose the form of their new body. In "The Sound of Drums" the Doctor states that Time Lords can "always" recognise each other, although, while on Earth, the Master used satellites with a telepathic network to mask his presence from the Doctor.<ref name="Sound of Drums"/> However, in "[[Time Crash]]," the [[Fifth Doctor]] could not instinctively recognise that the Tenth Doctor was a Time Lord, nor did he guess that they were different incarnations of the same Time Lord.
In "The Last of the Time Lords", when the Master is fatally wounded, he chooses not to regenerate, essentially committing suicide rather than regenerate and be kept prisoner by the Doctor forever. This again implies that regeneration is not inevitable and can indeed be refused.
In "Turn Left", the [[Tenth Doctor]] is killed "too quickly for him to regenerate" in an alternate history where he is killed in his own rampage against the Racnoss without Donna to stop him and ultimately save his life. This death was presumably caused by flooding of the building, which the Doctor was aware of, and would not have happened any more suddenly than the Sixth Doctor's apparent death by trauma in ''[[Time and the Rani]]'' (although spin-off media have suggested that the assault on the TARDIS was not the sole reason for the Doctor's death).
==Culture and society==
The Time Lord homeworld, [[Gallifrey]], is an Earth-like planet in the "constellation" of Kasterborous. Its capital city is referred to as the Citadel, and contains the Capitol, the seat of Time Lord government. At the centre of the Capitol is the [[Panopticon]], beneath which is the [[Eye of Harmony]]. Outside the Capitol lie wastelands where the "Outsiders", Time Lords who have dropped out of Time Lord society, live in less technologically advanced communities, shunning life in the cities. The Outsiders have often been equated with the "Shobogans", a group mentioned briefly in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> as being responsible for acts of vandalism around the Panopticon, but there is actually nothing on screen that explicitly connects the two.
In general, the Time Lords are an aloof people, with a society full of pomp and ceremony. The Doctor has observed that his people "enjoy making speeches"<ref name="The Invasion of Time">
{{cite episode | title = The Invasion of Time | episodelink = The Invasion of Time | series = Season 15 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_15_.281977.E2.80.9378.29 | credits = Graham Williams, Anthony Read, Gerald Blake | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1978}}</ref> and have an "infinite capacity for pretension".<ref name="Remembrance of the Daleks">
{{cite episode | title = Remembrance of the Daleks | episodelink = Remembrance of the Daleks | series = Season 25 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_25_.281988.E2.80.9389.29 | credits = Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Morgan, John Nathan-Turner | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1988}}</ref> The Time Lord penchant for ceremony extends to their technology, with various artefacts given weighty names like the [[Hand of Omega]], the Eye of Harmony or the Key of Rassilon.
The Doctor has also characterised the Time Lords as a stagnant and corrupt society, a state caused by ten million years of absolute power.<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Ultimate Foe | episodelink = The Ultimate Foe | series = Season 23 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_23_.281986.29 | credits = Robert Holmes, Pip and Jane Baker, Chris Clough | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1986}}</ref> [[List of Doctor Who villains#Mr Finch|Brother Lassar]], in the episode "[[School Reunion (Doctor Who)|School Reunion]]",<ref>
{{cite episode | title = School Reunion | episodelink = School Reunion (Doctor Who) | series = Series 2 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_2_.282006.29 | credits = Toby Whithouse, James Hawes | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 2006}}</ref> describes the Time Lords as "a pompous race" of "ancient, dusty senators... frightened of change and chaos" and "peaceful to the point of indolence". Their portrayal in the series is reminiscent of academics living in ivory towers, unconcerned with external affairs. The Doctor states that the Time Lords were sworn never to interfere, only to watch ("The Sound of Drums"). It has been suggested that, since perfecting the science of time travel, they have withdrawn, bound by the moral complexity of interfering in the natural flow of history (compare with the [[Prime Directive]] from ''[[Star Trek]]''); in ''[[Earthshock]]'', the Cyberleader, when notified of the arrival of a TARDIS, is surprised at the presence of a Time Lord, stating "they are forbidden to interfere." In ''[[The Two Doctors]]'', it is suggested that Time Lords are responsible for maintaining a general balance of power between the races of the Universe.
While interference is apparently against Time Lord policy, there are occasions when they do intervene, albeit indirectly. The Time Lords occasionally send the Doctor on missions that required plausible deniability, as in ''[[The Two Doctors]]'',<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Two Doctors | episodelink = The Two Doctors | series = Season 2 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_22_.281985.29 | credits = Robert Holmes, Peter Moffat | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1985}}</ref> and sometimes against his will, like in ''[[Colony in Space]]''<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Colony in Space | episodelink = Colony in Space | series = Season 8 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_8_.281971.29 | credits = Malcolm Hulke, Michael E. Briant | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1971}}</ref> and ''[[The Monster of Peladon]]''.<ref>{{cite episode | title = The Monster of Peladon | episodelink = The Monster of Peladon | series = Season 11 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_11_.281973.E2.80.9374.29 | credits = Brian Hayles, Lennie Mayne | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1974}}</ref> He is also sent on a mission in ''[[The Mutants]]'' which was intended to help preserve the existence of a unique race, which was being destroyed by the excesses of the Earth empire. The Doctor's mission in ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]''<ref>{{cite episode | title = Genesis of the Daleks | episodelink = Genesis of the Daleks | series = Season 12 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_12_.281974-75.29 | credits = Terry Nation, David Maloney | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1975}}</ref> even involves changing history to avert the creation of the [[Dalek]]s, or at least temper their aggressiveness.
Children of Gallifrey are taken from their families at the age of 8 and admitted into the Academy. Novices are then taken to an initiation ceremony before the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality that looks into the time vortex. Of those that stare into it, some are inspired, some run away and others go mad. The Doctor suggests that the Master went mad and that he himself ran away.<ref name="Sound of Drums"/>
Each Time Lord belongs to one of a number of various colleges or chapters, such as the Patrexes, Arcalian, and the Prydonian chapters, which have ceremonial and possibly political significance. In ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'',<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> it is explained that each chapter has its own colours; the Prydonians wear [[scarlet]] and [[Orange (colour)|orange]], the Arcalians wear green, and the Patrexeans wear [[Heliotrope (color)|heliotrope]]. However, in that same serial, Cardinal Borusa, described as "the leader of the Prydonian chapter" wears heliotrope. Other Prydonians wear orange headdresses with orange-brown (not scarlet) robes. Others chapters mentioned in [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] novels include the Dromeian and Cerulean chapters. The Prydonian chapter has a reputation for being devious, and tends to produce renegades; the Doctor, the Master and the [[Rani (Doctor Who)|Rani]] are all Prydonians. The colleges of the Academy are led by the Cardinals. Ushers, who provide security and assistance at official Time Lord functions, may belong to any chapter, and wear all-[[gold]] uniforms.<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/>
The executive political leadership is split between the Lord President, who keeps the ceremonial relics of the Time Lords, and the Chancellor, who appears to be the administrative leader of the Cardinals and who acts as a check on the power of the Lord President. The President is an elected position and on Presidential Resignation Day, the outgoing President usually names his successor, who is then also usually confirmed in a non-contested "[[show election|election]]". However, it is still constitutionally possible for another candidate to put themselves forward for the post, as the Doctor did in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''.<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> In that story, the Presidency was described as a largely ceremonial role, but in ''[[The Invasion of Time]]''<ref name="The Invasion of Time"/> the orders of the office were to be obeyed without question.
The President and Chancellor also sit on the Time Lord High Council, akin to a legislative body, composed variously of Councillors and more senior Cardinals. Also on the High Council is the Castellan of the Chancellory Guard, in charge of the security of the Citadel, whom the Doctor has referred to as the leader of a trumped-up palace guard. According to the constitution, if while in emergency session the other members of the High Council are in unanimous agreement, even the President's orders can be overruled.<ref name="The Five Doctors"/>
==Technology==
Paradoxically, although the Time Lords are a scientifically and technologically advanced race, the civilisation is so old that key pieces of their technology have become shrouded in legend and myth. In the spin-off fiction, an edict and general aversion against exploring [[#History within the show|Gallifrey's past]] also contributes to this. Accordingly, until the Doctor rediscovers it, the Time Lords do not know the location of the Eye beneath their capital. They also treat such ceremonial symbols as the Key and Sash of Rassilon as mere historical curiosities, being unaware of their true function.
TARDISes are characterised not just by their ability to travel in time, but also their dimensionally transcendent nature. A TARDIS's interior spaces exist in a different dimension from its exterior, which is how it's bigger on the inside. The Doctor states that transdimensional engineering was a key Time Lord discovery in ''[[The Robots of Death]]''.<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Robots of Death | episodelink = The Robots of Death | series = Season 14 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_14_.281976.E2.80.9377.29 | credits = Chris Boucher, Michael E. Briant, Peter Grimwade | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1977}}</ref> In the revived series, the TARDIS has an organic look, and the Doctor states in "[[The Impossible Planet]]" that TARDISes are grown, not made.
Fitting their generally defensive nature, Time Lord weapons technology is rarely seen, other than the [[staser]] hand weapons used by the Guard within the Capitol. Stasers (acronym unknown) are lethal energy weapons, specifically designed to prevent the unwanted regeneration of rogue Time Lords; staser beams also shatter the crystalline structure of non-organic targets.
Standard TARDISes do not generally seem to use any on-board weaponry, although War or Battle TARDISes (armed with "time torpedoes" that freeze their target in time) have appeared in the spin-off media. In the novels, the [[Eighth Doctor]]'s companion [[Compassion (Doctor Who)|Compassion]], a living TARDIS, has enough firepower to annihilate other TARDISes.
One exception to the Time Lords' defensive weaponry is the de-mat gun (or dematerialisation gun). The de-mat gun is a weapon of mass destruction that removes its target from space-time altogether, as seen in ''[[The Invasion of Time]]''.<ref name="The Invasion of Time"/> The de-mat gun was created in Rassilon's time and is a closely guarded secret; the knowledge to create one is kept in the Matrix and is available only to the President. To make sure this knowledge is not abused, the only way to arm a de-mat gun is by means of the Great Key of Rassilon, whose location is only known to the Chancellor. As a means of extreme sanction, the Time Lords have also been known to place whole planets into time-loops, isolating them from the universe in one repeating moment of time as well as hurling planets from one galaxy to another using a weapon referred only as a magnetron in the episode ''[[Trial of a Time Lord]]''.
In the [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''[[The Ancestor Cell]]'' by [[Peter Anghelides]] and [[Stephen Cole (writer)|Stephen Cole]],<ref>{{cite book
| last = Anghelides
| first = Peter
| authorlink = Peter Anghelides
| coauthors = Cole, Stephen
| title = [[The Ancestor Cell]]
| publisher = [[BBC Books]]
| series = [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]]
| month = July
| year = 2000
| isbn = ISBN 0-563-53809-0 }}</ref> the Time Lords are shown to house other weapons of mass destruction in a stable time eddy known as the Slaughterhouse. In the ''Doctor Who Annual 2006'',<ref>{{cite book
| last = Davies
| first = Russell T.
| authorlink = Russell T. Davies
| coauthors = Hickman, Clayton
| title = Doctor Who Annual 2006
| publisher = Panini Publishing Ltd.
| month = August
| year = 2005
| isbn = ISBN13 978-1904419730 }}</ref> a section by [[Russell T. Davies]] says that during the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]], the Time Lords used Bowships (used against the Great Vampires in an ancient war), Black Hole Carriers and N-Forms (war machines first mentioned in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''[[Damaged Goods]]'',<ref>{{cite book
| last = Davies
| first = Russell T.
| authorlink = Russell T. Davies
| title = [[Damaged Goods]]
| publisher = [[Virgin Books]]
| series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
| month = October
| year = 1996
| isbn = ISBN 0-426-20483-2 }}</ref> written by Davies).
==History within the show==
{{main|History of the Time Lords}}
[[Image:Gallifreytower.jpg|thumb|right|The Dark Tower in the Death Zone on [[Gallifrey]]]]
Details of the Time Lords' history within the show are sketchy and are, as is usual for ''Doctor Who'' continuity, fraught with supposition and contradiction. The Time Lords became the masters of time travel when one of their number, the scientist [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]] created an energy source to power their experiments in time.<ref name="The Three Doctors"/> 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.<ref name="Remembrance of the Daleks"/> 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 [[antimatter]] universe beyond the black hole's [[Black hole#singularity|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.<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/> 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. This met with disastrous results, the Minyans destroying themselves in a series of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear wars]] (''[[Underworld (Doctor Who)|Underworld]]'').<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Underworld | episodelink = Underworld (Doctor Who) | series = Season 15 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_15_.281977.E2.80.9378.29 | credits = Bob Baker, Dave Martin, Norman Stewart | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1978}}</ref>
As of the current series, the Time Lords have, according to [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]], all perished at the conclusion of a [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]] with the [[Dalek]]s, leaving the Doctor the sole survivor and the last of his race (It was also revealed that the Doctor was responsible for the extinction of both races, as was confirmed by the Beast). This may not be entirely true however.<ref>{{cite episode | title = Gridlock | episodelink = Gridlock (Doctor Who) | series = Doctor Who | serieslink = Doctor Who | credits = Writer [[Russell T. Davies]], Director [[Richard Clarke (director)|Richard Clarke]], Producer [[Phil Collinson]] | network = [[BBC]] | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2007-04-14 }}</ref> In the episode "[[Gridlock (Doctor Who)|Gridlock]]", the [[Face of Boe]] tells the Doctor with his dying breath that the Doctor is "not alone".
In the episode "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]" the Doctor learns that the Master survived. The Doctor failed to sense him because he used a chameleon arch to turn himself into a human (as the Doctor did in "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]"), while hiding at the end of the Universe. The Master's subsequent conquest of 21st century Earth and his attempt to set up a new, expansionist Time Lord empire, is foiled by the Doctor and his companions. Shortly after his plan fails, the Master is shot by his Human wife and, refusing to regenerate, dies. The Doctor burns his body on a pyre. ("[[Last of the Time Lords]]").
In the episode "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]", after landing on planet [[List of Doctor Who planets#M|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 (Doctor Who)|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. The Doctor states that a Time Lord is more than simply DNA, but nevertheless, the Doctor's species now lives on in some form. 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 2006 Christmas special and loaded with unused energy from a partial regeneration (see "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|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.
==Partial list of Time Lords appearing in ''Doctor Who''==
* The [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|Doctor]]
* [[Susan Foreman]], the Doctor's granddaughter. She chose to live with a human on Earth.
* [[Jenny (Doctor Who)|Jenny]], the Doctor's daughter, appearing in "[[The Doctor's Daughter]]".
* The [[Meddling Monk]]
* The [[Master (Doctor Who)|Master]]
* The [[Rani (Doctor Who)|Rani]]<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Mark of the Rani | episodelink = The Mark of the Rani | series = Season 22 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_22_.281985.29 | credits = Pip and Jane Baker, Sarah Hellings | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1985}}</ref><ref>
{{cite episode | title = Time and the Rani | episodelink = Time and the Rani | series = Season 24 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_24_.281987.29 | credits = Pip and Jane Baker, Andrew Morgan | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1987}}</ref>
* [[Romana]] (full name ''Romanadvoratrelundar'')
* [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]]
* [[Rassilon]]
* [[Borusa]]<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/><ref name="The Invasion of Time"/><ref name="Arc of Infinity"/><ref name="The Five Doctors"/>
* Runcible "the Fatuous"<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/>
* Rodan
* Azmael, whom the Doctor called "the best teacher [he] ever had", living under the pseudonym "Professor Edgeworth"<ref>
{{cite episode | title = The Twin Dilemma | episodelink = The Twin Dilemma | series = Season 21 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_21_.281984.29_.E2.80.94_continued | credits = Anthony Steven, Peter Moffat | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1984}}</ref>
* K'anpo Rimpoche, also known as Cho Je<ref>
{{cite episode | title = Planet of the Spiders | episodelink = Planet of the Spiders | series = Season 11 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_11_.281973.E2.80.9374.29 | credits = Barry Letts, Robert Sloman | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1974}}</ref>
* Salyavin, also known as [[Professor Chronotis]]<ref name="Shada"/>
* [[List of Doctor Who villains#Morbius|Morbius]]<ref name="The Trial of a Time Lord">{{cite episode | title = The Brain of Morbius | episodelink = The Brain of Morbius | series = Season 13 | serieslink = List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Season_13_.281975.E2.80.9376.29 | credits = Robin Bland, Christopher Barry | network = British Broadcasting Corporation | airdate = 1974}}</ref>
* The [[List of Doctor Who villains#War Chief|War Chief]]<ref name="The War Games"/>
* The [[Inquisitor (Doctor Who)|Inquisitor]]<ref name="The Trial of a Time Lord"/>
* The [[Valeyard]]<ref name="The Trial of a Time Lord"/>
* [[List of Doctor Who henchmen#Chancellor Goth|Chancellor Goth]]<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/>
* Chancellor Thalia<ref name="Arc of Infinity"/>
* Chancellor Flavia<ref name="The Five Doctors"/><ref>In the new series, the production team refers to a musical cue associated with the Doctor and the Time Lords as "Flavia's Theme."</ref>
*[[List of Doctor Who henchmen#Councillor Hedin|Councillor Hedin]]<ref name="Arc of Infinity"/>
* Castellan Spandrell<ref name="The Deadly Assassin"/>
* Castellan Kelner<ref name="The Invasion of Time"/>
* Cardinal Zorac
* The Castellan (unnamed)<ref name="Arc of Infinity"/><ref name="The Five Doctors"/>
* [[List of Doctor Who spin-off companions#Drax|Drax]]<ref name="The Armageddon Factor"/>
===Time Lords from spin-off media===
* Arguably, [[John and Gillian (Doctor Who)|John and Gillian]], the Doctor's grandchildren from the ''[[TV Comic]]'' comic strip
* Ruath from the novel ''[[Goth Opera]]'' (full name Ruathadvorphrenaltid)
* [[Irving Braxiatel]] from the [[Virgin New Adventures]] and Bernice Summerfield audio dramas
* The [[Other (Doctor Who)|Other]] from the novels ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'' and ''[[Lungbarrow]]''
* Kopyion Liall a Mahajetsu from the novel ''[[The Pit (Doctor Who)|The Pit]]''
* Homunculette from the novel ''[[Alien Bodies]]'' and ''[[The Taking of Planet 5]]''
* Savar from the novels ''[[Seeing I]]'' and ''The Infinity Doctors''
* [[Iris Wildthyme]] from various novels, short stories and audio plays
* Larna from the novels ''[[The Infinity Doctors]]'' and ''The Gallifrey Chronicles''
* The Magician from the ''[[The Companions of Doctor Who|Companions of Doctor Who]]'' novel ''[[Turlough]] and the Earthlink Dilemma''.
* Vansell from various audio dramas and the novel ''[[Divided Loyalties (Doctor Who)|Divided Loyalties]]''
* Valentine from ''[[Death Comes to Time]]''
* The Minister of Chance from ''Death Comes to Time''
* Casmus from ''Death Comes to Time''
* General Tannis from ''Death Comes to Time''
* Ratisbon from the novel ''[[Warmonger (Doctor Who)|Warmonger]]''
* Saran from the novel ''Warmonger''
* [[List of Doctor Who spin-off companions#Lady Serena|Serena]] from the novel ''[[World Game (Doctor Who)|World Game]]'' (full name Serenadellatrovella)
* Marnal from the novel ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles]]''
* Ulysses from the novel ''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' (possibly the Doctor's father)
* Straxus from the audio drama ''[[Human Resources (Doctor Who)|Human Resources]]''
* Muldwych from the novel ''Birthright'' a possible exile who had his TARDIS taken away (it is strongly implied in ''Birthright'' and ''Happy Endings'' that Muldwych is a future incarnation of the Doctor).
==Notes==
{{reflist|3}}
==References==
<div class="references-small">
*{{cite book | first=Lance | last=Parkin | authorlink=Lance Parkin | editor=Additional material by [[Lars Pearson]]. | year=2006 | title=AHistory: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe | publisher=Mad Norwegian Press | location=Des Moines | id=ISBN 0-9725959-9-6}}
</div>
==See also==
*[[List of actors who have played the Doctor]]
*[[Time War (Doctor Who)]]
==External links==
*[http://meshyfish.com/~roo/index.html Rassilon, Omega, and that Other guy] — every fact about the Time Lords no matter how apocryphal
*[http://www.wheelinspace.com/who_are_the_time_lords.htm Television-only History of the Time Lords]
[[Category:Time Lords| ]]
[[Category:Fictional telepaths]]
[[Category:Endangered and extinct fictional species]]
[[Category:Fictional civilizations]]
[[pt:Lordes do tempo]]