We will begin your instruction with a discussion of your home planet, Gallifrey. While it is (sadly), highly unlikely that you will ever return there, having at least a rudimentary understanding about it is important from both an academic standpoint and for your psychological well being. With that in mind, let us not waste another moment.
THE PLANET GALLIFREY
Known also as "The Shining World of the Seven Systems", Gallifrey was originally located in the constellation of Kasterborous, which lies approximately 250 million light years away from Earth. Its galactic coordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre placed it more or less in the middle of its galaxy. Several times larger than the Earth, the planet was in a binary star system, having two large moons and a ring system similar to the planet Saturn. The main star was large and golden red in color, which could account for the burnt orange appearance of the sky at night. Another distinguishing feature was the glow of the mountains, caused by the rising of the smaller second star in the south every morning. From space, Gallifrey appeared as rust-colored, with brown lakes and grey clouds. Not a very flattering picture, I grant you, though your own memories do seem to recall it with a bit more fondness. In the words of your third regeneration, "When I was a little boy, we used to live in a house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain. I ran down that mountain and I found that the rocks weren't grey at all - but they were red, brown and purple and gold. And those pathetic little patches of sludgy snow were shining white. Shining white in the sunlight." Your granddaughter, Susan, also spoke of the silver-leafed trees, and you, yourself, in your 10th regeneration, described the vast mountain ranges, with deep red grass capped in snow. Gallifrey also had areas of forests and deserts, with a much drier climate than that of Earth.
The Wastelands were home to both the "Outsiders" and the Death Zone. Make special note, Doctor of the Death Zone, for it is significant not only in that it once served as a gladiator arena for various species kidnapped from their respective time zones during the era of the first Time Lords, but it also housed the Tomb of Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord Society. Other special areas of significance include the Time Academy where most young Time Lords would go to further their education and the Citadel, which served as the capitol of Gallifrey. It was protected by a large, transparent dome, and was located on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude.
THE PLANET GALLIFREY
Known also as "The Shining World of the Seven Systems", Gallifrey was originally located in the constellation of Kasterborous, which lies approximately 250 million light years away from Earth. Its galactic coordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre placed it more or less in the middle of its galaxy. Several times larger than the Earth, the planet was in a binary star system, having two large moons and a ring system similar to the planet Saturn. The main star was large and golden red in color, which could account for the burnt orange appearance of the sky at night. Another distinguishing feature was the glow of the mountains, caused by the rising of the smaller second star in the south every morning. From space, Gallifrey appeared as rust-colored, with brown lakes and grey clouds. Not a very flattering picture, I grant you, though your own memories do seem to recall it with a bit more fondness. In the words of your third regeneration, "When I was a little boy, we used to live in a house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain. I ran down that mountain and I found that the rocks weren't grey at all - but they were red, brown and purple and gold. And those pathetic little patches of sludgy snow were shining white. Shining white in the sunlight." Your granddaughter, Susan, also spoke of the silver-leafed trees, and you, yourself, in your 10th regeneration, described the vast mountain ranges, with deep red grass capped in snow. Gallifrey also had areas of forests and deserts, with a much drier climate than that of Earth.
The Wastelands were home to both the "Outsiders" and the Death Zone. Make special note, Doctor of the Death Zone, for it is significant not only in that it once served as a gladiator arena for various species kidnapped from their respective time zones during the era of the first Time Lords, but it also housed the Tomb of Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord Society. Other special areas of significance include the Time Academy where most young Time Lords would go to further their education and the Citadel, which served as the capitol of Gallifrey. It was protected by a large, transparent dome, and was located on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude.
Let us turn our attention now away from the geographical aspects of Gallifrey to its tragic history. The last Great Time War saw the Time Lords of Gallifrey pitted against the Daleks of Skaro. While the original details for the origins of the feud have been lost to history, it is common belief that it may have been the result of the Time Lords having foreseen through their various encounters with the species that the Daleks would one day conquer the universe. The Time Lords, of course, could not allow this to happen. Therefore, Doctor, your fourth regeneration was sent into the past in attempt to discover and exploit any weakness of the Dalek race to subvert any future plans for master control. Needless to say, the Daleks were less than thrilled with the meddling of the Time Lords and retaliation was not long in forthcoming. They attempted to infiltrate the High Council of the Time Lords and soon afterwards issued an open declaration of hostility.
No one knows exactly the duration of the War, the general consensus being anywhere from "several to thirty thousand years" due to the shift as time itself was bent and mutilated. As the War progressed, the whole of the conflict became 'time locked' to prevent any time traveler from entering into the battle, as the death count on both sides already numbered in the millions. Unscrupulous behavior was not limited to the Daleks, the Time Lords themselves gaining access to a cache of forbidden doomsday weapons and resurrecting their 'perfect warrior'-the Master, who was a renegade Time Lord and enemy of you, Doctor. You, yourself, was not aware of his resurrection.
On the last day of the War, ten million Dalek war ships were launched in a massive attack. Eager to escape the Time Lock, and fearing that you, Doctor, would use the ultimate weapon known as "The Moment" against the Dalek fleet, Rassilon and his fellow councilors attempted to manipulate the Master via a drumbeat placed in him as a child which had caused his ultimate descent into madness. The Moment would, of course, serve the purpose of defeating the Daleks, but it would also reduce Gallifrey to rocks and dust. Ultimately, you made the decision to do just that, sacrificing your dying planet to save the rest of the universe. Gallifrey and the the Time Lords were no more-or so you believed for many years.
In actuality, the Moment through a will of its own, showed you an alternate solution, freezing Gallifrey in time and removing it from the universe. It was placed safely in a pocket dimension, though it left the Time Lords powerless and forgetten. Sadly, when you regenerated for the 9th time, you did not remember anything of the Moment or your time as the War Doctor, and truly believed yourself responsible for the destruction of Gallifrey. This would haunt you for many years to come.
No one knows exactly the duration of the War, the general consensus being anywhere from "several to thirty thousand years" due to the shift as time itself was bent and mutilated. As the War progressed, the whole of the conflict became 'time locked' to prevent any time traveler from entering into the battle, as the death count on both sides already numbered in the millions. Unscrupulous behavior was not limited to the Daleks, the Time Lords themselves gaining access to a cache of forbidden doomsday weapons and resurrecting their 'perfect warrior'-the Master, who was a renegade Time Lord and enemy of you, Doctor. You, yourself, was not aware of his resurrection.
On the last day of the War, ten million Dalek war ships were launched in a massive attack. Eager to escape the Time Lock, and fearing that you, Doctor, would use the ultimate weapon known as "The Moment" against the Dalek fleet, Rassilon and his fellow councilors attempted to manipulate the Master via a drumbeat placed in him as a child which had caused his ultimate descent into madness. The Moment would, of course, serve the purpose of defeating the Daleks, but it would also reduce Gallifrey to rocks and dust. Ultimately, you made the decision to do just that, sacrificing your dying planet to save the rest of the universe. Gallifrey and the the Time Lords were no more-or so you believed for many years.
In actuality, the Moment through a will of its own, showed you an alternate solution, freezing Gallifrey in time and removing it from the universe. It was placed safely in a pocket dimension, though it left the Time Lords powerless and forgetten. Sadly, when you regenerated for the 9th time, you did not remember anything of the Moment or your time as the War Doctor, and truly believed yourself responsible for the destruction of Gallifrey. This would haunt you for many years to come.
ANATOMY OF A TIME LORD
Let us now turn our focus on the Time Lords themselves. Though the exact life cycle of a Time Lord has yet to be defined, it can be said with certainty that the life span of the race is quite long; they measure their age in centuries rather than years. As you, Doctor, once put it, "90 years old is just a kid; 750 is barely middle-aged."
Though they are human-like in appearance, their biological make-up is quite different. Time Lords have two heartbeats, which beat at a normal rate of 170 beats per minute, and a much lower core body temperature than their human counterparts (15 degrees Celsius, 59 degrees Fahrenheit). Perhaps because of this they have a greater tolerance for cold than humans, and also have the ability to induce a healing coma which reduces their body temperature below freezing for short periods of time. Time Lords also possess the ability to absorb radiation within themselves at amounts which would prove fatal to other species (though not without the possibility of ill-effects depending on the degree or type). They possess the gifts of telepathy and clairvoyance, and can read at an extremely rapid pace.
Perhaps the most significant trait possessed by a Time Lord (or Lady, as the females of your species are called) is the ability to regenerate when the current body is mortally wounded, learned from the denizens of the planet Minyos. During this time, the body undergoes a complete physical and psychological transformation, complete with new personality as well as appearance. It can be a quite traumatic and painful process, though it does not always have to be. Each Time Lord is generally granted twelve regenerations (making thirteen incarnations total), though there have been, of course, some exceptions to the rule.
Let us now turn our focus on the Time Lords themselves. Though the exact life cycle of a Time Lord has yet to be defined, it can be said with certainty that the life span of the race is quite long; they measure their age in centuries rather than years. As you, Doctor, once put it, "90 years old is just a kid; 750 is barely middle-aged."
Though they are human-like in appearance, their biological make-up is quite different. Time Lords have two heartbeats, which beat at a normal rate of 170 beats per minute, and a much lower core body temperature than their human counterparts (15 degrees Celsius, 59 degrees Fahrenheit). Perhaps because of this they have a greater tolerance for cold than humans, and also have the ability to induce a healing coma which reduces their body temperature below freezing for short periods of time. Time Lords also possess the ability to absorb radiation within themselves at amounts which would prove fatal to other species (though not without the possibility of ill-effects depending on the degree or type). They possess the gifts of telepathy and clairvoyance, and can read at an extremely rapid pace.
Perhaps the most significant trait possessed by a Time Lord (or Lady, as the females of your species are called) is the ability to regenerate when the current body is mortally wounded, learned from the denizens of the planet Minyos. During this time, the body undergoes a complete physical and psychological transformation, complete with new personality as well as appearance. It can be a quite traumatic and painful process, though it does not always have to be. Each Time Lord is generally granted twelve regenerations (making thirteen incarnations total), though there have been, of course, some exceptions to the rule.
"It's a bit dodgy, this process, you never know what you're gonna end up with" ~9th Doctor
TIME LORD 101
The detailed history of the Time Lords is sadly unknown to us, though my data banks have managed to construct a reasonably accurate reconstruction. One of the oldest and mightiest civilizations, they became masters of time travel when the Time Lord Omega, a scientist by trade, constructed the Hand of Omega, a remote stellar manipulator that would harness the energy from a nearby supernova to power their experiments. Ultimately this failed, resulting in the creation of the 'black hole' and Omega's supposed demise. From the black hole, Rassilon took a gravitational singularity and placed it beneath the Citadel, creating a perfectly balanced Eye of Harmony. This served as both a power source for the civilization as a whole as well as for the time travelling machines. Time Lord society was such that it was well advanced in mathematics, biology, xenobiology, chemistry, physics and technology. In areas of weapon and defense technology, however, they were known to be inferior to other races and species.
At eight years of age, children began instruction at the Time Lord Academy. Here they studied a variety of subjects (often for centuries), with each Chapter of the Academy being identified by a separate color. Each student underwent the ritual of peering into the Untempered Schism, which showed the enormity of the Time Vortex and the weighty power of the Time Lords. In your own words, Doctor, "Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad." It was at this ritual that the sound of the drums would be implanted into the mind of the Master, causing an already traumatic event to snap the mind of a terrified child and leave it warped forever, driving him slowly mad. It is not my place to judge, Time Lord, but it is not only the Daleks who have a propensity for cruelness, it would seem.
One particular custom of note is the Rite of Soul Catching. At the end of a Time Lord's life, before they were assimilated into the Matrix, (a supercomputer, a micro-universe used by the High Council of Time Lords as a storehouse of knowledge to predict future events) they were allowed to assimilate their memories before they died. It should be noted that upon the death of a Time Lord, it was considered necessary to destroy the body soon afterwards. This was to avoid leaving behind a time stream, which could be scattered and result in catastrophic consequences should someone drift across that particular timeline.
The detailed history of the Time Lords is sadly unknown to us, though my data banks have managed to construct a reasonably accurate reconstruction. One of the oldest and mightiest civilizations, they became masters of time travel when the Time Lord Omega, a scientist by trade, constructed the Hand of Omega, a remote stellar manipulator that would harness the energy from a nearby supernova to power their experiments. Ultimately this failed, resulting in the creation of the 'black hole' and Omega's supposed demise. From the black hole, Rassilon took a gravitational singularity and placed it beneath the Citadel, creating a perfectly balanced Eye of Harmony. This served as both a power source for the civilization as a whole as well as for the time travelling machines. Time Lord society was such that it was well advanced in mathematics, biology, xenobiology, chemistry, physics and technology. In areas of weapon and defense technology, however, they were known to be inferior to other races and species.
At eight years of age, children began instruction at the Time Lord Academy. Here they studied a variety of subjects (often for centuries), with each Chapter of the Academy being identified by a separate color. Each student underwent the ritual of peering into the Untempered Schism, which showed the enormity of the Time Vortex and the weighty power of the Time Lords. In your own words, Doctor, "Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad." It was at this ritual that the sound of the drums would be implanted into the mind of the Master, causing an already traumatic event to snap the mind of a terrified child and leave it warped forever, driving him slowly mad. It is not my place to judge, Time Lord, but it is not only the Daleks who have a propensity for cruelness, it would seem.
One particular custom of note is the Rite of Soul Catching. At the end of a Time Lord's life, before they were assimilated into the Matrix, (a supercomputer, a micro-universe used by the High Council of Time Lords as a storehouse of knowledge to predict future events) they were allowed to assimilate their memories before they died. It should be noted that upon the death of a Time Lord, it was considered necessary to destroy the body soon afterwards. This was to avoid leaving behind a time stream, which could be scattered and result in catastrophic consequences should someone drift across that particular timeline.
PROJECT WHO-THE EARTHEN PERSPECTIVE
Now, Doctor, let us turn our attention to matters closer to the realm of Earth. Your legend has inspired the people there for many years and the stories about you are many. It would seem that you have spawned a series of television and literary works chronically your various adventures, given your propensity for human travelling companions this is no wonder. Let us take a brief look now at the beginning of the television series bearing your name.
On November 23, 1963, BBC1 aired the very first episode of "Dr Who", entitled "The Unearthly Child." Sydney Newman, the head of drama for the station was in charge of developing the weekly program, which was originally intended to appeal to a family audience, geared heavily toward children. Initially it was meant to be an educational program, meant to use time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and moments in history, though creative forces soon realized that its appeal went far beyond that. So popular was it, in fact, that it ran for 26 seasons, ending its initial run in December of 1989. On a side note, it is also considered to be the 'scariest television show of all time' even going so far as to coin its own phrase of 'behind the sofa' for those children too frightened who chose to watch it from the safety of that area. Even with that in mind, the public could not (and cannot) get enough of you, Doctor.
On March 26, 2005, a revised series was aired with head of drama, Julie Gardner and writer Russell T. Davies at the helm. The inaugural episode was entitled "Rose" and much like its predecessor, was met with a great deal of commercial success. "New Who" was proving to be just as popular as "Classic Who" had ever been. As of this writing, Doctor, the show continues, although with some slight changes. Steven Moffat has replaced Davies as head writer and executive producer and Miss Gardner is no longer affiliated with the show either, but creatively, it thrives as ever before and has not dwindled in popularity. The show has produced several 'spin offs' including Torchwood, The Adventures of Sarah Jane, and Totally Doctor Who, just to name a few.
That concludes our time together this session, Doctor. Please press the button on your panel below to be taken to your assignment.
Now, Doctor, let us turn our attention to matters closer to the realm of Earth. Your legend has inspired the people there for many years and the stories about you are many. It would seem that you have spawned a series of television and literary works chronically your various adventures, given your propensity for human travelling companions this is no wonder. Let us take a brief look now at the beginning of the television series bearing your name.
On November 23, 1963, BBC1 aired the very first episode of "Dr Who", entitled "The Unearthly Child." Sydney Newman, the head of drama for the station was in charge of developing the weekly program, which was originally intended to appeal to a family audience, geared heavily toward children. Initially it was meant to be an educational program, meant to use time travel as a means to explore scientific ideas and moments in history, though creative forces soon realized that its appeal went far beyond that. So popular was it, in fact, that it ran for 26 seasons, ending its initial run in December of 1989. On a side note, it is also considered to be the 'scariest television show of all time' even going so far as to coin its own phrase of 'behind the sofa' for those children too frightened who chose to watch it from the safety of that area. Even with that in mind, the public could not (and cannot) get enough of you, Doctor.
On March 26, 2005, a revised series was aired with head of drama, Julie Gardner and writer Russell T. Davies at the helm. The inaugural episode was entitled "Rose" and much like its predecessor, was met with a great deal of commercial success. "New Who" was proving to be just as popular as "Classic Who" had ever been. As of this writing, Doctor, the show continues, although with some slight changes. Steven Moffat has replaced Davies as head writer and executive producer and Miss Gardner is no longer affiliated with the show either, but creatively, it thrives as ever before and has not dwindled in popularity. The show has produced several 'spin offs' including Torchwood, The Adventures of Sarah Jane, and Totally Doctor Who, just to name a few.
That concludes our time together this session, Doctor. Please press the button on your panel below to be taken to your assignment.