The Gallifrey Chronicles (reference book): Difference between revisions

|book name=The Gallifrey Chronicles

|image=[[Image:The_Gallifrey_Chronicles_REF.jpg|250px]]

|writer= [[John Peel]]

|publisher= Doctor Who Books, an imprint of [[Virgin Publishing]]

|release date= [[1991]]

|format= Hardback, 138 pages

|isbn=ISBN 1-85227-329-1

}}

==Publisher's Summary==

The planet Gallifrey: cradle of the most ancient civilization in our galaxy, source of the technology that mastered both space and time, home of the people who call themselves the Time Lords — and the origin of the mysterious, quirky, itinerant time-traveller known as the Doctor. When the British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted the first episode of Doctor Who in 1963, no one could have predicted that the programme's popularity would ensure its survival for twenty-eight record-breaking years.

In that first story we learnt only that the Doctor and his granddaughter Susan had left their home planet, under something of a cloud, in a remarkable time-travelling craft called the TARDIS that looked — at least on the outside — like a police telephone box.

The Doctor and the TARDIS have remained the constant elements in a television saga that has seen many changes over the decades. As the years passed we learnt more and more about the Doctor's background, about other Time Lords, and about Gallifrey.

John Peel has researched every DOCTOR WHO story ever shown on television to bring together all the facts about Gallifrey and the Time Lords. The result — illustrated throughout with photographs from the BBC archives — is a comprehensive guide to the foundations of the entire DOCTOR WHO Universe, and a fascinating insight into the most comprehensive science fiction mythos that television has ever produced.

==Main Focus==

"Illustrated with photographs from the BBC television series. ''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' includes among its many chapters:

*a study of the planet Gallifrey

*a discussion of the physical nature of the Time Lords

other Gallifreyan seen on DOCTOR WHO

*''The Scrolls of Rassilon'', a work of fiction that speculates about the origin of the Time Lords.

''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' is the complete guide to the galaxy's oldest civilization." ''(Taken from the inner cover blurb)''

*A full history of Gallifrey and select Time Lords written 'in-universe' with references including through [[An Unearthly Child]] right through to [[Survival]], does not include any novels published.

*Chapters include: [[Gallifrey]], The Physical Nature of the [[Time Lord]]s, Temporal Engineering, [[The Matrix]], Politics, [[The Doctor]] and the Time Lords, [[Susan]], [[Romana]], [[Rassilon]], [[Omega]], [[The Monk]], [[The Master]], [[Borusa]], [[The Rani]], [[The Valeyard]], [[Guardians of Time|The Guardians]], The Renegades, Other Time Lords.

*The Scrolls of Rassilon cover the final few 25 pages of the book and are primarily written in first person from [[Rassilon]]'s point of view. It begins just after Rassilon's return from battling the [[Great Vampire|Vampire Horde]]. (These scrolls are meant to be the 'Black Scrolls of Rassilon' as seen in [[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'') It ends as Rassilon is forced into his eternal sleep.

*At the end of the chapter on Temporal Engineering Peel has a section of '''Speculations'' which suggests that it is the [[telepathic circuits]] in the [[TARDIS]] which allow the Doctor and his companions to understand various languages.

==Notes==

*There is also a [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]] (of the same name) ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles]]''.

*Cover illustration by [[Andrew Skilleter]].

*Additional illustrations by [[Trevor Baxendale]]

==See Also==

*''[[DW]]:'' [[The Deadly Assassin]]

*''[[DW]]:'' [[Remembrance of the Daleks]]

*''[[NA]]:'' [[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]

*''[[NA]]:'' [[Lungbarrow]]

*''[[BFA]]:'' [[Zagreus (audio story)|Zagreus]]

==External Links==

''to be added''

[[Category:Reference Books]]