Flavia

Flavia
Species:	Time Lord
Job:	High Chancellor, Lord President
Affiliated with:	High Council, Council of Administration
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
Pet:	The Doctor
First appearance:	The Five Doctors
Appearances:	see list
Main actor:	Dinah Sheridan

Flavia was a Time Lord and the aunt of the Doctor. (AUDIO: Blue Boxes ^[+]Loading...["Blue Boxes (audio story)"]) She served as High Chancellor before being appointed Acting President by the Fifth Doctor. (TV: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"]) She was twice deposed and re-elected, (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"], AUDIO: Lies ^[+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"]) after which Romana II became President. (AUDIO: Lies ^[+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"])

Biography

Early life

When Flavia was taken to stare into the Untempered Schism at the age of eight, she was inspired by what she saw. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords ^[+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) She was the aunt of the Doctor, whose third incarnation described her as hundreds of years old, (AUDIO: Blue Boxes ^[+]Loading...["Blue Boxes (audio story)"]) and published Tales from the Matrix - True Stories from TARDIS Logs Retold for Time Tots under the name "Loom Auntie Flavia". (PROSE: Apocrypha Bipedium ^[+]Loading...["Apocrypha Bipedium (short story)"]) She was an old friend of Spandrell. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

Political career

Chancellorship

Following Thalia's demise in the reactivated Death Zone, (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords ^[+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) Flavia became President Borusa's Chancellor and sat on the Inner Council with the Castellan. The pair overruled Borusa to offer the Master a new regeneration cycle to assist the Doctors in the Death Zone and she was an ally to the Fifth Doctor when he arrived in the Capitol, questioning the Commander after the Castellan's death (TV: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"]) and learning that Borusa had framed him. (PROSE: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (novelisation)"])

With Borusa exposed, the High Council used its emergency powers to appoint the Fifth Doctor as his replacement. Flavia transmatted into the Tomb of Rassilon with guards to arrest Borusa, whom she learnt had been entombed by Rassilon, and informed the Doctor of the High Council's decision, warning him of the penalties of refusing the appointment. The Doctor instead vested Flavia with full deputy powers, had her escorted back to Gallifrey and left in the TARDIS, (TV: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"]) believing that Flavia would not make much of an effort to find him so that she could remain Acting-President. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

As Acting-President

According one account, Flavia was blamed for mishandling the presidential succession and retired prior to the Fifth Doctor's regeneration. She was replaced by Over-Chancellor Tivoli, who stood in for the Doctor for more than double the length of time any previous Acting-President had served. Because of her retirement, Flavia was unavailable to speak with the Fifth Doctor when he was brought back to Gallifrey and made to serve as President. (AUDIO: Time in Office ^[+]Loading...["Time in Office (audio story)"])

According to another account, Flavia's time as Acting-President was, to her surprise, a successful one in which Gallifrey prospered and both the High Council and the general public were content. In the Doctor's absence, she remained as Acting-President for a lengthy period of time and began to think that the office was hers by right rather than a temporary appointment.

Following the theft of Matrix secrets by the Sleepers, the Celestial Intervention Agency discreetly caused discontent with Flavia using the fact that she had never been properly elected. Flavia believed that this was a reasonable complaint and resigned to stand for election as President, which she assumed would be a mere formality given the prosperity that she had brought about. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

Deposition

Unexpectedly, Flavia was defeated and deposed by Niroc through what she believed to be "fraud, chicanery, jerrymandering and jiggery-pokery". In reality, the CIA wanted a more easily controllable President to conceal the theft of important data from the Matrix. As an ex-President, she retained her place on the High Council, which President Niroc filled with sycophants.

After a judicial inquiry was called into the Sixth Doctor's behaviour, a temporal duplicate of the Sixth Doctor and the Eighth Doctor had Niroc call for a Presidential Inquiry into it. Flavia assisted them and became a leading member of the Council of Administration under a restored Borusa. She assisted in the reformation of Gallifrey and was re-elected as President. After several regenerations, she was elected once again. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

As President

This section's awfully stubby.

Further info from Goth Opera ^[+]Loading...["Goth Opera (novel)"] needs to be added

During "Borusa's time", the Portrait of Rassilon disappeared, and the Time Lord High Council censured the Corsair in response. Later, the Censure was lifted by President Flavia, although she refused to clarfiy why; although she once admitted that the Corsair had a "very attractive" smile. (PROSE: Eleven Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Corsair ^[+]Loading...["Eleven Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Corsair (short story)"])

When the Seventh Doctor was captured by the Committee of Three, his companions escaped and warned President Flavia of the danger. (PROSE: Blood Harvest ^[+]Loading...["Blood Harvest (novel)"])

Shortly afterwards, Ruath shot Flavia with a stunner to gain access to the Time Scoop. (PROSE: Goth Opera ^[+]Loading...["Goth Opera (novel)"])

Flavia later learnt the Eighth Doctor was visiting his past seven selves for unknown reasons, bypassing all usual security protocols preventing such interaction. Flavia, despite the protests of the unscrupulous Time Lord Ryoth, decided to allow these visits to continue until they were proven to be a danger to Gallifrey. Once the visits were concluded, Flavia reflected that she wished the Doctor well in his future adventures. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"])

End of political career

President Flavia's reign was not conducive to success.

According to one account, after she invited Romana II onto the High Council, the other Time Lady "repaid" her by invoking the ancient "right of challenge" against her and taking the Presidency from her. (PROSE: Gallifrey: A Rough Guide ^[+]Loading...["Gallifrey: A Rough Guide (short story)"]) According to another account, she was overthrown by a coup, and it was only afterwards Romana II was asked to be President despite her lack of political experience; it was against a male President, whom she defeated, that she invoked the right of challenge. (AUDIO: Lies ^[+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"])

According to yet another account, there was an election between Romana and a second individual to succeed a female President who had been found drunk whilst in charge of the Sash of Rassilon. (PROSE: Happy Endings ^[+]Loading...["Happy Endings (novel)"])

A discrepancy between Flavia and Romana was created by the "Great Grey Eminence," who folded the Doctor's timeline on itself (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"]) to undo Romana's tenure and replace it with Flavia's, removing the changes to the "nice, sterile world." (PROSE: Unnatural History ^[+]Loading...["Unnatural History (novel)"])

Personality

Flavia was a shrewd and intelligent woman with a strong will. (PROSE: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (novelisation)"]) She was not big on ceremony. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"]) Ruath believed that she was a weak leader. (PROSE: Goth Opera ^[+]Loading...["Goth Opera (novel)"])

Appearance

Flavia maintained the same general appearance across her various incarnations, always being a small and neat woman. (PROSE: The Five Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (novelisation)"])

Behind the scenes

• The character of Flavia filled in for that of Thalia, who had appeared in the earlier story, Arc of Infinity ^[+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]. The production team decided not to simply recast the role using the excuse of regeneration and made up a new character.
• According to various commentaries on the Series 1 and 2 DVDs, Russell T Davies refers to the lilting female vocal in the musical score as "Flavia's Theme." It plays when the Woman is revealed in The End of Time ^[+]Loading...["The End of Time (TV story)"].