Runcible

Runcible
Species:	Time Lord
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
First appearance:	The Deadly Assassin
Appearances:	PROSE: Divided Loyalties
Main actor:	Hugh Walters

Runcible was a presenter of Public Register Video.

Biography

Like all Time Lords, Runcible was taken from his family at the age of eight for the selection process in the Drylands. Starring into the Untempered Schism as part of a Time Lord initiation rite, Runcible was inspired by what he saw in the Schism. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)

Runcible studied at the Time Lord Academy at the same time as the First Doctor and his friends. He was hall monitor in the Academy dormitory, whose job it was to make sure students stayed in their rooms after dark. He clashed with the Deca on numerous occasions, taking a dislike to all its members. Runcible shouted at the Doctor and Badger as they argued in the halls of the Academy after dark. As Runcible followed them up some stairs, Badger pushed him, causing him to fall to the bottom. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties)

Both he and the First Doctor had been pupils of Borusa, but Runcible could not recall the exact circumstances surrounding the Doctor's departure from Gallifrey. Runcible tried to interview Borusa about Presidential Resignation Day, but the Cardinal rebuffed Runcible, telling him that he should have asked him questions at the Academy.

After the Lord President had been assassinated, Runcible was asked to fetch the recordings of the assassination by Castellan Spandrell. When he went to get them, he was stabbed in the back by the Decayed Master and died. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)

Personality

Runcible's pompous personality had earned him the sobriquet of "Runcible the Fatuous". (TV: The Deadly Assassin)

He was anti-retentive, and had a habit of making lists. (PROSE: Divided Loyalties)

Behind the scenes

Runcible is a nonsense word coined by Edward Lear. It appears in his poem "The Owl and the Pussycat", among other places.