Theory:Timeline - Time Lords

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This page lists appearances of the Time Lords of Gallifrey other than the Doctor and the Master, and other renegades (unless one of them is on official business) in chronological order. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. It is assumed as much as possible, but still with exceptions, that Time Lords meet in the same order. These cases will be noted. In many cases, there are sequences of stories from different Time Lords' perspectives, where individual stories cannot be compared.

Limiting factors

Looms

Any story where looms are the dominant method of reproduction on Gallifrey must take place before PROSE: Lungbarrow.

President

Any story involving Romana as president must take place after PROSE: Happy Endings and before AUDIO: Enemy Lines.

Series basics

Time Lord stories can very roughly be sorted based on medium / series

  • Doctor Who stories set on Gallifrey
  • Doctor Who stories featuring individual Time Lords
  • Non-Doctor Who stories featuring individual Time Lords.
  • Big Finish Gallifrey audio stories

Timeline

Old Time

Early years

The Shobogans are the indigenous inhabitants of Gallifrey. Tecteun, the first space traveller, crosses the Boundary to another galaxy and finds the abandoned Timeless Child, who becomes the source of the regenerative process.
Set during the Old Times, when Rassilon was young. A seer predicts a time when the people of Gallifrey would no longer need to fear death.
Rassilon overthrows the Pythia.

Experiments with time

The Rassilon Era begins with Year Zero.
The Matrix and the Eye of Harmony are noted as already existing.
There's an early unmanned Gallifreyan time probe.
Depicts Omega entering the Time Vortex and is the first of any Time Lord to do so, although they had been monitoring it for years. Rassilon is president and good friends with Omega. Despite not yet having achieved time travel technology, they already call themselves Time Lords. The Time Lords have the ability to regenerate.
The Time Lords harness the power of a black hole for the first time, and Omega's imprisonment within one is depicted. Directional time travel has not yet been achieved, setting this before The Multi-Faceted War.
Flashbacks. Set during Star Death, depicting Omega's entrapment from his perspective.
Set twenty years after Star Death.
Set ten years after 4-D War.
Set during the Eternal War. Rassilon is president and the Time Lords still lack complete mastery over time, although experiments are certainly underway.
Skellis discovers that molecular dispersal of Vampires only spreads their kind throughout space and time, leading to the invention and construction of bowships. Soon after, the Celestial Intervention Agency is founded.
The Time Lords fight the Yssgaroth.
100 years after Skellis' discovery, Rassilon leads a bowship to destroy the last Great Vampire, however other Vampire species still remain, and the King Vampire has escaped. Rassilon spends decades searching for him, before giving up. Rassilon has plans for new time ships.
According to the "storybook", the Great One has been defeated by Rassilon, setting this after The Multi-Faceted War. Omega is also dead, setting this after Star Death. In a projection created by the Doctor's TARDIS, Rassilon faces a descendent of the Great Old One, Tepesh. According to this account, Rassilon has been systematically adjusting the DNA of the great houses as part of his experiments with regeneration.
A group of Time Lords test pilot the first ever TARDIS.

The true lords of time

The Time Lords create the Web of Time, which brings logic and order to the universe.
The anchoring of the thread.
The Time Lords are at war with the Racnoss, and TARDISes are in use.
Iris Wildthyme, in several incarnations, is summoned to the Death Zone to deal with Morbius.
Thessalia remembers the Imperator's rise.
Describes the fall of the Imperator.
TARDISes are common place, setting this long after The Multi-Faceted War. The Time Lords are also long stuck-in-their-ways in regards to their non-interference policy, setting this after any story where the Time Lords are at war with other races.
The non-interference policy has been established.

The Doctor's Era

The First Doctor

Shortly before his regeneration, the First Doctor arrives on Gallifrey on the day he left, and encounters K'anpo Rimpoche.
One version of the Doctor's departure.
Maris is hired to find the Doctor, shortly after he leaves Gallifrey in a stolen Type 40.

The Second Doctor

Jamie gets his first look at the Stattenheim remote control, setting this before The Two Doctors. Since Jamie's not described as an adult, and considering the The Two Doctors folllows directly on from World Game, with no plausible gap in between, this must occur during' The Black Hole.
The Doctor is forced to summon the Time Lords to deal with the War Lords. Conceding his point that there is evil to be fought in the universe, the Time Lords sentence the Doctor to be exiled to late 20th century Earth with a forced regeneration.
The Doctor becomes a CIA agent.
Around forty years after he is left back on Earth, Jamie McCrimmon is visited by a CIA agent inquiring about one of his adventures with the Second Doctor.
The Time Lords used animated scarecrows on Earth to force the Doctor's regeneration.

The Third Doctor

The Time Lords release the Master from Shada to keep the Doctor busy on Earth.
A messenger informs the Doctor that the Master has arrived on Earth.
The Doctor is on a mission for the Time Lords.
The Doctor is on a mission for the Time Lords.
As a thanks for his efforts in stopping the return of Omega, the Time Lords lift the Doctor's exile.
Just after The Three Doctors, synchronously with the Third Doctor.
Braxiatel has just returned from some ambassadorial missions.

The Fourth Doctor

The Doctor and Sarah Jane foil a Dalek plot to build a fleet of TARDISes. The Time Lords appear as they did in The Three Doctors.
The Time Lords send the Doctor and Sarah Jane to the planet Ecros, where they thwart a Dalek plot to destroy Earth.
The Doctor is on a mission for the Time Lords.
The Doctor is made president, Leela and K9 Mark I stay on Gallifrey.
K9 Mark I is working for the Time Lords.
Romana I is in the academy, and it is a year before she graduates. She meets her future self in the matrix, before having her memory of the events wiped by Braxiatel.
Romana arrives in the Doctor's TARDIS from Gallifrey, brought there by the White Guardian, although she thinks she was brought there by the new president of Gallifrey.
The Fourth Doctor and Romana II encounter Salyavin and visit the Time Lord prison, Shada.
The Fourth Doctor and Romana II encounter Sartia, a renegade Time Lady from Romana's year at the academy, on the secret Time Lord planetoid, Funderell.
The Time Lords call Romana back to Gallifrey, however she and the Doctor end up in E-Space instead.

The Fifth Doctor

Leela has already married.

The Sixth Doctor

The Doctor believes that the Time Lords are using him as a tool to thwart a plot by time travelling Cybermen to destroy Earth and save Mondas in 1985.
A Time Lord member of the high council instructs the Doctor not to interfere in the events occurring on the ship Vipod Mor.
The Sixth Doctor is put on trial.
The trial continues.
Set during The Trial of a Time Lord, between Mindwarp and Terror of the Vervoids.
The trial continues.
The trial concludes.
Set during The Ultimate Foe. During his fight with the Valeyard in the Matrix, The Doctor's eighth incarnation comes to his aid.

The Seventh Doctor

The Seventh Doctor encounters coordinator Rigan.
Ace is not allowed into the Academy.
Romana returns from E-Space. Ending leads directly into Goth Opera.
Ruatha deliberately asynchronously involves the Fifth Doctor. She states that by the 20th century time continuum, Gallifrey is long dead.
Romana has been working closely with the High Council, but is not yet president. She plans to bring Amy to the academy in attempt to convince them to open it to non-Gallifreyans. Romana says she has suffered from the effects of the decaying key of time since she arrived back from E-space.
Flavia is President.
Vansell is Coordinator of the CIA, setting this before Zagreus, and after Unregenerate!, where Rigan is the Coordinator.
Romana becomes President.
Romana is the current Time Lord President. The Seventh Doctor captures and imprisons The Eleven with the help of Cardinal Ollistra and Captain Rasmus. Ending leads directly into The Eleven.
After delivering the Eleven to the Time Lords, The Doctor is asked by Romana to go on one final mission, leading into Doctor Who.

The Eighth Doctor

As part of a treaty with the Daleks, the Time Lords send the Master to Skaro in order to face trial. According to Neverland, set in Gallifreyan Year 5725.2.
Rassilon inhabits the Matrix.
Set immediately after Shada, upon Romana's return to Gallifrey.
Vansell is Co-ordinator of the CIA. The Sixth Doctor is the wrong incarnation, and Romana comments on it. Gallifreyan security systems are changed to require a human retinal scan. The Lord President has come back into office after Romana went missing. According to Neverland, set in Gallifreyan Year 6796.8, with Romana having been imprisoned on Etra Prime since Gallifreyan Year 6776.7.
In a flashback set on Gallifrey, Hallan informs Braxiatel that Darkel wishes to speak to him.
Vansell is Killeen during an encounter with the Neverpeople. Set in Gallifreyan Year 6798.2.
Rassilon escapes the Matrix. Romana and Leela meet for the first time.
Romana and Leela already know each other, and Leela becomes pregnant with Andred's child.
Lucie Miller is deposited in the Doctor's TARDIS.
"Lesser species" aren't allowed on Gallifrey, and Timescoops are being used, setting this before Romana opened the academy to non-Gallifreyans.
The Sisterhood of Karn starts to become involved in politics.

The Timeonic Fusion Device

Narvin claims to be co-ordinator of the Celestial Intervention Agency and "advisor of presidents". He is willing to commit genocide and sacrifice thousands of Time Lords to save Gallifrey, suggesting a setting before his friendships with Leela and Romana.
Leela is no longer pregnant. Narvin is the new head of the CIA.
Set two weeks after Weapon of Choice.
Romana is president and calls Narvin a "CIA halfwit" behind his back, setting this before the two become good friends.

The Pandora Devastation

Set seven weeks after A Blind Eye.
Set one week after Lies. Leela has lived on Gallifrey for 25 years.

Civil War

Exploring Alternate Gallifreys

Braxiatel falls through the Axis and seemingly ends up back in his own universe. He meets Bernice Summerfield seemingly for the first time on Dellah, leading directly into Dragon's Wrath.
Romana, Leela and Narvin arrive on a Gallifrey where Time Travel was never discovered, home to the regenerators.
Set many months after Forever.
Set nine months after Forever.

Gallifrey Restored

Following a Dalek Invasion, Romana, Narvin and Leela leave the Alternate Gallifrey and return to their own.
Set weeks after Extermination.
Narvin sends Valyes as a messenger to ask the Doctor to avert the creation of the Daleks, leading directly into Genesis of the Daleks.
Valyes travels back in time to give the Fourth Doctor the ultimately unsuccessful mission to prevent the creation of the Daleks.
Ace is permitted to join the Time Lord Academy, setting this after Romana opened it up to aliens.
Romana II is President and Leela is on Gallifrey.

War in Heaven

Main article: Theory:Timeline - War in Heaven

Romana's Gallifrey

Romana regenerates into her third incarnation while saving the Moros. Leela is sent to the planet Legion, where she remains. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines)
Braxiatel saves Romana and Omega returns.
Ace and Narvin are executed by the Time Lords for treason, following the events of Intervention Earth. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines)
The Time Lords are still fighting The People and are concerned about a future war. They discover the existence of humanoid timeships. Romana decides to monitor the Doctor, and specifically his companion Compassion who transformed into one of the timeships.
A Time Lord agent is able to recover the seed code of Compassion's randomiser, leading directly into The Ancestor Cell.
Romana's Gallifrey is destroyed. The Eleven-Day Empire still exists.

The War King's Gallifrey

Romana has long since disappeared to another of the nine Gallifreys. The Master returns and becomes the Magistrate. Umbaste is president.
The War begins in the Cataclysm.
The Second Wave is devastating Faction Paradox (6th year of the War)
The Fourth Wave (y17) exists. The Eleven-Day Empire is still intact.
46th year of the War.
Scarratt recalls the war between alternate Romes and alternate Germanys.
Arbitrary positioning. The War is ongoing, the Faction exists enough to care about, Cwejen are in use. Straxus isn't dead, tentatively placing the War before Dark Eyes.
Arbitrary positioning. A humanoid timeship appears.
Arbitrary positioning. Lolita is spending time on Gallifrey; she has her baby with her.
50th year of the War. Mictlan still exists. Justine is being moved from Dronid to Earth.
Justine fails her first mission.
House Tracolix and House Lolita destroy the Eleven-Day Empire.
Justine is tried and convicted for the Grandfather's crimes.
Justine escapes from the prison-planet.
Mictlan is destroyed. The War King is still alive.
Justine is still trying to reestablish the Faction in the 1780s.
The War King is killed and Lolita becomes Lord President.
Horus invades Gallifrey with his Osirian army. He says Lolita won't be a concern anymore.

Post-War Universe

The War is over.
The Doctor emerges from his 100-year exile on Earth.
The Doctor sees Gallifrey in the Kingdom of Beasts.
There are very few Time Lords left, and their role in reality is being replaced.
The Doctor is planning to restore Gallifrey.
In the far future, the last surviving Time Lord (implied to be the Doctor) ruled the universe from the Needle.

A War to Come

Braxiatel is sent back by Romana III to prevent her regeneration, reverting to the pre-Intervention Earth timeline. Further interference in an alternate timeline by Romana II and Leela saves Narvin and Ace. Romana II steps down from the presidency and instates herself as coordinator of the CIA. Livia takes her place as president.
According to The Death of Hope, Straxus is Coordinator of the CIA.
Straxus dies, so probably chronologically later than the beginning of the War. Daleks and Time Lords are taking aggressive, temporal action against each other.
Caleera's flashbacks set before and during the events of The Eleven.
Padrac recruits Caleera to the Doom Coalition
The president is away on ambassadorial duties, and is confirmed not to be Romana. Farina is CIA Coordinator and there are aliens in the Academy. The Doctor describes the current regime as "progressive."
Follows on from The Crucible of Souls with The Nine escaping the Chancellery Guard.
Padrac is referred to as Cardinal Prime before he usurps the presidency.
Padrac is deposed, then killed by The Red Lady.
Narvin is "Coordinator in extremis" of the CIA. According to Desperate Measures, as Coordinator in Extremis Narvin made Trips to the past and future in order to try and avert the upcoming Time War.
The Time War has not officially begun, but fighting has started in some areas. Narvin collects some swenyo from the Master, who has been working on behalf of the Time Lords.

The Last Great Time War

Main article: Theory:Timeline - Last Great Time War

President Livia

Livia is President and declares the start of the Time War. Romana is the current coordinator of the CIA. Ending leads directly into Soldier Obscura.
Romana orders Narvin to contact The Master, leading directly into The Devil You Know. Ace returns to Earth
The Master flings Leela into the heart of the time war.
The Time War is ongoing but Livia is still President of Gallifrey, setting this between Celestial Intervention and Desperate Measures. Narvin recalls when the Master used to work for him, setting this after The Devil You Know. He also shows great disdain for the Master, implying a post-Devil setting once more.
The Master reverts history to before From the Flames.
Sky trenches are being constructed and a time lock is being prepared. Rassilon is resurrected.

Rassilon takes power

The CIA send an operative after Quarren Maguire, but he is killed by the Daleks before completing his mission.
Follows directly on from The Starship of Theseus. Ollistra and Tamasan detain the Eighth Doctor and his associates on an Unnamed planet. Ollistra orders the deployment of Type 120 for the first time.
Ollistra conscripts The Doctor into the Time Lord army. The conscription is relatively new as the Doctor wasn’t aware of it before. The War has been going on for at least two centuries for the Time Lords and the Doctor has a reputation as a deserter. The CIA are active, setting this before Assassins.
Set immediately after The Conscript, With Ollistra escaping the Tenacity system in the Doctor's TARDIS while Tamasan leads the conscripts in a battle against the Daleks.
Romana and Narvin flee from Gallifrey.
Only Romana and Narvin appear.
Only Romana and Narvin appear.
Only Romana and Narvin appear.
Only Romana and Narvin appear.
Set during the First Segment of the War.
The Doctor is still in his eighth incarnation, therefore the Time War is in its early days.
The Doctor is still in his eighth incarnation, but has cut his hair, placing it after The Forgotten.
Rasmus is in his incarnation from Deeptime Frontier, setting this before Dreadshade.
Rassilon is the President, setting this after Desperate Measures. The CIA has been disbanded, setting this after Assassins.
The Eighth Doctor encounters Ollistra.

Using the Eighth Doctor

As a result of the Battle of Tenacity, Tamasan has regenerated and been promoted to the rank of Major. Carvill has been on Derilobia for 20 years.
The Doctor and Bliss encounter the Twelve while on holiday, and learn that she is now working with the Time Lords, and wants the Doctor's aid to investigate the mystery of an Ogron possessing his DNA and some of his brain patterns. The Doctor, Bliss and the Twelve are captured by the Daleks, leading into In the Garden of Death.
The Doctor, Bliss and the Twelve return to Gallifrey to collect the Doctor's TARDIS, setting this immediately after In the Garden of Death.
A new incarnation of Major Tamasan requests the Doctor's help.
The Time War has been ended by the Valeyard after he erased them from history.
The Time lords begin to remember who the Daleks are. Rasmus has recently regenerated, setting this after The Shoreditch Intervention. Rassilon is President.
The Daleks return to the universe and the Time War begins anew.
The Sisterhood of Karn is involved in the Time War, enabling a dying Doctor to regenerate into a warrior.

Recruiting the War Doctor

Takes place 400 years after The Night of the Doctor.

The end of the Time War

Takes place at the Fall of Arcadia before the scenes in The Day of the Doctor.
Priyan tells Engin that Rassilon is initiating the Ultimate Sanction, placing it just before The End of Time.
Set on the last day of the Time War. Dalek saucers are already on Gallifrey, placing it after The Last Day.
The General mentions that Rassilon's plan has already failed. Gallifrey becomes lost in a pocket universe.
Gallifrey is still outside the normal universe.

The End of the Universe

General Kenossium is still in his male incarnation.
The Doctor's Confession Dial is transferred to Gallifrey. Ending leads directly into Hell Bent.
Gallifrey has escaped the pocket universe and is now situated at the end of the Universe. The General regenerates into a female incarnation.
Gallifrey is situated beyond the frontier in time.
General Kenossium is in her Hell Bent incarnation.

The Timeless Child

The Master reveals to the Thirteenth Doctor that he has devastated Gallifrey in retaliation for "the lie of the timeless child", a secret that the Time Lords had supposedly kept from the pair of them throughout their life. By this point, the Doctor is easily able to visit the planet using her TARDIS. Curiously, the Master describes Gallifrey as still "hiding in its little bubble universe" rather than the end of the universe.
In her search for the Master, the Doctor repeatedly visits the ruins of Gallifrey. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon)
The ruined Gallifrey appears at the other end of the Boundary, which had been used by human refugees to escape in the aftermath of the Cyber-Wars. Arriving through the spatial gateway, the Master catches up with the Doctor, warning her that everything is about to change.
Returning to Gallifrey, the Master tells the Doctor the secret of the Timeless Child. After forming an alliance with the Cybermen to create the CyberMasters from the bodies of the dead Time Lords, the Master and his Cyber-Army are apparently destroyed by Ko Sharmus with a Death particle.

Unplaced

Rassilon sends ships to destroy Kolstan.
the Doctor has escaped from the Division using a Chameleon Arch.
A matrix projection depicts the Doctor having their mind wiped by the Division.
A robed Time Lord and two soldiers emerge through the Time Fracture to Earth in 2020.
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