Psychic power
The term psychic phenomena can be applied to a wide range of abilities and occurences, all of them caused by the conscious or unconscious manipulation of psychic energy.
Originally related to magic, and still understood as such in many cultures, psychic abilities survived the Time Lords imposition of the laws of physics on the universe through being sufficiently grounded in science (NA: So Vile a Sin).
These psychic powers were on a certain wavelength and could be track by the disturbances. (DW: The Pirate Planet) Many races manifested psychic abilities of many kinds.
Causes of Psychic Ability
Natural Racial Abilities
Some species were innately psychically active - in some cases it was very unusual for an individual of a given species not to manifest psi-powers. These powers could be of any type - for instance, the Butterfly People appeared to be innately telepathic, (TW: Greeks Bearing Gifts) while it has been strongly implied that all Daleks possess some degree of psychokinesis. (source?)
In some cases it is difficult to tell whether the powers displayed by an individual were unusual for a member of their race or not. The Doctor and Susan both displayed telepathic abilities, but most Time Lords did not.
Many races had highly unusual innate abilities, but it is often difficult to tell whether these powers were truly psychic (involved the manipulation of psychic energy) or not.
Mutation Due To External Factors
In species that were not normally psi-active, powers could nevertheless still appear given the right stimuli. On more than one occasion, Humans growing up in the vicinity of a Time rift developed psychic abilities, apparently as a result of exposure to the temporal energy. It is not known whether the psychic ability of the Daleks was a direct result of Davros's genetic manipulation, a natural result of the process of mutation, or a freak consequence of the combination of both (the original Kaleds did not appear psychically active).
Types of Psychic Ability
See individual articles for full descriptions.
Sensory Abilities
- Telepathy
- Clairvoyance (also known as Extra-Sensory Perception)
- Precognition
- Psychometry
Manipulative Abilities
Artificial Psychic Phenomena
Psychic energy was normally only produced by living minds, which made it (and the powers utilising it) difficult to study or replicate using conventional technological means.
However, a number of devices were constructed to facilitate or mimic natural psychic powers.
- TARDISes generated a psychic field and incorporated telepathic circuits to facilitate both short- and long-range communications.
- The IRIS Machine artificially boosted the telepathic potential of Human test subjects. (DW: Planet of the Spiders)
- The Butterfly People used telepathy pendants for long-range communication. (TW: Greeks Bearing Gifts)
- The Coronet of Rassilon gave the wearer the power of mind control, even over multiple subjects simultaneously. (DW: The Five Doctors)
- In his later incarnations the Doctor routinely carried psychic paper to save time in establishing his credentials. This ploy was also used by the adventurer known as Captain Jack Harkness.
