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Gallifrey was the homeworld of the Time Lords. (TV: The Time Warrior, et al) It was believed to have been destroyed in the Last Great Time War (TV: Dalek) but was later discovered to be frozen in a pocket universe, surviving the war. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor) The literal translation of Gallifrey was "They that walk in the shadows". (PROSE: The Pit)
- You may be looking for Gallifrey (audio series).
Location
Gallifrey was located in the constellation of Kasterborous, at galactic coordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre. (TV: Pyramids of Mars) Several accounts placed it more or less at the centre of its galaxy. (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune, PROSE: Interference - Book Two, PROSE: Human Nature) Indeed, I.M. Foreman once specified to the Eighth Doctor that it wasn't in "the exact dead centre, but it's as close as you can get without ending up in a black hole". (PROSE: Interference - Book One) According to another account, the Eighth Doctor explained to humans Grace Holloway and Chang Lee that Gallifrey was "[o]n the other side of your galaxy" and "250 million light-years away" from Earth. (TV: Doctor Who). A Time Lord who came to speak to the Third Doctor said that he had just travelled "twenty-nine thousand light years", which is approximately the distance to the centre of the galaxy. (TV: Terror of the Autons) Another account put Gallifrey 30,000 light-years from Earth. (PROSE: The Devil Goblins from Neptune)
Gallifrey had the alternative name, "the Shining World of the Seven Systems", in which the Seven Systems presumably referred to Kasterborous. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
At one point, Gallifrey was removed from the time lock during the Last Great Time War and relocated to near Earth with potentially devastating consequences for the latter planet. It returned to the time lock when the Tenth Doctor shot at the diamond which connected Gallifrey to Earth. (TV: The End of Time) At the end of the Time War, it was then frozen in time in a pocket universe for its own protection by all thirteen incarnations of the Doctor. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Astronomical data
Size
Gallifrey was several times larger than Earth. (TV: The End of Time)
Gallifrey's system
Gallifrey was in a binary star system. The second star seemed to rise in the south in the morning, making the mountains glow. (TV: Gridlock) The main star was large and golden red. (AUDIO: The Forever Trap) The system contained five other planets (TV: The Invasion of Time), among them Karn (TV: The Brain of Morbius), Polarfrey, and an asteroid named Kasterborous the Fibster. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
Satellites
Gallifrey had at least two large moons and a ring system, similar to Saturn in Earth's solar system. (COMIC: Agent Provocateur) One of the moons was the copper-coloured Pazithi Gallifreya, which shone so brightly it could be seen during the day. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, Lungbarrow) Gallifrey's moons perished with Daleks when Gallifrey disappeared. (COMIC: Agent Provocateur, TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Landscape
From orbit, Gallifrey was rust-coloured, with brown lakes and grey clouds. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible) Following the Last Great Time War, it was still rust and brown coloured, but had a more volcanically active appearance. (TV: The End of Time)
Susan Foreman once described it as "a brown, green, snow-capped planet." (AUDIO: The Beginning)
From the planet's surface, it boasted an orange sky, snow-capped mountains, fields of red grass, and trees with silver leaves. These reflected the morning sunlight, making it look like the forests were on fire. (TV: "A Desperate Venture", Gridlock) There were also green forests, golden fields and red deserts (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible), but overall it seems to have been a much drier world than Earth. (PROSE: Lungbarrow) The Sixth Doctor once declared the climate to be "like the Serengeti all year round". (PROSE: Spiral Scratch) There was also a river called Lethe. (AUDIO: Master)
Known geographic features
Regions
Mountains
- Mount Cadon
- Mount Lung
- Mount Perdition
- The Never-Ending Mountains of Solace and Solitude (TV: The Sound of Drums)
Rivers, lakes, and oceans
History of the planet
- Main article: Gallifreyan history
Gallifrey was duplicated eight times to create the Nine Gallifreys. It was used both to confound its enemies and as a place of refuge. Gallifrey was still destroyed by the Eighth Doctor (following involvement from Faction Paradox) during the Second War in Heaven. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell) It was later recreated. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
On the final day of the Time War, the Time Lords, now led by Rassilon, broke the time lock to materialise Gallifrey in Earth's skies in 2009, thinking the Doctor would precipitate their ultimate demise on that final day through the Moment. However, the Tenth Doctor sent the planet, Time Lords included, back to its doomed fate, by breaking the link that brought the Time Lords to Earth. (TV: The End of Time)
Gallifrey was thought to have been destroyed by the Doctor in the Time War (TV: The End of the World, Dalek) but was frozen in time in a pocket dimension by all thirteen incarnations of the Doctor. Many of the Daleks died in the crossfire when Gallifrey disappeared. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Alternative timelines
In an alternative timeline, Rassilon failed to finish the Eye of Harmony before his death and Gallifrey never achieved time travel. (AUDIO: Forever)
Major settlements
- The Capitol (sometimes also called "Gallifrey" or "the Citadel") was Gallifrey's largest city, the home of most of the Time Lords.
- Olyesti
- Arcadia, Gallifrey's second largest city, which was protected by a large number of sky trenches. It fell during one of the final and biggest battles in the Time War.
Native species
Gallifreyan flora
Gallifrey had a wide variety of plant life, ranging in colour from silver to green and golden. Known plant species included the Schlenk Blossom, (PROSE: Island of Death) ulanda, (PROSE: Blind Fury) and the Madevinia aridosa. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible). The Master's father's estate was lush with red grass. (TV: The End of Time) The Third Doctor also once said that there were daisies on Gallifrey. (TV: The Time Monster)
Gallifreyan fauna
Animals native to Gallifrey included flutterwings (TV: The Pirate Planet), Woprats (PROSE: Heart of TARDIS), trunkikes, yaddlefish (PROSE: Blind Fury), flubbles (PROSE: Island of Death), tafelshrews (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible), plumboles (AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space), rabbits (AUDIO: Caerdroia), rovies (AUDIO: No Place Like Home), mice, cats (TV: The Mark of the Rani, PROSE: Human Nature) pig-rats (AUDIO: Panacea) and, of course, the Gallifreyans themselves. In the past, the dinosaur-like Gargantosaurs lived on the planet. (COMIC: The Stolen TARDIS) Oddly enough, no animal had gone extinct from the planet. (PROSE: The Last Dodo)
Behind the scenes
- Although the planet was referenced numerous times earlier, and even seen on occasion (TV: The War Games and The Three Doctors for instance), the name Gallifrey was not uttered on screen until Jon Pertwee did so in The Time Warrior. In the revived series, the name Gallifrey was mentioned for the first time in The Runaway Bride.
- In the original script of The Time Warrior, Gallifrey was scripted as "Galfrey", but was later changed.
- Even though the first on-screen mention of Gallifrey was in The Time Warrior, broadcast in December 1973, the word appeared in TV Action #126, put out for the week ending 14 July 1973. There, in the letters column, the editors responded to a question from Simon Still of Kent who asked where the Master came from. The answer? "The Master's home planet was called 'Gallifrey'." This probably doesn't mean, however, that Polystyle gets the credit for "Gallifrey". Since shooting on Warrior wrapped on 12 June 1973, and the scripts had been completed earlier that spring, the likelihood is not that the TV Action originated the name, but that they were given it by the Doctor Who production office.