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- For the Big Finish audio series see Gallifrey (audio series).
Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was, it was beautiful. They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the continent of Wild Endeavour, in the mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords.
Gallifrey was the homeworld to the Gallifreyans and to the Time Lords, amongst them the Doctor. It was destroyed in the Last Great Time War. The literal translation of Gallifrey was "They that walk in the shadows". (NA: The Pit)
Location
Gallifrey was located in the constellation of Kasterborous, at galactic co-ordinates 10-0-11-0-0 by 0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre. (DW: Pyramids of Mars) Varying accounts were given of its position. It was said to be either located at the edge of the Mutter's Spiral galaxy (EDA: Interference - Book Two) or closer to the core. (PDA: The Devil Goblins from Neptune) It was believed to be somewhere between 30,000 (PDA: The Devil Goblins from Neptune) and 29,000 light years from Earth. (REF: Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary)
Following the Last Great Time War, the Time Lords attempted to bring back Gallifrey, moving it very close to Earth. This attempt was stopped by the Doctor and the Master. (DW: The End of Time)
Kasterborous was also known as the Seven Systems, so that Gallifrey had the alternative name, The Shining World of the Seven Systems. (DW: The Sound of Drums)
Astronomy
Gallifrey was in a binary star system, the second star seeming to rise in the south in the morning, making the mountains glow. (DW: The Sensorites, Gridlock) The system contained five other planets (DW: The Invasion of Time), among them Karn (DW: The Brain of Morbius), Polarfrey, and an asteroid named Kasterbourous the Fibster. (NA: Lungbarrow)
Gallifrey had at least 2 large moons (IDW: Agent Provocateur), one of which was the copper-coloured Pazithi Gallifreya, which shone so brightly it could be seen during the day. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible, Lungbarrow)
Gallifrey was several times larger than Earth. (DW: The End of Time)
Gallifrey was duplicated eight times, both to confound its enemies and as a place of refuge. Gallifrey was still destroyed by the Doctor (following involvement from Faction Paradox) during the Second War in Heaven. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell) It was recreated (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles) and then destroyed a second time by the Doctor in the Last Great Time War (DW: Gridlock).
Landscape
From orbit, Gallifrey was rust-coloured, with brown lakes and grey clouds. (NA: 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. (DW: The End of Time)
From the planet's surface, it boasted an orange sky and trees with silver leaves. These reflected the morning sunlight, making it look like the forests were on fire. (DW: The Sensorites, Gridlock) There were also green forests, golden fields and red deserts (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible), but overall it seems to have been a much drier world than Earth. (NA: Lungbarrow)
Known geographic features
Continents and regions
- Wild Endeavour (The Capitol was located here)
- The Death Zone
Mountains
- Mountains of Solace and Solitude: possibly two separate mountains (i.e. Mount Solace and Mount Solitude), possibly the name of a mountain range. It/they were near the Capitol.
- Mount Cadon
- Mount Lung
- Mount Perdition
Rivers, lakes, and oceans
- Cadonflood river
- Lake Abydos
Major settlements
The Capitol (sometimes also called "Gallifrey" or "the Citadel") was Gallifrey's largest city, the home of the Time Lord Academy and most of the Time Lords.
Native species
Gallifreyan flora
Gallifrey had a wide variety of plant life, ranging in colour from silver to green and golden. Known plant species include the Schlenk Blossom (PDA: Island of Death) and the Madevinia aridosa (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible).
Gallifreyan fauna
Native animals of Gallifrey include flutterwings (DW: The Pirate Planet), flubbles (PDA: Island of Death), tafelshrews (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible), plumboles (BBCR: The Ghosts of N-Space) and, of course, the Gallifreyans themselves. In the past, the dinosaur-like Gargantosaurs lived on the planet. (DWM: The Stolen TARDIS) Oddly enough, before its complete annihilation from time and space, no animal had gone extinct from the planet. (NSA: The Last Dodo)
- This lack of extinction was probably due to the Time Lords, who would have brought back species after they had died out.
Behind the scenes
- Although the planet was referenced numerous times previously, and even seen on occasion (DW: The War Games, 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.