Pandad IV's final High Council
Lord President Pandad IV's final High Council was an administration that lasted just thirty years. Succeeding his previous life's High Council, Pandad led the Council in his thirteenth incarnation with Goth as his Chancellor. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey)
History
Pandad's previous High Council was abruptly ended when the Rani, a high-ranking official at the Academy, developed a way of making life grow from an embryo to maturity within minutes. A by-product of this was that the animals grew to larger sizes than they should have. One day, a mouse she was experimenting on escaped and attacked the High Council. Chancellor Socra died in the animal's jaws (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) with Pandad's cat also succumbing to the creature. It also destroyed the lower half of the President's left leg and he was forced to regenerate to save himself. (TV: The Mark of the Rani; PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey)
An irate President appointed Councillor Goth as his new Chancellor, a choice he regretted to his dying day. One of the first acts of the administration was to exile the Rani for her misconduct. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) She later became a renegade. (TV: The Mark of the Rani et al.)
Thirty years later, Pandad informed Goth that, as per Time Lord tradition, he couldn't possibly name the holder of the office of Chancellor as his successor, instead revealing to him his intention to give the position to Cardinal Borusa. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey) Despite this, Goth was still considered a favourite to ascend to the Presidency by individuals such as Borusa.
By this time, however, Goth had already met the Decayed Master and together they had devised a plan to assassinate the President so that he could take office. The Chancellor killed Pandad on Presidential Resignation Day and called for an election that he was sure to win, initally using the Fourth Doctor as a scapegoat. However, the Doctor escaped his death sentence by invoking Article 17 which announced his candidacy in the election, (TV: The Deadly Assassin) an act which formed an interim High Council. (AUDIO: Mindbomb)
Eventually, Goth's plan was uncovered and he was left for dead by the Master shortly afterwards. This effectively left the Doctor as President-elect, (TV: The Deadly Assassin) later becoming the President proper by default (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time, A Brief History of Time Lords) with Borusa leading his High Council as Chancellor and Acting President in his absence. (TV: The Invasion of Time; PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords, Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen)
The Fifth Doctor later discovered that his fourth incarnation's term in the highest office had been stricken from the record. (AUDIO: Time in Office) Indeed, the version of events kept in the Bureau of Ancient Records portrayed Goth as a hero, stating that he tracked down and killed the Master and had perished during the exchange of fire. It also ignored the Doctor's role, holding that, after Pandad's death, Borusa became Chancellor and Acting President "by popular acclaim" until he could be confirmed as President by an election. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
