Hedin
Councillor Hedin was a member of the High Council of the Time Lords. A former teacher of the Doctor's, he was known for his intelligence and wisdom, and had become a dear friend to him by the Fifth Doctor's time, but, fascinated by the history of Omega, ultimately went down a destructive path in an effort to rescue Omega from the anti-matter universe, going as far as committing murder in pursuit of what he believed was right. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
One account suggested that, in an example of Gallifreyan history's eternal return, there were several successive generations of Hedins, father and son, who were to all intents and purposes identical in demeanour, social role, and intellectual pursuits, particularly their fascination with Omega. One Hedin was a contemporary and friend of the Infinity Doctor. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctor [+]Loading...["The Infinity Doctor (novel)"])
Biography
Early life
When Hedin was taken from his family at the age of eight to look into the Untempered Schism, he was inspired by what he saw. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) He became a historian and a man of learning, (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) teaching Old High Gallifreyan to Tamasan at the Academy, (AUDIO: Jonah [+]Loading...["Jonah (audio story)"]) as well as a member of the High Council. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
Hedin was considered a friend by the Doctor. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) Upon first beholding the face chosen by the Toymaker after merging with his friend Rallon, (PROSE: Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"]) a face which looked identical (TV: The Celestial Toymaker [+]Loading...["The Celestial Toymaker (TV story)"]) to Hedin's, (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) the young Doctor was reminded of "one of the lecturers back at the Prydon Academy". (PROSE: Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"])
Hedin was aware of the Fourth Doctor leaving Romana behind in E-Space despite him having been ordered to return her to Gallifrey. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
Omega and the Arc of Infinity
Having an obsession with early Time Lord history, (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) Hedin believed that his people had abandoned Omega. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) When Omega made contact with him (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) and promised to bring power for the good of Gallifrey, Hedin agreed to help him return from the anti-matter universe and eventually selected the Fifth Doctor as the body that Omega should bond with because of, among other factors, the Doctor's personality and location in time and space. Hedin illegally transmitted the Doctor's biodata extract to Omega, murdered Talor with an impulse laser and used the presidential codes to link the Arc of Infinity to the Matrix.
Hedin welcomed the Doctor and Nyssa to Gallifrey and was the only member of the High Council to vote against the Doctor's execution, which was part of his and Omega's plan to capture him. After President Borusa was incriminated by the use of his codes, Hedin attempted to threaten him into isolating the Matrix to help Omega generate power for transfer and was caught by the Doctor and Nyssa. The Castellan assumed that Hedin was helping arrest Borusa and shot at the Doctor, but Hedin stepped in front of the Doctor and sacrificed his life so that Omega could still use him to return. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
In the Infinity Doctor's era
In an ambiguous state of reality which may have represented the Eighth Doctor's past, his future, or a palimpsest alternative, in which a version of the Doctor had settled down on Gallifrey, "Hedin" was a senior Time Lord known for writing a biography of Omega. In an example of Gallifreyan history being endlessly cyclical, this Hedin shared his position on the High Council, his personality, and his interest in Omega with his father, making it hard to determine whether he was indeed (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Loading...["The Infinity Doctors (novel)"]) the same Hedin who died trying to bring Omega back, (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) his descendant, or his ancestor.
Whoever he was, this Hedin remained on friendly terms with the Doctor, and was very senior relative to the Doctor's student Larna, upon whom he looked approvingly despite her radical tendencies. He accompanied the Magistrate on his mission to investigate the source of the Effect in the far future. As part of that crew he worked to map the Needle to locate the lifeforms living there and the specific source of the Effect. After the Doctor defeated Omega, who was responsible for the Effect, Hedin began rewriting the biography from scratch. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Loading...["The Infinity Doctors (novel)"])
Legacy
The Adherents of Ohm, a cult of Omega on Gallifrey, considered Hedin a martyr and used the Crest of Hedin as a symbol. (AUDIO: Intervention Earth [+]Loading...["Intervention Earth (audio story)"])
Personality
Hedin was a keen historian and was obsessed with the early days of Time Lord history and his people's past glories, (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) wanting Gallifrey to have more power and believing that Omega's abandonment had been a grave sin. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) Although Tamasan considered him to be a good teacher, she thought that he had dodgy politics. (AUDIO: Jonah [+]Loading...["Jonah (audio story)"]) His demeanour was usually calm and gentle and he hated violence, (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) but he believed that murder was justified in his mission to rescue Omega. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
Appearance
Hedin had a long, thin face which was both kind and shrewd. (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) He wore orange robes. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) When noticing the resemblance of the Toymaker's face to that of one of his Prydon Academy teachers, the young Doctor thought of it as "lined, but seemingly through years of smiling rather than age", thinking that "it was not unpleasant"; it was "a face that spoke tomes about its wisdom, its experience". (PROSE: Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"])
Behind the scenes
Maurice Denham, William Lucas and Glyn Owen were considered for the role before Michael Gough was cast.[source needed] Gough had previously portrayed the Toymaker, but, although several sources have suggested that the Toymaker was a Time Lord (or otherwise occupying the body of one when portrayed by Gough), no explanatory connection between his two Doctor Who parts has yet been drawn; although the young Doctor notices the resemblance upon first meeting the Toymaker in Divided Loyalties [+]Loading...["Divided Loyalties (novel)"], nothing is made of it.
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