The Capitol
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The Capitol was the home of the Time Lords on Gallifrey and the capital city of the planet. (TV: The Deadly Assassin) It was also known as the Citadel of the Time Lords (TV: The Sound of Drums) or simply the Citadel. (TV: The Invasion of Time) Some accounts suggested some difference of meaning between "the Capitol" and "the Citadel", with one being a subpart of the other, but not always necessarily in the same direction. (PROSE: Gallifrey: A Rough Guide) It was also known as the Great Silver City, (AUDIO: The War Master [+]Loading...["The War Master (audio story)"]) Cathedral of Time or simply the Cathedral. (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"])
Geography[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Capitol stood in the mountains of Solace and Solitude on the continent of Wild Endeavour. (TV: The Sound of Drums) It was built over a great caldera (PROSE: The Book of the War, Tempered, TV: The Timeless Children) within which time had special properties, a kind of "null-zone" at the centre of the meta-structure of history. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
According to one account, the Capitol covered most of Gallifrey. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time)
At least two shanty towns existed just outside the Capitol's dome, named Low Town (PROSE: The Eight Doctors, The Infinity Doctors) and MidTown, (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell) which were inhabited by Gallifrey's poor and the Outsiders. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors, The Infinity Doctors) Low Town led directly into the "Outlands" (PROSE: The Eight Doctors) or drylands, (TV: Hell Bent) while MidTown was on a mountainside overlooking the Capitol. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell)
Under the Capitol, according to the Third Doctor, there were structures or settlements called New Towns, inhabited by Gallifreyan "commoners." (PROSE: Verdigris) An undercity existed beneath the Capitol. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen, PROSE: The Time Lord's Story)
Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Panopticon was the main room of the Capitol, where the Eye of Harmony was secretly kept far below. (TV: The Deadly Assassin) Ther were "gantries" above the Panopticon. (COMIC: Blood Invocation [+]Loading...["Blood Invocation (comic story)"])
The High Council met in the Capitol. There was a transmat system that linked the Council's room to the Death Zone. (TV: The Five Doctors) K9 Mark I was once briefed by the Space Controller of Gallifrey High Command, as well as the then-leader of the Time Lords and two of his advisors, in "the Control Centre". (PROSE: K9 and the Zeta Rescue)
The Towers of Canonicity and Likelihood lorded over the northern part of the Capitol. (PROSE: The Blue Angel)
The Vaults were located underneath the Capitol. (AUDIO: Lies) The Vaults contained the ruins of the original Capitol, a graveyard for TARDISes (PROSE: Engines of War) and the Cloisters, which housed the Matrix and Cloister Bells. (TV: Hell Bent) Surrounding the Vaults were ducts and serviceways dating from the Old Time. (TV: The Deadly Assassin) By the time of the Doctor, they were used by those who worshipped shrines dedicated to the cult of "Rassilon the Vampire". (PROSE: Goth Opera)
There was a repair shop in the Capitol; among the items there were TARDISes. (TV: The Name of the Doctor) There were also at least two TARDISes parked along the hallways in the Capitol. (TV: The Timeless Children)
Architecture[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Capitol was enclosed by the glass Capitol Dome (COMIC: The Tides of Time, PROSE: The Infinity Doctors, Jealous, Possessive, TV: Gridlock), a Christmas-bauble-like external shell, (PROSE: Love & War [+]Loading...["Love & War (short story)"]) which rested on a large, vertical beam, with a wheel-like structure securing it while it overlooked other complexes on a lower level. (TV: The Name of the Doctor, The Day of the Doctor)
According to Meta-Historian Olivia Kagg Waldermein, the shell of the Capitol Dome was dissociated from the "subjective dimensions" in its "interior". She stated this architecture would be enough to house a population of over ten billion Time Lords. She also noted that "when [a Time Lord's] diary speaks of a corridor, one would do well to picture a highway with a ceiling on top of it." (PROSE: Love & War [+]Loading...["Love & War (short story)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Pre-Time War[[edit] | [edit source]]
According to the Bookwyrm, following the coup against Urizen, Urizen's mind was separated from his "undying flesh" and buried by the "lesser Archons" beneath the Cathedral. (PROSE: The Cactus and the Corpse [+]Loading...["The Cactus and the Corpse (short story)"])
According to one account, the original Capitol was razed in the Gallifreyan Civil War and a new one rebuilt at its original location. (AUDIO: Lies) One account credited this construction to the Shobogans, at some point after Tecteun's discovery of the Timeless Child, and Time Lord society rose up among the Shobogan dwellers of the Citadel. (TV: The Timeless Children)
After passing through a micro-conduit, the Eleventh Doctor and Alice Obiefune found themselves on ancient Gallifrey when the Type 1 TARDISes were being developed. Though the two attempted to stick to one of the Capitol's residental districts, Rassilon observed the Doctor's proficiency with a Type 1 TARDIS, drafting the Doctor into helping develop the ships. Taking the Type 1 on a test flight, the Doctor hoped to use its parts to repair his own TARDIS only for the Type 1 to malfunction and wind up in The Void. Alice later used another Type 1 to leave the Capitol, crashing on an oceanic planet. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)
During the Dark Times, when the Capitol's dome had not yet been built, the Tenth Doctor and Cindy Wu found themselves on the outskirts of the Capitol. Finding it beautiful, Cindy had wanted to visit the city but the Doctor prevented her. (COMIC: Old Girl)
The First Doctor, accompanied by his granddaughter, stole a faulty Type 40 TARDIS from the repair shop within the Capitol. Their departure was witnessed by two technicians, Andro and Fabian. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)
When the Fourth Doctor returned to Gallifrey on the day of Pandad IV's assassination, the Decayed Master's opening of the Eye of Harmony to harvest a new cycle of regenerations had left half the Capitol in ruins. (TV: The Deadly Assassin) The Capitol was rebuilt by the time of the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey whereupon it was rebuilt once again. (TV: The Invasion of Time) Doing so had robbed the Capitol of much of the mystique and majesty it had when the War Lord had been tried, with the city now resembling the waiting lounge of a spaceport. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
The Imperator offered Thessalia the role of chatelaine of the citadel. (PROSE: The Return of the King)
The Capitol was "flooded" by Quarks in an invasion attempt by the Dominators. The invaders were fought by Leela and K9 Mark I, who destroyed 39 between them. Though the invasion was thwarted, one of the Quarks was fitted with a bomb which damaged the Capitol heavily, necessitating the construction of a replacement building. (AUDIO: Time in Office)
Time War[[edit] | [edit source]]
When the Dalek Time Strategist blackmailed the Enigma to affect N-Space and make Gallifrey a Dalek colony, Daleks began appearing in the Capitol before the War Doctor convinced it to stand down. (AUDIO: The Enigma Dimension)
By the Last Great Time War, the Capitol had expansive but minimalist spaces with metal walkways, a darkened conference room, and a huge council chamber with Time Lords standing on suspended platforms. By the final day of the War, the Citadel was severely damaged by the Dalek Fleet. Several Dalek flying saucers had crashed on the surface next to the Citadel. (TV: The End of Time) Leela witnessed the saucers advancing on the damaged Citadel. (WC: The Final Battle [+]Loading...["The Final Battle (webcast)"]) Following the Fall of Arcadia, the Capitol became at risk with Dalek forces converging towards it. This danger was detected in the War Room of the Capitol, where the Eleventh General drew up stratagems with his associates. The Time Vaults contained the Omega Arsenal, where, on the final day of the War, the Moment was stolen from by the War Doctor. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
Post-Time War[[edit] | [edit source]]
After the end of the War, the Capitol was repaired, with all signs and evidence of the Time War removed. (TV: Heaven Sent)
After the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald fled in a stolen TARDIS, (TV: Hell Bent) the exiled Rassilon had formed an alliance with the Cybermen, leading the Gallifreyan Cyber Fleet to the planet who quickly conquered and occupied the Capitol. Taking full advantage of Time Lord technology, the Cybermen used the Capitol as their base from which to enact the "Age of the Cyberiad" before this sequence of events was undone by the Twelfth Doctor and a remorseful Rassilon. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen)
The Spy Master later returned to Gallifrey and, upon discovering the truth about the existence of Time Lords and the Timeless Child, ravaged the planet out of revenge. He persuaded the Thirteenth Doctor to take a look for herself, and she arrived at the Capitol to find it in ruins. (TV: Spyfall)
When the Boundary opened to Gallifrey, the ruined Capitol could be seen. (TV: Ascension of the Cybermen) The Master led the Doctor back to the ruined Capitol, reminiscing about their times there and the destruction he wrought. Having left the Matrix intact, the Master used it to show the Doctor the truth about the Timeless Child and Gallifrey's past with the memories including the construction of the Capitol over time. Later, Ko Sharmus detonated the death particle to kill the Master and his army of CyberMasters. At least two TARDISes remained in the ruined Capitol. The Doctor's friends left for Earth in one TARDIS, while the Doctor returned to her own TARDIS on the refugee planet using a different TARDIS. (TV: The Timeless Children)
At the end of the universe, Me was living in the ruins of the Capitol. She left when the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald arrived in a stolen TARDIS, following the Doctor's resurrection of Clara via extraction chamber. (TV: Hell Bent)
Layout[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Capitol was divided in eight "sectors".
Sector 1's main tower housed the Panopticon, a vast hexagonal chamber in which great events of state were held. Elsewhere in the tower was the Capitol Museum, where the symbols of presidential office were on display, along with examples of every kind of robe of state, from the President and the Gold Usher to the Chapter Cardinals.
Sector 2 was the political heart of the Capitol, housing an enormous assembly room for meetings of the full High Council, a conference room for the Inner Council and other small gatherings, and the President's office.
Sector 3 was entirely dedicated to the Chancellor and the Chancellery Guard.
Sector 4 contained the Castellan's office, the courtrooms, and the Security Compound, which itself comprised detention rooms, interrogation cells, and several execution rooms, most of which were officially disused.
Sector 5 comprised hundreds of libraries, records rooms and archive stores.
Sector 6, which housed the various Chapters of the Time Lord Academy and the main force-field control area for the transduction barrier that shielded Gallifrey, was the largest structure in the Capitol after the Panopticon.
Sector 7 was dominated by the Communications Tower, from which Space Traffic Control and Temporal Control monitored and logged every passing vessel in Gallifrey's vicinity. It was also rumoured to be the site of Gallifrey High Command's War Room, together with an extraction chamber — although the existence of such chambers was officially denied.
Finally, Sector 8 was home to the Time Travel Capsule landing bays and an array of repair shops. Below the repair shops was an area known as the TARDIS Graveyards, where TARDISes that reached the end of their lifespans were despatched.
Somewhere in the citadel, a set of chambers were allocated to the Celestial Intervention Agency, but no one outside the Agency knew exactly where those chambers were.
Deep beneath the Panopticon were the Panopticon Vaults, where the Eye of Harmony was kept. Deeper still were the Cloisters, the physical location of the Matrix, guarded by the Cloister Wraiths. Finally, buried near the very core of Gallifrey were the Time Vaults, where all the forbidden weapons of the Omega Arsenal were locked away. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords)
The Old Harbour was an old city within the Capitol dome. It contained the ancient Oldharbour Clock, which loudly tolled the time and could be heard throughout the eastern part of the Citadel and even through the Citadel wall. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors [+]Loading...["The Infinity Doctors (novel)"])
Other realities[[edit] | [edit source]]
In one of the infinite parallel universes of "possible space", (COMIC: Fire and Brimstone) the seat of the Time Lords' power was known as the "Domed City of Gallifrey". (PROSE: The Chronicles of Doctor Who?)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Though this was not directly contradicted or affirmed by the Graham Williams-produced TV story, the novelisation of The Invasion of Time describes the Capitol as covering "most of Gallifrey" and being surrounded by a sheer white wall.
A dome was first associated with Gallifrey in the header art for Doctor Who Magazine's "Gallifrey Guardian" section; this was later shown to be covering the Capitol in DWM comics like The Tides of Time, and Peter McKinstry used it when designing the Capitol for The Sound of Drums. "With the citadel it was an opportunity to take elements of the very organic TARDIS interior and apply them on a much grander scale," he recalled. (ImageFX magazine, October 2008, p. 62) This image of the Capitol as a regular-sized city surrounded by a transparent dome was used in various episodes under showrunners Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, and Chris Chibnall, including a scene in The Name of the Doctor set before the First Doctor left Gallifrey.
No buildings or settlements were seen immediately outside the dome in pre-Time War flashbacks from The Sound of Drums from the first Davies era or the Moffat-era story The Name of the Doctor; nor were they seen in The End of Time, the final story of Davies' first era, which was set during the Time War. Several tall constructions appeared beyond the dome and the wheel-shaped structure it sits on during and after the Time War in the Moffat-era stories The Day of the Doctor, Heaven Sent, and Hell Bent, and the Chibnall-era stories Spyfall, Ascension of the Cybermen, and The Timeless Children. Directly contradicting earlier pre-Time War depictions of the Capitol, a time lapse flashback in The Timeless Children clearly showed buildings being constructed beyond the dome before the dome is finished.
