Rodan

Rodan was a Time Lady who worked as a controller for space traffic control on Gallifrey. (TV: The Invasion of Time ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Time (TV story)"])

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

By one account, Rodan was — like all Time Lords — taken from her family at the age of eight for the selection process in the drylands. Staring into the Untempered Schism as part of a Time Lord initiation rite, Rodan was inspired by what she saw in the Schism. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords ^[+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) On another occasion, Rodan told Leela and Nesbin that she had never been outside the Citadel before. (TV: The Invasion of Time ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Time (TV story)"])

As a very junior Time Lord, Rodan was assigned monitor duty. A technician reported to her the arrival of a stolen TT capsule on Tersurus, and she reported it to the Castellan. She hoped it would get her somewhere, otherwise she would be given a boring job like timing paint dry or watching over the transduction barriers. She was given the task of watching and maintaining the transduction barriers. (PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Legacy of the Daleks (novel)"])

Rodan continued working on maintaining the protective transduction barrier around the planet, monitoring threats to Gallifrey and reporting on it to her superiors.

Rodan met Leela when Leela ducked into her workstation to hide from the Chancellery Guards. After some conversation, Rodan decided that she liked Leela and deactivated the force field separating them. Shortly after, Rodan detected an unauthorised spacecraft within two spans of Gallifrey and approaching. She issued a red alert and, when the transduction barriers failed, broadcast a warning of impending attack.

Leela convinced Rodan to come with her outside the Citadel, where they encountered a group of Outsiders. Nesbin explained to Rodan that her likelihood of survival in the wasteland was dismal, which caused her to cry. Leela and Rodan dined with the Outsiders, whom Leela convinced to help repel the Vardan invasion. Rodan had never eaten fruit or meat before.

The Fourth Doctor successfully sent the Vardans back to their planet. However, the Sontarans invaded in their wake. Aboard his TARDIS, the Doctor hypnotised Rodan and had her build a De-mat Gun, which he used to remove Stor, the Sontaran leader, from time and so prevent the invasion. (TV: The Invasion of Time ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Time (TV story)"])

Rodan and Leela remained friends after Leela chose to stay on Gallifrey. Rodan was sent on a cross-cultural liaison course during a time that President Romana was away. (PROSE: Lungbarrow ^[+]Loading...["Lungbarrow (novel)"])

The Battle of Rodan's Wedding was an event in the Last Great Time War in which years were used as ammunition. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Time War ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Time War (short story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Other than Susan Foreman, Rodan was the first female Gallifreyan seen on screen. Another Time Lady, Romana I, joined the Fourth Doctor in his travels in the following season.