Time Lord

The Time Lords are a fictional race of humanoids, originating on the planet Gallifrey, seen in the British television series Doctor Who. The Doctor himself is a Time Lord.

The Time Lords are in general an aloof culture. Since perfecting the science of time travel, they have withdrawn, bound by the moral complexity of interfering in the natural flow of history (compare with the Prime Directive).

Several Time Lords have become renegades for various reasons, the most notable being of course the Doctor.

The nature and history of the Time Lords was gradually revealed as the television series progressed. Each story to feature them and their home planet, Gallifrey, added a layer of complexity and intrigue. This stems from the dissatisfaction of various scriptwriters with the thorny problem of why the Doctor is in exile from his people in the first place. Time Lords are increasingly revealed as being corrupted by their inaction.

It is hinted at that the terms "Gallifreyan" and "Time Lord" may not be synonymous, and Time Lords are simply that subset of Gallifreyans who have achieved the status of Time Lord via achievement in the Gallifreyan collegiate system. Time Lords are divided into various colleges, such as the Patrexis college and the Prydonian college (to which the Doctor belongs), which seems to have ceremonial and possibly political significance.

List of known time lords

• The Doctor
• The Meddling Monk, probably
• The Master
• Romana
• The Rani
• Rassilon
• Omega

The concept of the Timelords was also adopted by the techno-sampling outfit the KLF for their hit single "Doctoring the Tardis".