Even the most casual fans of Doctor Who know that the Doctor heralds from a race of aliens known as Time Lords. Hailing from the planet Gallifrey, Time Lords have a long history in the Universe and have gone through many changes to become the feared rulers of time and space known across the galaxies.
Time Lord society can seem complex coming at it from an outside perspective. For fans of the revival series, the Time Lords have been a largely absent, almost mythical species, the name of which strikes fear into the hearts of aliens everywhere. Howver, for those who have been fans of the show since the 60s (or anyone familiar with the classic series), Time Lords are a little less mysterious, often appearing onscreen and becoming involved in stories. How did the Time Lords become the people audiences know today, and how does their society work?
Time Lords & Gallifreyans
In the beginning, there was the planet Gallifrey, its people were known as Gallifreyans. Despite looking, for all intents and purposes, identical to humans, Gallifreyans had a different biological makeup, with two hearts, two or three brain stems, and a respiratory bypass system. When it comes to Gallifreyans becoming Time Lords, there are some conflicting messages throughout the series and extended media.
In some audio dramas, it is suggested that Gallifreyans and Time Lords are separate evolutions, the species diverging at some point in history. However, in the show, rhe Eleventh Doctor explains that Gallifreyans all became Time Lords due to their exposure to the Time Vortex and the Untempered Schism. The Untempered Schism is described as a gap in the fabric of reality, time, and space, and actually forms an important part of Time Lord children's education and ability to travel in time.
Time Lord children are taken to stare into the vortex as a way of preparing them for their future as Time Lords. The Tenth Doctor and the Master discuss the process in the episodes "The Sound of Drums" and "The End of Time," both saying it is a cruel thing for a child to experience and that it can either inspire or scare children. In some cases, it can even drive them mad. After this initiation, the children attend the Time Lord Academy to learn the rules and mechanics of time travel and Time Lord society. Prolonged exposure to the exposed time vortex is credited with the quick advancement of the Gallifreyan people.
When it comes to governance of Gallifrey, there has always been a Lady or Lord President and a high council of Time Lords that form a government, making decisions for the people of the planet. In the past, the Council of Time Lords has broken their strict rules about interfering with timelines to bring the First, Second, and Third Doctors together to defeat Omega. This leads to the characters of Omega, Rassilon, and the Other. These beings are credited with the creation of Time Lord society.
Time Lord Society's Origins
History varies as to how many people were credited with Time Lord society's creation, but most versions credit the main mentioned aboce. Omega was known amongst Gallifreyans as the Engineer, and is credited with creating the means of time travel for the Time Lords. Rassilon has been hailed as both Gallifrey's greatest historical figure and its greatest villain. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, with Rassilon beginning his path as an altruistic figure, but becoming warped by power and need for Time Lord supremacy of centuries.
When it comes to the Other, they are an even more complex character. The Other is either a different incarnation of the Doctor, a re-incarnation of the Doctor, or the Doctor himself. It's implied that the Other is an alias that the Eleventh Doctor used after traveling back to ancient Gallifrey. Another theory is that the First Doctor is actually the Other, but after aging. Regardless, it's widely considered that the Other is the Doctor in some form.
Every Society Has Its Problems
A lot can be said about a society judging by how they treat outliers. Within Time Lord society, those that turn their backs on the Time Lord Academy or Time Lord way of life are cast out to become outsiders. In some versions of their history, regular Gallifreyans live outside the capital city and away from Time Lord cities. They work farms to provide food for the Time Lords. There is also a subset of Gallifreyans that live out in the Drylands of the planet and live in a more primitive way. Now, the planet of Gallifrey is frozen in space and time, in a pocket universe having recently been ruined during the Flux event with the Thirteenth Doctor.
On the whole, Time Lord society has been plagued with a sense of superiority. At best, they are viewed as a legendary species with power over time; at worst, they are viewed as tyrants, dictating their own rules over the fabric of time and space. Time Lords have a complicated relationship with the rest of the Universe. Both feared and revered, in modern-day the Time Lords are viewed as a myth or extinct with only the legend of the Doctor echoing around space and time.