Time Lord Government

Government & Politics

Time Lord society was governed by the High Council, sometimes called the Supreme Council. It was generally content, owing to their policy of non-intervention, which may have been part of the reason why the Doctor, and certain other Time Lords, decided to leave Gallifrey.

The High Council of Gallifrey consisted of an Inner Council of the Lord or Lady President, the Lord or Lady Chancellor, the Cardinals, the Castellain and the Chancellory Guard.


The President
The President had near absolute authority, and used a link to the Matrix (a computer network containing the knowledge and experiences of all past generations of Time Lords) to set the Time Lord policies and remain alert to potential threats from lesser civilisations.


For much of his life, the Doctor himself has been either considered as a possible next President, or has been given the title and is the official President of Gallifrey. However, although he did occasionally use that title, the Doctor never remained on Gallifrey long enough to take up a permanent mantel. Often he left other Time Lords as acting Presidents while he was away since he did not want the responsibility.

Presidents of Gallifrey included:
Pandak
Greyjan
The Doctor (407th president)
Borusa
Flavia
Romana
The Inquisiter
(For more information see list of Time Lords)


The Chancellor
The Chancellor was a high position within the Time Lord Government. They acted as the Presidents second, and also oversaw the Castellan, who were in charge of all security.


Chancellors of Gallifrey included:
Goth
Borusa
Thalia
Valyes
Theora
Flavia - Who then became Lady President.


The Cardinals
The Cardinals represented the colleges of Gallifrey. Out of the three colleges known, the Prydonians, the Arcalians, and the Patrexes, the Prydonians are the more prestigious.


Cardinals of Gallifrey included:
Zorac
Leandi
Irving Braxiatel


The Castellan
The Castellan were were responsible for overseeing the Chancellory Guard and therefore in charge of the security of Gallifrey. The various Commanders of the Chancellory Guard itself acted as the Castellan's subordinates.

The Castellan's of Gallifrey included:
Spandrell
Andred
Kelner
Wynter
Hedin


The Chancellory Guard
Security and law were enforced by the Chancellory Guard, who were under the command of the Castellan. So, they were basically Gallifrey's version of police.

Other offices that were affiliated with the council included the offices of the Gold Usher, the Surgeon General, and The Inquisitor

The CIA
The Celestial Intervention Agency was a secretive Gallifreyan organization dedicated to selectively breaking the non-interference policy for the interests and protection of Gallifrey.

They evolved from a core group of Rassilon's guards, and would function as spies. It was said that they "don't even know which side they're on."

It was the non-interference policy which led the Doctor to leaving Gallifrey. When the Time Lords eventually located him he was put on trial for breaching the policy. Yet, the Doctor was often forced to be a part of the CIA and their missions, mainly because, being a renegade, the Time Lords could deny they had any influence on him.

Missions that the CIA sent the Doctor on:

• Visiting Space Station Chimera to persuade the experimetns on Time Travel occurring there to stop.
• Going to Uxarieus to stop the Master from obtaining the Doomsday Weapon
• Going to Peladon to help persuade it to join the Galactic Federation.
• A Time Lord called Ferain appeared to the Doctor and sent him to Skaro in order to prevent the creation of the Daleks.
  

Other missions the CIA undertook:

• Sending a Time Lord to Apertsu to serve as a security consultant; however, he was captured by Aubertides who wanted the secret of regeneration.
• Experimentation with temoral technologies. Under Professor Klyst, the CIA attempted to move the minds of newly created TARDISes into the minds of aliens taken from over 50 planets.

Time War
(see The Time War)

During the Time War, Romana sent CIA agents Gandaroththetledrax and Cavisadoratrelundar to create the first Type 102 TARDIS (knowing that it would be a vital piece of technology in the upcoming war)

At some point in the lead-up to the First War, the CIA became worried that they might be erased from history (or caught in the crossfire) between the Time Lords and The Enemy, and therefore created Mictlan, a world outside of time and the universe for themselves to hide within. However, they also needed to remove themselves from the universe of physicality, and therefore turned themselves into something know as The Celestis.

CIA Assets

• The CIA originally developed psychic paper technology.

• The Space Station Zenobia (the location of the Doctor's trial) was the property of the CIA.

• They also created the Obliette of Eternity, a device which was supposed to remove people from history, but instead made them Neverpeople