Omega (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
Omega is a fictional character
from the long-running British
science fiction television
series, Doctor Who
. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lord
s of the planet Gallifrey
, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally legendary Rassilon
; the Third Doctor
refers to him as the Time Lords' "greatest hero". He first appeared in the 10th anniversary story, The Three Doctors.
The character was portrayed in The Three Doctors by actor Stephen Thorne
and in Arc of Infinity by both Ian Collier
and Peter Davison
.
, a remote stellar manipulator which could be used to control the reactions within a star. Using the Hand, Omega performed adjustments on a star near Gallifrey's in an attempt to provide a power source for the time travel
experiments he conducted with Rassilon. However, Omega was thought killed in the resulting supernova
, which then collapsed into a black hole
.
Rassilon subsequently captured the nucleus of the black hole and used its power to perfect time travel technology. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey as Lord President. The nucleus eventually became known as the Eye of Harmony
, and Omega's name passed into heroic legend.
Millennia later, during the events of the Doctor Who serial The Three Doctors, it was revealed that Omega had not died, but had rather been sent through the event horizon
into an antimatter
universe and had been trapped there since then; although he was able to shape that universe according to his will, it meant that he could not leave that universe. His exile and solitude turned him quite insane, and he sought revenge on the Time Lords for "abandoning" him. Despite the Third Doctor's assurances that he was revered among the Time Lords and still remembered fondly, Omega still sought retribution. He made two attempts in the television series to re-enter the positive matter universe, in The Three Doctors where he attempted to force the Doctor to take his place in the antimatter universe so that he could depart it, and in the serial Arc of Infinity
where he attempted to create a new body for himself using the Doctor's biological data. Both attempts were thwarted by the Doctor, with his universe being destroyed in The Three Doctors when he was tricked into touching the Second Doctor
's recorder
- which had remained matter when the others were converted into antimatter-, and his new body was seemingly destroyed in Arc of Infinity before it could convert back to antimatter and destroy Earth.
featured Omega as a central character and revealed that Omega's real name was Peylix, "Omega" being the grade he received at the Time Lord Academy — the lowest possible grade — which stuck to him as a cruel nickname
. However, in addition to issues concerning the canonicity of the spin-off media and the fact that in most media, Time Lord society was founded after the supposed death of Omega, the story is largely told from the point of view of an insane Omega with confused memories. This makes the accuracy of this information uncertain.
In the spin-off novels, the partnership of Rassilon and Omega in Time Lord history is rounded off by the shadowy figure of the Other
. Some accounts suggest that Rassilon misled Omega into believing that he would survive the stellar experiment. The Doctor Who Monthly
comic strip Star Death by Alan Moore
(DWM #47) attributed the supernova to an attack by the Order of the Black Sun, an enemy of the Time Lords from 30,000 years in their future, the first strike (from the Time Lords' point of view) of a time war. The same story also identified the star as Qqaba.
Omega also appears in the 1998 BBC Books
Doctor Who novel The Infinity Doctors
by Lance Parkin
(which also mentioned Qqaba), although as it is never quite specified if the novel takes place in the actual Doctor Who universe or an alternate reality
, whether this was the "real" Omega or an alternative version is unclear. The novel reprises various events from both television appearances, although it creates an original story from them. In this story Omega exists behind a locked door inside the light year long spacestation, the Needle, which sticks out of a Blackhole at the end of the universe. The Needle was formed from the remains of a TARDIS originally owned by the Time Lord Savar, who had been trying to rescue Omega from the anti-matter universe. However, once Savar arrived, Omega offered him his heart's desire. Savar panicked and tried to leave, but his TARDIS couldn't escape. Savar abandoned it in an escape unit. From the Needle, Omega learns how to create and control "the effect" a space/time anomaly that allows him to rewrite history. The novel also established the existence of Omega's wife, who after his accident became the Doctor's wife and the mother of his thirteen children. After she was shot in the matter universe (in Parkin's Virgin Missing Adventures
novel Cold Fusion
), Omega rescued her and brought her to his universe.
Omega appears as a nemesis to the Sixth Doctor
in the Make your own adventure with Doctor Who (Find Your Fate in the United States
) book Search for the Doctor
by Dave Martin
. In this book, the reader must make the right choices in order to rescue the Sixth Doctor from Omega. Earlier, the first of Martin's juvenile novels starring his own creation, the robot dog K-9, featured a character called Omegon, whose back story and role in Time Lord history is very similar to that of Omega, and who also claims to have previously met the Doctor.
In Chris Roberson
's short story "Annus Mirabilis" from the second volume of Tales of the Shadowmen
, it is strongly indicated that the French science fiction
character Doctor Omega
is the First Doctor
, with him assuming the name Omega as a reference to Omega the Time Lord.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series, Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s of the planet Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally legendary Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...
; the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
refers to him as the Time Lords' "greatest hero". He first appeared in the 10th anniversary story, The Three Doctors.
The character was portrayed in The Three Doctors by actor Stephen Thorne
Stephen Thorne
Stephen Thorne is a British actor of radio, film, stage and television.He trained at the and after a time in weekly rep. he played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the RSC in Stratford and London including a tour to Russia...
and in Arc of Infinity by both Ian Collier
Ian Collier
Ian Collier was a British actor.Collier appeared on stage in "Hamlet" in 1969 at the Lunt-Fontanne in New York City.He appeared in various television programmes including Rentaghost, Hi-de-Hi! and Howards' Way. He appeared in the Doctor Who story The Time Monster...
and Peter Davison
Peter Davison
Peter Davison is a British actor, best known for his roles as Tristan Farnon in the television version of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small and the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, which he played from 1982 to 1984.-Early life:Davison was born Peter Moffett in Streatham,...
.
Character history
Omega was a stellar engineer and High Council member on Gallifrey who developed the Hand of OmegaHand of Omega
The Hand of Omega is a fictional device from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.In Remembrance of the Daleks the Seventh Doctor explains that the "Hand of Omega" is the mythical name for the remote stellar manipulator invented by Omega, the first of the Time Lords of the...
, a remote stellar manipulator which could be used to control the reactions within a star. Using the Hand, Omega performed adjustments on a star near Gallifrey's in an attempt to provide a power source for the time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
experiments he conducted with Rassilon. However, Omega was thought killed in the resulting supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, which then collapsed into a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
.
Rassilon subsequently captured the nucleus of the black hole and used its power to perfect time travel technology. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey as Lord President. The nucleus eventually became known as the Eye of Harmony
Eye of Harmony
The Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
, and Omega's name passed into heroic legend.
Millennia later, during the events of the Doctor Who serial The Three Doctors, it was revealed that Omega had not died, but had rather been sent through the event horizon
Event horizon
In general relativity, an event horizon is a boundary in spacetime beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. In layman's terms it is defined as "the point of no return" i.e. the point at which the gravitational pull becomes so great as to make escape impossible. The most common case...
into an antimatter
Antimatter
In particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
universe and had been trapped there since then; although he was able to shape that universe according to his will, it meant that he could not leave that universe. His exile and solitude turned him quite insane, and he sought revenge on the Time Lords for "abandoning" him. Despite the Third Doctor's assurances that he was revered among the Time Lords and still remembered fondly, Omega still sought retribution. He made two attempts in the television series to re-enter the positive matter universe, in The Three Doctors where he attempted to force the Doctor to take his place in the antimatter universe so that he could depart it, and in the serial Arc of Infinity
Arc of Infinity
Arc of Infinity is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 3 January to 12 January 1983...
where he attempted to create a new body for himself using the Doctor's biological data. Both attempts were thwarted by the Doctor, with his universe being destroyed in The Three Doctors when he was tricked into touching the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
's recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
- which had remained matter when the others were converted into antimatter-, and his new body was seemingly destroyed in Arc of Infinity before it could convert back to antimatter and destroy Earth.
Other appearances
The audio play OmegaOmega (Doctor Who audio)
Omega is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:Jolly Chronolidays is offering sight-seeing tours of the "Sector of Forgotten Souls", the place where in ancient times the Time Lord Omega detonated a star that enabled...
featured Omega as a central character and revealed that Omega's real name was Peylix, "Omega" being the grade he received at the Time Lord Academy — the lowest possible grade — which stuck to him as a cruel nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
. However, in addition to issues concerning the canonicity of the spin-off media and the fact that in most media, Time Lord society was founded after the supposed death of Omega, the story is largely told from the point of view of an insane Omega with confused memories. This makes the accuracy of this information uncertain.
In the spin-off novels, the partnership of Rassilon and Omega in Time Lord history is rounded off by the shadowy figure of the Other
Other (Doctor Who)
The Other is a fictional character in the expanded universe of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A legendary figure in Time Lord history, the Other does not appear in the television series itself, but is mentioned several times in the spin-off media based on the...
. Some accounts suggest that Rassilon misled Omega into believing that he would survive the stellar experiment. The Doctor Who Monthly
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip Star Death by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
(DWM #47) attributed the supernova to an attack by the Order of the Black Sun, an enemy of the Time Lords from 30,000 years in their future, the first strike (from the Time Lords' point of view) of a time war. The same story also identified the star as Qqaba.
Omega also appears in the 1998 BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
Doctor Who novel The Infinity Doctors
The Infinity Doctors
The Infinity Doctors is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...
(which also mentioned Qqaba), although as it is never quite specified if the novel takes place in the actual Doctor Who universe or an alternate reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, whether this was the "real" Omega or an alternative version is unclear. The novel reprises various events from both television appearances, although it creates an original story from them. In this story Omega exists behind a locked door inside the light year long spacestation, the Needle, which sticks out of a Blackhole at the end of the universe. The Needle was formed from the remains of a TARDIS originally owned by the Time Lord Savar, who had been trying to rescue Omega from the anti-matter universe. However, once Savar arrived, Omega offered him his heart's desire. Savar panicked and tried to leave, but his TARDIS couldn't escape. Savar abandoned it in an escape unit. From the Needle, Omega learns how to create and control "the effect" a space/time anomaly that allows him to rewrite history. The novel also established the existence of Omega's wife, who after his accident became the Doctor's wife and the mother of his thirteen children. After she was shot in the matter universe (in Parkin's Virgin Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
novel Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion (Doctor Who)
Cold Fusion is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Fifth Doctor, with Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan, immediately after Castrovalva...
), Omega rescued her and brought her to his universe.
Omega appears as a nemesis to the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
in the Make your own adventure with Doctor Who (Find Your Fate in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) book Search for the Doctor
Search for the Doctor
Search for the Doctor is a Seven House adventure book written by Dave Martin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and K-9-Plot:...
by Dave Martin
Dave Martin (screenwriter)
David Ralph Martin was an accomplished television and film writer. He was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England and contributed numerous scripts for the Doctor Who television series between 1971 and 1979 including:...
. In this book, the reader must make the right choices in order to rescue the Sixth Doctor from Omega. Earlier, the first of Martin's juvenile novels starring his own creation, the robot dog K-9, featured a character called Omegon, whose back story and role in Time Lord history is very similar to that of Omega, and who also claims to have previously met the Doctor.
In Chris Roberson
Chris Roberson (author)
Chris Roberson is a science fiction author, tromboner, and publisher based in Austin, Texas, best known for alternate history novels and short stories.-Biography:Chris Roberson grew up near Dallas, Texas, and attended the University of Texas, Austin...
's short story "Annus Mirabilis" from the second volume of Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen
Tales of the Shadowmen is an annual anthology of short stories edited by Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier, published by . As of 2010, seven volumes have been released, with a eighth slated for late 2011...
, it is strongly indicated that the French science fiction
French science fiction
French science fiction is a substantial genre of French literature. It remains an active and productive genre which has evolved in conjunction with anglophone science fiction and other French and international literature....
character Doctor Omega
Doctor Omega
Doctor Omega is a fictional character created by French writer Arnould Galopin for his science fiction novel Le Docteur Oméga , visibly inspired by H. G...
is the First Doctor
First Doctor
The First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
, with him assuming the name Omega as a reference to Omega the Time Lord.