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Time vortex (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
In the science fiction
television series Doctor Who
, the time vortex (sometimes called the space-time vortex) is the medium that the TARDIS
and other time machine
s travel through. It can be assumed it is some sort of temporal
wormhole
, used by the TARDIS, to travel in time, space, and sometimes other universes.
In the classic series, the "howlaround" or "slit-scan
" tunnel seen in most versions of the series' title sequence
is supposed to be a representation of the time vortex (first implied in the pilot episode "An Unearthly Child
"), although it is sometimes also shown as nothingness. The original effect was created by video feedback and can be reproduced by pointing a camcorder at a screen displaying the camcorder's output. This is the video equivalent of the whistling noise heard when a microphone 'feeds back' when too close to a speaker.
During Tom Baker
's run, the vortex was represented as a silver tunnel constantly moving forward. This version of the vortex was only ever seen during the opening credits.
During Peter Davison
's reign as the Doctor, the vortex was only ever seen on the monitor as a series of boxes within boxes supposedly moving forwards.
Its appearance throughout the TV movie is represented as a blue tunnel throughout space with various asteroids running freely through it.
In the new series (revived in 2005), the direction of the TARDIS's time travel through the vortex can be discerned from the surrounding colours: blue for travelling into the past and red for travelling into the future, most likely inspired by the Doppler effect
. While this high-speed vortex effect is used for the opening titles and TARDIS travel, a less kinetic visualisation underlays the credits, and has been used on occasion within the programme to represent the vortex without TARDIS travel ("The Sound of Drums
").
The new series vortex graphics are produced by The Mill
.
The time vortex for the 2010 series has been given a redesign, with a cloud effect and bolts of lighting crossing through the vortex and sometimes hitting the TARDIS, which then falls into a second region where the cloudy look is replaced with fire.
, and therefore normal rules of physics
do not apply. For instance, in the vortex the equation for the relationship between energy and matter
is E = mc3 (The Time Monster
). In the Virgin New Adventures
novel Just War
by Lance Parkin
, it was stated that the vortex was built by the Time Lord
s as a transdimensional spiral that connected all points in space and time. The canonicity of non-television stories is open to interpretation.
The vortex is an extremely hostile environment. In the serial Planet of Giants
, opening the TARDIS doors in-flight caused the First Doctor
and his companions to shrink to about an inch. Also, in the Second Doctor
serial The Enemy of the World
, the TARDIS doors open in-flight, pulling Salamander into the space-time vortex, and in Warriors' Gate
saw the interior of the ship exposed to the time winds, which age whatever they come into contact with. Time Lords appear to have some resistance to this, although unprotected travel within the vortex is still extremely dangerous and often considered fatal (Shada
). In "Utopia
", Captain Jack
survives for a time in the vortex as he clings to the TARDIS whilst it is in flight; but afterwards he is judged to be dead by Martha Jones
, only to revive due to his personal immortality
.
In Day of the Daleks
a person travelling through the vortex could be drawn to a specific location by the use of a device called a "vortex magnetron".
, although in the novel The Quantum Archangel
, they are said to live beyond the vortex, in Calabi-Yau space), the Vortex Wraiths (the Eighth Doctor Adventures
novels The Slow Empire
and Timeless
), clockwork creatures (the Eighth Doctor Adventure Anachrophobia
), the Vortisaurs (the Big Finish
audio play Storm Warning), the Tar-Modowk (No More Lies
) and the Reapers ("Father's Day
"). It is unknown if any of them are related to each other. In the Eighth Doctor Adventures, Sabbath
's employers set up their headquarters in the vortex, casting many of the natives out into the linear universe.
novel The Well-Mannered War
, the TARDIS accidentally wanders into the time spiral, which exists at the perimeter of the time vortex; its forces are strong enough to destroy even the TARDIS. The TARDIS is equipped with a device that forces materialisation in the event it enters the spiral, but the Doctor stated that for this to happen, "there would have to be erosion in the systems circuitry on a massive scale". Like all spin-off media, the canonicity of the novel is open to interpretation, but the spiral is briefly mentioned in Episode One of The Sun Makers
.
At the climax of the Doctor Who Magazine
comic strip story The Flood (DWM #346-#353), the Eighth Doctor
hurls himself into the vortex, partially merging with it and gaining tremendous power which he uses to destroy the Cybermen
invading Earth. He is almost content to merge fully with the vortex until he is persuaded to return by his companion
Destrii
.
In the 2005 series episode "The Parting of the Ways
", Rose Tyler
inadvertently exposes herself to the energies of the vortex while attempting to activate the Ninth Doctor
's TARDIS. The exposure gives her absolute power over time and space, allowing her to destroy the Dalek
s and resurrect fellow companion Jack Harkness
(which explains Jack's immortality), but the energies overwhelm her and she collapses. The Doctor is able to save her life by absorbing the vortex energies at the cost of damaging his cells and forcing a regeneration
.
In "Utopia
" (2007), the Tenth Doctor
says that if a Time Lord were to absorb the time vortex, he would become a "vengeful god". While the Ninth Doctor displayed no such tendencies when taking the power from Rose (although he expelled most of it back to its source), the Eighth did during The Flood before he emerged from the vortex. The Tenth Doctor describes Rose's revival of Jack as being "so human", but does not elaborate on why there would be such a difference, though he may have been referring to Rose's desire to bring him back, rather than the method used to do so.
"Doomsday
" and "Invasion of the Bane
" clarified that time travellers in the vortex, such as Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith
absorb background radiation called "artron energy" which some creatures such as Dalek
s can use as an alternative energy source. Other races such as the Bane can use other energy that is absorbed through travel in the time vortex to identify time travellers.
In "The Sound of Drums
" the Doctor tells his companions that there was a portal on Gallifrey
called the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality where one could look directly into the vortex. Eight-year-old Gallifreyans were taken there as part of their initiation into the Time Lord Academy. "Some are inspired, some run away (as the Doctor says he did), and some (for example, according to the Doctor, the Master
) go mad."
In The End of Time
it is revealed that on the final day of the Last Great Time War the Time Lords used the Untempered Schism to send a signal back through time as part of a plan to escape their destruction. This signal, the sound of a Time Lord's heartbeats, was the constant four-beat drumming the Master heard throughout his life, driving him mad.
It is also revealed that the Time Lords were prepared to use a plan known as the Final Sanction to win the Time War, in which they would cause a rupture in time which would get worse until it ripped apart the Time Vortex and, by extension, all of creation. The Time Lords planned to survive this by ascending to another plane of existence.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television 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...
, the time vortex (sometimes called the space-time vortex) is the medium that the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
and other time machine
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...
s travel through. It can be assumed it is some sort of temporal
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
, used by the TARDIS, to travel in time, space, and sometimes other universes.
In the classic series, the "howlaround" or "slit-scan
Slit-scan photography
The slit-scan photography technique is a photographic and cinematographic process where a moveable slide, into which a slit has been cut, is inserted between the camera and the subject to be photographed.-Use in cinematography:...
" tunnel seen in most versions of the series' title sequence
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
is supposed to be a representation of the time vortex (first implied in the pilot episode "An Unearthly Child
An Unearthly Child
The serial that became An Unearthly Child was originally commissioned from writer Anthony Coburn in June 1963, when it was intended to run as the second Doctor Who serial. At this stage, it was planned that the series would open with a serial entitled The Giants, to be written by BBC staff...
"), although it is sometimes also shown as nothingness. The original effect was created by video feedback and can be reproduced by pointing a camcorder at a screen displaying the camcorder's output. This is the video equivalent of the whistling noise heard when a microphone 'feeds back' when too close to a speaker.
During Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
's run, the vortex was represented as a silver tunnel constantly moving forward. This version of the vortex was only ever seen during the opening credits.
During 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,...
's reign as the Doctor, the vortex was only ever seen on the monitor as a series of boxes within boxes supposedly moving forwards.
Its appearance throughout the TV movie is represented as a blue tunnel throughout space with various asteroids running freely through it.
In the new series (revived in 2005), the direction of the TARDIS's time travel through the vortex can be discerned from the surrounding colours: blue for travelling into the past and red for travelling into the future, most likely inspired by the Doppler effect
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect , named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842 in Prague, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the wave. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren or horn approaches, passes, and recedes from...
. While this high-speed vortex effect is used for the opening titles and TARDIS travel, a less kinetic visualisation underlays the credits, and has been used on occasion within the programme to represent the vortex without TARDIS travel ("The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
").
The new series vortex graphics are produced by The Mill
The Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
.
The time vortex for the 2010 series has been given a redesign, with a cloud effect and bolts of lighting crossing through the vortex and sometimes hitting the TARDIS, which then falls into a second region where the cloudy look is replaced with fire.
Physics
The vortex is outside normal spacetimeSpacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
, and therefore normal rules of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
do not apply. For instance, in the vortex the equation for the relationship between energy and matter
Mass-energy equivalence
In physics, mass–energy equivalence is the concept that the mass of a body is a measure of its energy content. In this concept, mass is a property of all energy, and energy is a property of all mass, and the two properties are connected by a constant...
is E = mc3 (The Time Monster
The Time Monster
The Time Monster is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 May to 24 June 1972.- Synopsis :...
). In the Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel Just War
Just War (Doctor Who)
Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were 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...
, it was stated that the vortex was built by 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 as a transdimensional spiral that connected all points in space and time. The canonicity of non-television stories is open to interpretation.
The vortex is an extremely hostile environment. In the serial Planet of Giants
Planet of Giants
*An early draft of this story – by C.E. Webber and entitled The Giants – was originally meant to be the first story of the first season.-Episode 4:*This story was originally four episodes in length...
, opening the TARDIS doors in-flight caused 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...
and his companions to shrink to about an inch. Also, in 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....
serial The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968...
, the TARDIS doors open in-flight, pulling Salamander into the space-time vortex, and in Warriors' Gate
Warriors' Gate
Warriors' Gate is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was written by the English author Stephen Gallagher and first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1981...
saw the interior of the ship exposed to the time winds, which age whatever they come into contact with. Time Lords appear to have some resistance to this, although unprotected travel within the vortex is still extremely dangerous and often considered fatal (Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
). In "Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
", Captain Jack
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
survives for a time in the vortex as he clings to the TARDIS whilst it is in flight; but afterwards he is judged to be dead by Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
, only to revive due to his personal immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
.
In Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks
Day of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 1 January to 22 January 1972.-Synopsis:...
a person travelling through the vortex could be drawn to a specific location by the use of a device called a "vortex magnetron".
Inhabitants
Beings that dwell in the vortex include the Chronovores (The Time MonsterThe Time Monster
The Time Monster is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 May to 24 June 1972.- Synopsis :...
, although in the novel The Quantum Archangel
The Quantum Archangel
The Quantum Archangel is a BBC Books original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and Mel, the Master, and an appearance by an alternate version of the Third Doctor...
, they are said to live beyond the vortex, in Calabi-Yau space), the Vortex Wraiths (the Eighth Doctor Adventures
Eighth Doctor Adventures
The Eighth Doctor Adventures are a series of spin off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. 73 books were published overall...
novels The Slow Empire
The Slow Empire
The Slow Empire is a BBC Books original novel written by Dave Stone and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Timeless
Timeless (Doctor Who)
Timeless is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz, Anji and Trix.-External links:*...
), clockwork creatures (the Eighth Doctor Adventure Anachrophobia
Anachrophobia
Anachrophobia is a BBC Books original novel written by Jonathan Morris and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Anji.-Plot:...
), the Vortisaurs (the Big Finish
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio play Storm Warning), the Tar-Modowk (No More Lies
No More Lies (Doctor Who audio)
No More Lies is an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was produced by Big Finish Productions and was broadcast on BBC 7 on 4 February 2007.-Plot:...
) and the Reapers ("Father's Day
Father's Day (Doctor Who)
"Father's Day" is the eighth episode in series one of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was first broadcast on 14 May 2005...
"). It is unknown if any of them are related to each other. In the Eighth Doctor Adventures, Sabbath
Sabbath (Doctor Who)
Sabbath is the name of a recurring villain from the Eighth Doctor Adventures — spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. The character was created by Lawrence Miles and first appeared in The Adventuress of Henrietta Street...
's employers set up their headquarters in the vortex, casting many of the natives out into the linear universe.
Appearances
In the Virgin Missing AdventuresVirgin 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 The Well-Mannered War
The Well-Mannered War
The Well-Mannered War is a Virgin Missing Adventures original novel written by Gareth Roberts based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9...
, the TARDIS accidentally wanders into the time spiral, which exists at the perimeter of the time vortex; its forces are strong enough to destroy even the TARDIS. The TARDIS is equipped with a device that forces materialisation in the event it enters the spiral, but the Doctor stated that for this to happen, "there would have to be erosion in the systems circuitry on a massive scale". Like all spin-off media, the canonicity of the novel is open to interpretation, but the spiral is briefly mentioned in Episode One of The Sun Makers
The Sun Makers
-Cast notes:*Michael Keating also appeared in the audio play The Twilight Kingdom as Major Koth and in Year of the Pig as Inspector Chardalot...
.
At the climax of the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip story The Flood (DWM #346-#353), the Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
hurls himself into the vortex, partially merging with it and gaining tremendous power which he uses to destroy the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
invading Earth. He is almost content to merge fully with the vortex until he is persuaded to return by his companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Destrii
Destrii
Destrii, or to give her full title, the Primatrix Destriianatos, is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Eighth Doctor...
.
In the 2005 series episode "The Parting of the Ways
The Parting of the Ways
"The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
", Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
inadvertently exposes herself to the energies of the vortex while attempting to activate the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
's TARDIS. The exposure gives her absolute power over time and space, allowing her to destroy the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s and resurrect fellow companion Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
(which explains Jack's immortality), but the energies overwhelm her and she collapses. The Doctor is able to save her life by absorbing the vortex energies at the cost of damaging his cells and forcing a regeneration
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
.
In "Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
" (2007), the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
says that if a Time Lord were to absorb the time vortex, he would become a "vengeful god". While the Ninth Doctor displayed no such tendencies when taking the power from Rose (although he expelled most of it back to its source), the Eighth did during The Flood before he emerged from the vortex. The Tenth Doctor describes Rose's revival of Jack as being "so human", but does not elaborate on why there would be such a difference, though he may have been referring to Rose's desire to bring him back, rather than the method used to do so.
"Doomsday
Doomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...
" and "Invasion of the Bane
Invasion of the Bane
-Sladen and Doctor Who:Elisabeth Sladen, who previously played Sarah Jane between 1973 and 1976. In 1981, she was offered the role again to ease the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, which she declined, but agreed to star in the pilot for the spin-off series K-9 and Company, which...
" clarified that time travellers in the vortex, such as Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
absorb background radiation called "artron energy" which some creatures such as Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s can use as an alternative energy source. Other races such as the Bane can use other energy that is absorbed through travel in the time vortex to identify time travellers.
In "The Sound of Drums
The Sound of Drums
"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" the Doctor tells his companions that there was a portal on 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...
called the Untempered Schism, a gap in the fabric of reality where one could look directly into the vortex. Eight-year-old Gallifreyans were taken there as part of their initiation into the Time Lord Academy. "Some are inspired, some run away (as the Doctor says he did), and some (for example, according to the Doctor, the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
) go mad."
In The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
it is revealed that on the final day of the Last Great Time War the Time Lords used the Untempered Schism to send a signal back through time as part of a plan to escape their destruction. This signal, the sound of a Time Lord's heartbeats, was the constant four-beat drumming the Master heard throughout his life, driving him mad.
It is also revealed that the Time Lords were prepared to use a plan known as the Final Sanction to win the Time War, in which they would cause a rupture in time which would get worse until it ripped apart the Time Vortex and, by extension, all of creation. The Time Lords planned to survive this by ascending to another plane of existence.