Editing Time Lord (section)

{{short description|Fictional alien species in the Doctor Who universe}}
{{About|the species from Doctor Who}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{in-universe|date=October 2023}}
{{overly detailed|date=October 2023}}
}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox fictional race
| name               = Time Lords
| image              = The Time Lords (13049288195).jpg
| caption            = Time Lord costumes displayed at the ''Doctor Who'' Experience in 2013. From left to right: Regalia from ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' (1977), [[The Master (Doctor Who)|the Master’s]] outfit from ''[[Doctor Who (1996 film)|the 1996 TV movie]]'', and [[Rassilon|Rassilon’s]] garment from ''[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]'' (2010).
| series             = [[Doctor Who]]
| type               = Time Lords
| home_world         = Gallifrey
| first              = ''[[The War Games]]'' (1969)
}}
The '''Time Lords''' are a fictional ancient race of [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] people in the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Time Lords are so named for their command of [[time travel]] technology and their [[Nonlinear narrative|non-linear perception]] of time.<ref name="tv movie">{{cite serial |title=[[Doctor Who (film)|Doctor Who]] |first=Matthew (writer) |last=Jacobs |author-link=Matthew Jacobs |first2=Geoffrey (director) |last2=Sax |author-link2=Geoffrey Sax |network=[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] |date=14 May 1996 }}</ref>{{sfn|Donaghy|2014|p=7}}

Originally, they were described as a powerful and wise race from the planet Gallifrey, from which [[the Doctor]] was a renegade; details beyond this were very limited for the first decade of the series. They later became integral to many episodes and stories as their role in the universe developed. For the first eight years after the [[History of Doctor Who#2000s|series resumed]] in 2005, the Time Lords were said to have been destroyed  during the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Last Great Time War]] at some point in the show's continuity between the television movie in 1996 and the show's revival. In 2013, the 50th anniversary special "[[The Day of the Doctor]]" concerned this supposed destruction and their eventual survival.

They developed a culture of [[Legal guardian|custodianship]] and time-related [[technology|technologies]] based on this perception which includes strictly controlled [[space]]/time travel machines (known as "[[TARDIS]]es") and monitoring devices to travel through time and to prevent time from being subverted or abused—although actual action was described as rare in practice due to their traditional policy of strict non-interference and neutrality. They can act to manipulate timelines of a wide range of events and individuals, so long as they do not cross back into their own timeline.

Over subsequent episodes their history, their development of time manipulation, and their internal politics were touched upon, with Time Lord society portrayed as a stagnated ceremony-bound [[oligarchy]] and their past having descended into [[myth]] and [[legend]]. The Doctor became at times an ally, being appointed their president during his [[Fourth Doctor|fourth]], [[Fifth Doctor|fifth]], and [[Twelfth Doctor|twelfth incarnations]] and assisting them on many other occasions.