Will the Time Lords/Gallifrey return?

It seems like season three would be the appropriate time to show us the ruins of Gallifrey and maybe explain some of what happened during the Time War. I'm not sure how to handle it as most of the obvious choices don't apply to Doctor Who:

You couldn't do a flashback without bringing in Paul McGann or Chris. I'd love to see Davies take on a "2/3/4/5 Doctors" story, but this wouldn't be the place.

You can't go back in time because the Time Lords were erased from existance.

The Time War may still be going on in the alternate universe, but the door was closed between the two worlds and they'd HAVE to bring Billie back (which doesn't seem appropriate after the beautiful send off they gave her).

The only way I can see it working is if they need to travel to Gallifrey for some reason (a part fo the TARDIS/Doctor feels "called" there) and experience some kind of holodeck historical records or something.

I think the current "Whoniverse" is far better without the Time Lords, but it seems like they can't go on referencing the War without some explaination.

Any thoughts?

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I am of two minds about this...

1. How about a 13 novel series chronicling the war and the aftermath?

or

2. Write nothing and show nothing. Do we REALLY want to know what the Doctor did during this time? What if he wasn't the Doctor we all know.... Wait, no... now I really do want to see this !

I like the idea of a separate, "spinoff" story with McGann... possibly ending with the regeneration to Eccelston and leading straight into series one (as there is an implication that he had not seen his new face until he was in Rose and Jackie's flat and passed a mirror).

I've had another idea, as well, to have a Tennant/McGann story that involves the War and ends roughly the same way as above.

I worry that a story about Gallifrey would be too fan-ish. The cool thing about the new series is that you really don't need to know anything about the Doctor's enormous past to enjoy the show.

To be honest, I never liked seein the Time Lords in the first place. To me, seeing the Time Lords and Gallifrey took too much of the mystery away. I remember Andrew Cartmel, the script editor for the last seasons of the original show, was working very hard to restore some mystery to the Doctor, implying that he was more than just a Time Lord. I like knowing more about the companions and less about the Doctor.

The other thing about the Time Lords for me is that they are like the Green Lantern Corps. in that they deprive the main character of his uniqueness. The Doctor as Last of the Time Lords with the last Tardis operating all alone makes him that much more compelling to me.

Just my opinion, of course. And I would love to see a multi-Doc story.

I really hope not. Things are great the way they are.

Hoosier Whovian wrote:

I like my solution to the whole TIme War question. Another spin off series. Thirteen Episodes and featuring Paul McGann. With a budget of 30% more than the current Who series in order to not have to do any budget episodes, not to say that a good group of character episodes wouldnt be out of place.

I think Russell put it best when he said that to play out that story would lessen the Time War's mythic weight in the series and to the characters.

I don't want a full explaination, but I don't think they can just leave it out there and keep referring to it without giving us a little more to chew on (even if it raises more questions than it answers).

CJSchmidt wrote:

I don't want a full explaination, but I don't think they can just leave it out there and keep referring to it without giving us a little more to chew on (even if it raises more questions than it answers).

The bits in The Unquiet Dead, End Of The World and Parting Of The Ways seemed a full course meal to me. I like the mythic quality of it all. This is one time I don't think I need to know everything.

I think they should quit using it as a plot device entirely unless the are going to fully explain it. It's a lame plot excuse. Why did THAT happen?.. oh it was a result of the great time war between..blah blah.

The whole thing becomes a messy continuity issue especially if you include the book series.

Leave it alone it's an enigma inside an oubliette.

Or......just completely explain what happen and make probably 50% of the people happy!

It will either be hashed out in a big budget movie or a series of Who novels.

I'd love an arc with Tennant and McGannthat leads to McGann's Who kicking off the Time War on purpose.

The Time Lords and Gallifrey were a great source for the backstory of the Doctor.

Omega,Rassilon,and the others added great depth to the character's roots.

I hope it could all return one day in some form.

White Guardian anyone?

Well... it seems the Doctor is NOT the last time lord. Series Three is going to be really interesting.

I think the whole "Last of the Time Lords" thing has served its purpose. The character has been successfully established, and bringing in more Time Lords isn't going to put off any new new viewers.

Time for the Time Lords to come out of their own Genesis Ark I think.

Hoosier Whovian wrote:

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Well said.

Seriously. Why do you delete the content of so many of your posts?

I did not delete it. I had a glitch one time and it seems that however it happened, I dont know, I am not a geek like everyone else, a lot of them disappeared one night. I mentioned this before. If the mods can just erase all of these posts I would be grateful.

From what I've read it appears that the current season will
be addressesing some of these issues.

In a recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Russell Davies
mentioned the Time War and he would prefer it to remain
vague for the time being. That years from now people
could use the Time War as the basis for original novels.

If there are any Time Lords left I doubt they would be very
happy with the Doctor since he is responsible for the
destruction of Gallifrey.

Another note. Can a war fought throughout time with all of
creation at stake truly have an end?

Hoosier Whovian wrote:

I did not delete it. I had a glitch one time and it seems that however it happened, I dont know, I am not a geek like everyone else

Um...Sure you're not...And there's really no need to say things like that (being a geek isn't a bad thing).

Dana

The history of the Geek is long and bizarre. Originally, it meant a side-show freak who did things like bite the heads off live chickens.
One day I'd like to discover a full word-history that leads to the modern usage where people refer to themselves as geeks with pride (I used to have a friend who was a Geek at Linux Red Hat... it was actually his job-title).

American Word Origins says:

For centuries, a geck or geek was nothing but "a loser, a fool, a simpleton." The word in its various pronunciations was established in the English language as long ago as 1515, attested by the line "He is a foole, a sotte, and a geke also." But in the late twentieth century, Americans made something else of geek.

Early in the century, we started to use geek to mean "a performer in a carnival sideshow, a supposed savage or wild man." Researcher David W. Maurer wrote in 1931, "The word is reputed to have originated with a man named Wagner of Charleston, W. Va., whose hideous snake-eating act made him famous."

The stage was thus set for the next American evolution of geek as another kind of person, one whose talents were concealed behind an awkward exterior. The exact date is hard to pin down, but in student slang of the 1970s and later, a geek was someone who partied too little and studied too much. And when these geeks migrated to Silicon Valley and began building computers and writing software programs that made them millionaires, they gained respect.

In the 1990s, alpha geek was a term of humorous respect for the person in a workplace who knows the most about computers. And the richest man in America was the alpha alpha geek, billionaire Bill Gates of Microsoft.

How strange. I hope that doesn't happen to the entire forum.

Yep... the current season is definitely addressing the issue of "Last of the Times Lords."
And the Doctor is in denial... probably doesn't want to get his hopes up.

So where are people discussing the latest episodes (they must be somewhere)? Love to chat about them among those of us who are watching along with the UK.

CJSchmidt wrote:

I don't want a full explaination, but I don't think they can just leave it out there and keep referring to it without giving us a little more to chew on (even if it raises more questions than it answers).

I tend to think they really don't need to go into things on this topic further and also just need to stop mentioning the Time War, last of the Time Lords and the home planet, and add into the not need to be mentioned anymore Rose.

Move forward from these topics. The first and second Doctor's traveled on without the need to dwell on the Doctor's attachments so much.

What really will be gained if they show up again?
A few interesting things could come out of it but do we really want to watch the Doctor hanging out on his deck back home cooking something on the backyard grill?

I agree, yet it's just knowing that there are family and friends still around, and knowing you're never really alone. Thinking that when his time is up, and The Valeyard will be the last of the Time Lords, it can be disturbing.

ok, just an idea, see if anyone thinks i'm crazy. how about "new gallifrey"? and it's being run but Ace, because she was in another dimension when the time war destroyed the original gallifrey, and she got back after the last of the time lords. it would be great to have another cameo from the classic series, but the doctor would get angry with her, because she would be building the new time lords up like an army(because she's not going to let the destruction of gallifrey happen again).

I hope we do see what happened in the Time War and the Aftermath, it would probably over a few episodes, like what caused the Time War and then the start of the War and then the Aftermath, maybe they should make a movie of it, either a TV movie or being released in the cinema. Ooh! I just had a thought, they're making the 3 specials to go out during 2009, so maybe one of them could be on the Time War. But I don't understand how these 'Bank-Holiday' Specials work, anyone know? I wouldn't mind reading about the Time War but I'd prefer to see it on TV or at the cinema.