Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies in 2008.
The Time Lords had a transformative effect on Doctor Who as soon as they were fully introduced. In The War Games (1969) they initiated the Second Doctor’s regeneration, paving the way for the series’ relaunch in colour the following year. In 1996, the opening moments of the Doctor Who TV movie took us back to Gallifrey as Time Lord intervention ushered in another, sadly short-lived, era.
The next chapter began in 2005, when Russell T Davies’ more accessible reboot appeared to consign the Time Lords to history. On-screen references to the apocalyptic Time War remained stubbornly cryptic, but Russell revealed a surprising amount of background detail in print.