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All people from Gallifrey are considered Gallifreyans; but what differences, if any, are there between Time Lords and common Gallifreyan citizens other than having a TARDIS?

Gallifreyan
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giacomo casanova
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    Could it be that Galifreyans are just the inhabitants of Galifrey like how all organisms on earth are considered Earthlings and Timelord is their species like how we're humans? – giacomo casanova Feb 23 '14 at 21:02
  • Despite recent dubious events in the chibnal era - the fact that a timelord can be granted regeneration implies a timelord is an artifically enhanced Gallifreyan. I've concluded it's probably similar to the energy wisp that makes a TARDIS or the Moment bomb work, merged with a person rather than a machine. – lucasbachmann Dec 21 '20 at 21:24

4 Answers4

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The Time Lords are the rulers of Gallifreyan society as well as their military leaders, selected from early childhood (age 8), shown the untempered schism and educated at Timelord Academy for approximately three centuries before being granted the right to use a TARDIS to undertake missions authorised by the High Council of the Timelords.

It appears that they were also the only ones eligible to stand for High Council, to serve on the Inner Council and to serve as judges and inquisiters although it may be that the terms Timelord/Gallifreyan are being used interchangeably or that attaining these roles makes you a Time Lord (e.g. irrespective of upbringing).

History doesn't record whether only the Time Lords were allowed to wear silly hats in Gallifreyan society;

Timelord Inquisiter Timelord Tennant

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Valorum
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  • Then why, after Amy told him "You look human", does the Doctor say "No, you look time lord"? – Mr Lister Feb 23 '14 at 10:08
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    @MrLister, because it was funnier for the show? Has the term "Gallifreyan" ever come up in the modern series, because maybe Time Lord would allow everyone to get the joke but Galifreyan might alienate (shush) people. Unless I'm mistaken, all of the Galifreyans the Doctor interacts with are Time Lords. Or maybe it was the most direct response. She says he looks human; the Time Lord replies in kind, as he always calls himself a Time Lord not a Galifreyan. (A point to be said is that all Time Lords are Galifreyan, not all Galifreyans are Time Lords). – Mac Cooper Feb 23 '14 at 10:20
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    Ran out of words -.- Furthermore, only Time Lords can regenerate (and I believe it was Rassilon who gave them that ability but don't quote me). Gallifrey is just a planet. People who come from there are Galifreyans. Time Lords are a species of people who have regenerative abilities and so on, who happen to also come from the same planet. – Mac Cooper Feb 23 '14 at 10:25
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    I think all the silly hats and so on are dealt with in some of the books, actually (as is the point that the Time Lords altered the universe at an early point to make life that looks like them the predominant form, handily explaining all the human-looking aliens all over the show). – evilsoup Feb 23 '14 at 10:25
  • @MrLister - The Doctor uses the term interchangeably, except when he doesn't – Valorum Feb 23 '14 at 10:27
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    I recall that Time Lords rejected Galifreyan society (correct me if I'm wrong). In any case the Doctor seems to spare no thought for the Galifreyans, only "his people" ("The Time Lords are all gone" and so on). In any case Vastra says that the Time Lord Race developed due to billions of years of exposure to the Time Vortex. – Mac Cooper Feb 23 '14 at 10:31
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    @Richard: is that Tennant in the picture on the right? It sure looks like him. – Paul D. Waite Feb 23 '14 at 10:49
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    @PaulD.Waite - Yes, but not from the series. It's a prop from the classic series that happened to be brought to the set where they were filming. He couldn't resist the urge to try it on...http://imgur.com/TvvNCnN – Valorum Feb 23 '14 at 11:07
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    @Richard: bloody marvellous. – Paul D. Waite Feb 23 '14 at 13:23
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    Awsome, i wish i could have seen Tennant on Galifey in that – giacomo casanova Feb 23 '14 at 17:08
  • He got to wear the silly hat, but did he get to do a silly walk (YouTube)? – FreeMan Sep 17 '15 at 13:11
  • @MacCooper yes, in Hell Bent – OrangeDog Jan 09 '20 at 13:19
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There is no actually concrete answer to this... Gallifreyans are technically the inhabitants of the planet Gallifrey and Time Lords are Gallifreyans as well, though there are varied accounts as to how the Time Lords came to be.

According to I.M Foreman Gallifreyans and Time Lords were a separate species due to the intervention of Rassilon.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gallifreyan

I.M. Foreman stated that Time Lords were a separate species due to Rassilon's intervention. (PROSE: Interference - Book One)

Matt Smith's Doctor stated that Time Lords evolved from the original Gallifreyans from continued exposure to the Time Vortex and Untempered Schism.

The Eleventh Doctor and Vastra said that the Gallifreyans evolved into Time Lords via exposure to the Time Vortex and the Untempered Schism over billions of years. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)

There are still Gallifreyans whom are not Time Lords, some which lived outside of the Capital Cities.

Outsider

Living in the wild lands outside the Capitol, bands of Gallifreyans called Outsiders lived a primitive lifestyle, wearing fur skins and using weapons like bows, arrows and spears for hunting food. (TV: The Invasion of Time)

There are also non-Timelord farmers in the series such as in the episode Hell Bent.

There was a community of Gallifreyan, non-Time-Lord farmers in the Drylands. (TV: Hell Bent)

It is also stated that at one point in the history of Gallifrey that non Timelords who were in religious orders were given access to certain "rights".

At one point in Gallifreyan history, members of Gallifreyan religious orders who were not Time Lords were nonetheless given certain rights: access to time travel, certain genetic privileges, and the right to observe High Council procedure. However, the High Council later disestablished the churches, monasteries and other religious orders, effectively abolishing these rights. (PROSE: Interference - Book Two)

As previously stated Time Lords were the ruling class of the planet Gallifrey when Doctor Who was introduced.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Time_Lord

The Time Lords (sometimes called the Lords of Time or, rarely, Chronarchs) were the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey, and thus also Gallifreyan. (TV: The Hand of Fear, The Deadly Assassin, PROSE: Interference - Book Two)

Essentially from all this we can determine that Time Lords are Gallifreyan but a Gallifreyan may not always be a Time Lord.

DoctorWho22
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    So what i said like a week ago, Galifreyans are just the inhabitants of Galifrey like how all organisms on earth are considered Earthlings and Timelord is their species like how we're humans – giacomo casanova Feb 27 '14 at 18:21
  • The problem is that Timelords are a ruling class essentially they aren't technically a separate species. When people say Gallifreyans they talk about the Humanoid species of the planet. The word Earthling is used to described humans as opposed to extraterrestrials in science fiction. – DoctorWho22 Mar 01 '14 at 18:42
  • And why did I get downvotes when I essentially said the same thing as the previous person but actually gave sources? – DoctorWho22 Mar 01 '14 at 18:43
  • Im guessing because you dont have a picture of Tenant in timelord diplamatic dressings – giacomo casanova Mar 02 '14 at 00:54
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    Definitely down to the lack of picture @DoctorWho22. I'd suggest you try to work this into your next answer; http://www.shadowlocked.com/images/stories/pics/jenna_louise_coleman/jenna--louise-coleman-doctor-who008.jpg – Valorum Mar 02 '14 at 10:09
  • @DoctorWho22 - But seriously, it's likely to be because you've used a mix of canon and non-canon sources. Also, you've said that there's no concrete answer then contradicted yourself in the next sentence. – Valorum Mar 02 '14 at 10:12
  • Even though there is no concrete answer for the question we can assume that due to what we know of Timelords that they are indeed from the planet Gallifrey and are the dominant species (aka Gallifreyans) and that because they are most likely simply the ruling class not all Gallifreyans are considered TimeLords. Also I was simply taking the quotes from the wikia for the relevant information, the only non canon sources would be the books, which are only 2 of the quotes (1 of which also is referenced in the TV show as well). – DoctorWho22 Mar 03 '14 at 19:40
  • Essentially I feel like I gave more quotes and information than the other person did, I can understand the downvotes just for the "non canon" but I gave plenty of canon sources as well. – DoctorWho22 Mar 03 '14 at 19:45
  • @giacomo casanova: Timelord isn't just a species name, because as mentioned in one of DoctorWho22's quotes, the episode "The Invasion of Time" showed us the "Outsiders" who weren't Time Lords, despite being the same species and living on Gallifrey. – Hypnosifl Mar 07 '14 at 22:23
  • And to be honest you do not need pictures to make a good answer. Just because you show a picture of a Time Lord in robes doesn't mean anything, you have to have accurate data / sources to back up the claims as well. – DoctorWho22 Mar 10 '14 at 20:15
  • @doctorwho22... im not saying your answer isnt valid im giving you the reason why people perfer the other; the down vote probably the canon noncanon problem and the controdiction – giacomo casanova Mar 12 '14 at 22:40
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    +1 for the reference to the outsiders, who are clearly stated to be the same species as the time lords but yet are not considered to be time lords themselves. This is an important point missing from the higher-ranking answer. – Jules Apr 20 '14 at 11:52
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A Gallifreyan is anyone from Gallifrey. A Time Lord has looked into the Untempered Schism, attended the Academy, and passed the exams.

user69179
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From what I've researched on Gallifrey and the Doctor, as well as other Time Lords (like the Master and the Rani - boy I had to dig deep for those two) Time Lords are all Gallifreyan, but not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords. At first it was like Vikings and Norwegians (am I right?) where Gallifreyan was the race but Time Lord was a title. Then, because of exposure to the Untempered Schism and the Time Vortex (and perhaps inbreeding, I'm not quite sure) the Time Lords evolved to be a separate race. Like animals and humans, kinda. Like animals and humans are all Earthlings (so to speak) and humans still count as animals, but they're an entirely new species.

Time Lords and Gallifreyans all come from Gallifrey, and Time Lords still count as Gallifreyans, but they're a different species.

JustAnotherWolfling
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    Do you have a source for the difference in species? I've never seen that suggested. – Edlothiad May 08 '18 at 07:21
  • No, not really. It's just a theory circulated around that I picked up. It makes sense, kind of. A lot of sites that I dug into confirmed it IN A WAY, but not entirely, so it's still rather ambiguous. However, I believe that Gallifreyans and Time Lords did branch off at some point in their evolutionary tree. – JustAnotherWolfling May 09 '18 at 08:20