Rassilon
Encyclopedia
Rassilon is a fictional character
in the British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord
society on the planet Gallifrey
. After the original television series ended in 1989, Rassilon's character and history were developed in books and other media.
that made his people lords of time in the distant past together with his colleague Omega
. Omega, a stellar engineer, was presumed killed by the supernova
that created the black hole later known as the Eye of Harmony
, and Rassilon harnessed the nucleus of the black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey and became the first Lord President. The official history is that he was a benevolent ruler who ruled his people wisely. However, there are other accounts which paint Rassilon as an opportunistic, ambitious and cruel dictator who seized power in the wake of his friend's death (for which some suggest he may have been deliberately responsible).
Rassilon's contributions to Time Lord culture and society were immense, and his name both reverberates and is honoured throughout Time Lord history. The Rassilon Imprimatur is the name given to the symbiotic
nucleus of a Time Lord's cell structure which allows them to withstand the molecular stresses of time travel and grant them a link to their TARDIS
time machines.
Several other Time Lord artifacts named after him have a technological function, in addition to their ceremonial roles:
Rassilon is also given credit, variously, for TARDIS
technology; the living metal and super-weapon validium
; and the defensive Quantum Force Field and Transduction Barriers that protected Gallifrey. How much of this is true and how much of it is propaganda and public relations are not certain. However, it is established that a TARDIS
derived its power primarily from the Eye of Harmony, prior to Gallifrey's destruction. And it is likely that the power provided by Rassilon's capture and installation of the Eye of Harmony would have been key to meeting the vast energy requirements of setting up and maintaining the defence screens for the entire planet of Gallifrey from its potential enemies. Indeed, in "The Invasion of Time
" the Fourth Doctor
uses the Matrix circlet to consult with Rassilon's personality print to find a way of disabling the Quantum Force Field, which prevented physical penetration of the planet Gallifrey, after K9 had destroyed the Transduction (teleportation) Barriers, upon his order, allowing the Vardans to first, partially materialise. However the question remains about how much is a romantic idea of Rassilon and his achievements as compared to the real person. In "The Two Doctors
" (1985), the Sixth Doctor
claims that Rassilon enjoyed fishing
and advocated its practice by Time Lords, but on questioning by Peri
, admits he may have just made it up, which can be said to illustrate the Time Lord propensity for pretension which could have obfuscated the truth from the official history.
The Tomb or Tower of Rassilon, also known as the Dark Tower, stands in the middle of the Death Zone — a blasted, barren plain — on Gallifrey. The Death Zone was used, in a period of Gallifrey's history known as the Dark Time, as an arena that pitted warriors of various alien
species and times (captured by the use of a device called the Time Scoop) against each other in gladiator
ial games, although the Second Doctor
tells the Brigadier
that Rassilon put a stop to the games ("The Five Doctors
", 1983). It was rumored that Rassilon, who lived during this time, had been deposed by Time Lords rebelling against his rule. It was also claimed Rassilon had discovered the secret of immortality
and was still alive in the Tower, sleeping. The quest to reach Rassilon's tomb and the secret, blocked by a series of deadly obstacles, is referred to as "The Game of Rassilon".
In "The Five Doctors", Time Lord President Borusa wants Rassilon's secret for himself, describing Rassilon's immortality as "perpetual bodily regeneration". Borusa uses the Time Scoop to transport the Doctor in all his regenerations
(along with various companions
) to the Death Zone, using them to clear the way to the Tower. The First Doctor
deduced from the riddle "This is the Game of Rassilon; to lose is to win and he who wins shall lose" that the Game was a trap to get rid of Time Lords who might be a danger to their race. Borusa is granted immortality by being transformed into a living statue. Rassilon subsequently returned the first three Doctors to their proper places in time and space and freed the Fourth Doctor
from the time eddy that he had been trapped in. In that story, Rassilon (played by Richard Mathews) appears as a disembodied image floating above his own sepulchre, but the nature of this apparition is not explained.
", the two-part finale of the series' 2009 Specials.
On the last day of the Last Great Time War, Rassilon intended to spare the Time Lords from death by invoking "The Final Sanction", which was designed to destroy the time vortex and elevate the Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness at the cost of the rest of creation. Implicitly, his plan was defeated by the Doctor, who ended the war using a device called "the Moment", which resulted in the planet Gallifrey and all combatants being permanently "time-locked", and destroyed. This Rassilon (portrayed by Timothy Dalton
) was ruthless and determined to avoid death at any cost, even going so far as to kill one of his advisors that suggested it might be a good thing to allow The Doctor to end the War, and cause the final death of the Daleks and Time Lords.
Before the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey, however, Rassilon attempted to break Gallifrey out of the time lock that blocked the Last Great Time War from temporal manipulation, placing a drumming beat in the mind of the Master
when the Master gazed into the Time Vortex through the Untempered Schism as a child (and thus making Rassilon ultimately responsible for the Master's evil). When the Master turned all of humanity into copies of himself, the now-amplified drum beat, existing outside the Time Lock, acted as a signal, allowing Rassilon and his Council to escape the Time Lock. Rassilon was confronted by the Tenth Doctor
who was left with the choice of killing either the Master or Rassilon with a gun he had been given by his companion Wilfred Mott
to sever the link. Rassilon taunted him about his hesitation, but after seeing a mysterious woman among Rassilon's entourage, the Doctor shot the diamond Rassilon sent to the Master to act as an anchor for the link, severing it. Rassilon went to kill the Doctor in revenge, but was badly hurt by a vengeful Master, learning the truth that his life was manipulated by the president, as Rassilon, the other Time Lords, and Gallifrey were all sent directly back into the Time Lock and the last day of the Last Great Time War, effectively destroying them.
novel Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
. It is revealed in the novel that Ancient Gallifrey was ruled by the Pythia
, who controlled the population through prophecies and superstition. Rassilon, whose followers believed in science and rationality, led a revolution against the Pythia, eventually causing her to kill herself and send her followers to the planet Karn. However, before she died she cursed Rassilon and all future Time Lords to sterility. Rassilon's unborn daughter was one of the deaths. In later New Adventures we are introduced to the concept of the genetic Looms, from which new Time Lords were created. This leads to Rassilon becoming part of a ruling triumvirate with Omega
and a mysterious figure called the Other
. Together they rebuilt Gallifrey and re-ordered the universe along rational and scientific lines, outlawing superstition and banishing magic. The latter novel Lungbarrow
shows Rassilon becoming increasingly tyrannical and violently crushing resistance to his reforms, which ultimately leads to the Other breaking with him and throwing himself into the genetic looms, leading to his later apparent reincarnation as the Doctor.
In the last three stories of Alan Moore
's run on Doctor Who Monthly we see the first Time War in Time Lord history, where the Order of the Black Sun make a pre-emptive strike on the Gallifreyans' experiments with time travel. In the first story, "Star Death" (Doctor Who Magazine #47), we see Rassilon gaining the equipment to control time travel thanks to the failed initial attack. In the DWM comic strips, Rassilon is shown existing in the Matrix as part of a council of "Higher Evolutionaries" acting as the guardians of Time (The Tides of Time Part 2, DWM #62, among others).
In the Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions
, Rassilon is voiced by Don Warrington
in Seasons of Fear
, Neverland
, and Zagreus
. In those plays, he was also shown to continue to exist in the Matrix. He is also portrayed, not as a benevolent figure, but a master manipulator willing to preserve Time Lord history and society as he knew it at all costs, transforming the Doctor into his assassin- a being of pure anti-time that identifies itself as Zagreus- to defeat the Divergents, a race who would have evolved to surpass the Time Lords if reality had progressed as it should have, only for his plans to fail when the Doctor proclaims that he does not kill and Zagreus refuses to be Rassilon's puppet.
At the end of Zagreus, the Doctor was exiled to the Divergents' universe, having previously cast Rassilon into that reality to end his actions but unable to return to his universe as he is still contaminated by anti-time. He eventually tracked down Rassilon in that universe, and discovered that he had been manipulating an entity called the Kro'Ka to observe and control the Doctor and Charley
's actions. At the end of the events of "The Next Life
", the Doctor and his companions escaped the timeless Divergent universe- Rassilon having previously filtered the Zagreus energies out of the Doctor upon his arrival in this universe without the Doctor's knowledge-, but Rassilon and the Kro'Ka remained trapped in a permanent loop.
In Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
, Rassilon's Final Solution is mentioned when Amy Pond
looked at a Time Lord
Staff that the Eleventh Doctor
kept in his study.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
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...
. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of 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...
society on the planet 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...
. After the original television series ended in 1989, Rassilon's character and history were developed in books and other media.
Character history
Within the universe of the television series, there are many contradictory legends about Rassilon. It is known that he developed the technology for time travelTime 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...
that made his people lords of time in the distant past together with his colleague Omega
Omega (Doctor Who)
Omega is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally...
. Omega, a stellar engineer, was presumed killed by the supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
that created the black hole later known as the Eye of Harmony
Eye of Harmony
The Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
, and Rassilon harnessed the nucleus of the black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey and became the first Lord President. The official history is that he was a benevolent ruler who ruled his people wisely. However, there are other accounts which paint Rassilon as an opportunistic, ambitious and cruel dictator who seized power in the wake of his friend's death (for which some suggest he may have been deliberately responsible).
Rassilon's contributions to Time Lord culture and society were immense, and his name both reverberates and is honoured throughout Time Lord history. The Rassilon Imprimatur is the name given to the symbiotic
Symbiosis
Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
nucleus of a Time Lord's cell structure which allows them to withstand the molecular stresses of time travel and grant them a link to their TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
time machines.
Several other Time Lord artifacts named after him have a technological function, in addition to their ceremonial roles:
- The Sash of Rassilon allows the wearer to be in close proximity to the quantum singularity that is the Eye of HarmonyEye of HarmonyThe Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
, providing protection from the Eye's gravitational and energy forces, and preventing the wearer from being drawn across the event horizonEvent horizonIn general relativity, an event horizon is a boundary in spacetime beyond which events cannot affect an outside observer. In layman's terms it is defined as "the point of no return" i.e. the point at which the gravitational pull becomes so great as to make escape impossible. The most common case...
of the captured black holeBlack holeA black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
. Use of the Sash in this way is cited as having a regenerative effect upon the wearer. - The Crown of Rassilon (or matrix circlet) gives full access to the MatrixMatrix (Doctor Who)The Matrix, in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a massive computer system on the planet Gallifrey that acts as the repository of the combined knowledge of the Time Lords....
, providing a direct mental link to the computer network that serves as the repository of all Time Lord knowledge and their personality prints, captured at death in the Amplified Panatropic Computer (A.P.C net) that is a subsidiary part of the Matrix itself. - The Key of Rassilon allows physical access to the Matrix, for maintenance of this `micro-universe` repository of Time Lord knowledge. Confusingly, this is a separate artifact from the so called Great Key of Rassilon, that provides direct tapping of the near limitless energies of the Eye of Harmony, and is cited as a vital component part of the demat gun (a weapon of mass destruction); it is also hinted that this `key` is essential to accessing the other relative dimensions in time, in The Invasion of TimeThe Invasion of TimeThe Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
. - The Rod of Rassilon (referred to as "the Great Key" in the Book of the Old Time in "The Deadly AssassinThe Deadly AssassinThe Deadly Assassin is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 October to 20 November 1976...
") allows the user to physically access the containment/control apparatus of the Eye of HarmonyEye of HarmonyThe Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
itself, that was historically hidden beneath the Panopticon central dias. - The Coronet of Rassilon gives the user the ability to amplify and to project their own will to dominate others, but its effects can be defeated, if recognised, by a co-ordinated resistance of many minds.
- The Harp of Rassilon is a musical key that unlocks a secret roomSecret passageSecret passages, also commonly referred to as hidden passages or secret tunnels, are hidden routes used for stealthy travel. Such passageways are sometimes inside buildings leading to secret rooms. Others allow occupants to enter or exit buildings without being seen...
within the High Council chambers. This hidden compartment held the controls for the Time Scoop - a rudimentary `time corridor` technology, used presumably before it was perfected by Rassilon after the installation of the Eye of HarmonyEye of HarmonyThe Eye of Harmony is an artificial black hole created by the Time Lords to provide energy for their home world of Gallifrey and their time travel technology in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-First appearances:...
on GallifreyGallifreyGallifrey 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...
. - The Ring of Rassilon ostensibly grants the wearer immortality, but seemingly is keyed to Rassilon's DNA only, so that any other seizing the artifact is locked in perpetual imprisonment as a stone carving relief on Rassilon's bier.
- The Black Scrolls of Rassilon are parchment documents containing forbidden knowledge from the Dark Time, not recorded in the Matrix.
Rassilon is also given credit, variously, for TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
technology; the living metal and super-weapon validium
Silver Nemesis
Silver Nemesis was the 25th anniversary serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in the UK in three weekly parts from 23 November 1988, to 7 December 1988....
; and the defensive Quantum Force Field and Transduction Barriers that protected Gallifrey. How much of this is true and how much of it is propaganda and public relations are not certain. However, it is established that a TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
derived its power primarily from the Eye of Harmony, prior to Gallifrey's destruction. And it is likely that the power provided by Rassilon's capture and installation of the Eye of Harmony would have been key to meeting the vast energy requirements of setting up and maintaining the defence screens for the entire planet of Gallifrey from its potential enemies. Indeed, in "The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
" the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
uses the Matrix circlet to consult with Rassilon's personality print to find a way of disabling the Quantum Force Field, which prevented physical penetration of the planet Gallifrey, after K9 had destroyed the Transduction (teleportation) Barriers, upon his order, allowing the Vardans to first, partially materialise. However the question remains about how much is a romantic idea of Rassilon and his achievements as compared to the real person. In "The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
" (1985), the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
claims that Rassilon enjoyed fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and advocated its practice by Time Lords, but on questioning by Peri
Peri Brown
Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, admits he may have just made it up, which can be said to illustrate the Time Lord propensity for pretension which could have obfuscated the truth from the official history.
The Tomb or Tower of Rassilon, also known as the Dark Tower, stands in the middle of the Death Zone — a blasted, barren plain — on Gallifrey. The Death Zone was used, in a period of Gallifrey's history known as the Dark Time, as an arena that pitted warriors of various alien
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
species and times (captured by the use of a device called the Time Scoop) against each other in gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
ial games, although 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....
tells the Brigadier
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
that Rassilon put a stop to the games ("The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
", 1983). It was rumored that Rassilon, who lived during this time, had been deposed by Time Lords rebelling against his rule. It was also claimed Rassilon had discovered the secret of 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...
and was still alive in the Tower, sleeping. The quest to reach Rassilon's tomb and the secret, blocked by a series of deadly obstacles, is referred to as "The Game of Rassilon".
The Five Doctors
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...
(along with various companions
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...
) to the Death Zone, using them to clear the way to the Tower. 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...
deduced from the riddle "This is the Game of Rassilon; to lose is to win and he who wins shall lose" that the Game was a trap to get rid of Time Lords who might be a danger to their race. Borusa is granted immortality by being transformed into a living statue. Rassilon subsequently returned the first three Doctors to their proper places in time and space and freed the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
from the time eddy that he had been trapped in. In that story, Rassilon (played by Richard Mathews) appears as a disembodied image floating above his own sepulchre, but the nature of this apparition is not explained.
Revived Series
Rassilon returned as the villainous mastermind of "The End of TimeThe 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...
", the two-part finale of the series' 2009 Specials.
On the last day of the Last Great Time War, Rassilon intended to spare the Time Lords from death by invoking "The Final Sanction", which was designed to destroy the time vortex and elevate the Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness at the cost of the rest of creation. Implicitly, his plan was defeated by the Doctor, who ended the war using a device called "the Moment", which resulted in the planet Gallifrey and all combatants being permanently "time-locked", and destroyed. This Rassilon (portrayed by Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
) was ruthless and determined to avoid death at any cost, even going so far as to kill one of his advisors that suggested it might be a good thing to allow The Doctor to end the War, and cause the final death of the Daleks and Time Lords.
Before the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey, however, Rassilon attempted to break Gallifrey out of the time lock that blocked the Last Great Time War from temporal manipulation, placing a drumming beat in the mind of 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....
when the Master gazed into the Time Vortex through the Untempered Schism as a child (and thus making Rassilon ultimately responsible for the Master's evil). When the Master turned all of humanity into copies of himself, the now-amplified drum beat, existing outside the Time Lock, acted as a signal, allowing Rassilon and his Council to escape the Time Lock. Rassilon was confronted by 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...
who was left with the choice of killing either the Master or Rassilon with a gun he had been given by his companion Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
to sever the link. Rassilon taunted him about his hesitation, but after seeing a mysterious woman among Rassilon's entourage, the Doctor shot the diamond Rassilon sent to the Master to act as an anchor for the link, severing it. Rassilon went to kill the Doctor in revenge, but was badly hurt by a vengeful Master, learning the truth that his life was manipulated by the president, as Rassilon, the other Time Lords, and Gallifrey were all sent directly back into the Time Lock and the last day of the Last Great Time War, effectively destroying them.
Other appearances
Rassilon's rise to power was explored in the Virgin New AdventuresVirgin 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 Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible
Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor and Ace.-Plot:...
. It is revealed in the novel that Ancient Gallifrey was ruled by the Pythia
Pythia of Gallifrey
Pythia is a fictional character in the extended universe of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, she was the dictatorial ruler of the original tribes of Gallifrey, and was overthrown by Rassilon. Rassilon led a revolution against the Pythia,...
, who controlled the population through prophecies and superstition. Rassilon, whose followers believed in science and rationality, led a revolution against the Pythia, eventually causing her to kill herself and send her followers to the planet Karn. However, before she died she cursed Rassilon and all future Time Lords to sterility. Rassilon's unborn daughter was one of the deaths. In later New Adventures we are introduced to the concept of the genetic Looms, from which new Time Lords were created. This leads to Rassilon becoming part of a ruling triumvirate with Omega
Omega (Doctor Who)
Omega is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founding fathers of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally...
and a mysterious figure called the Other
Other (Doctor Who)
The Other is a fictional character in the expanded universe of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A legendary figure in Time Lord history, the Other does not appear in the television series itself, but is mentioned several times in the spin-off media based on the...
. Together they rebuilt Gallifrey and re-ordered the universe along rational and scientific lines, outlawing superstition and banishing magic. The latter novel Lungbarrow
Lungbarrow
Lungbarrow is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
shows Rassilon becoming increasingly tyrannical and violently crushing resistance to his reforms, which ultimately leads to the Other breaking with him and throwing himself into the genetic looms, leading to his later apparent reincarnation as the Doctor.
In the last three stories of Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's run on Doctor Who Monthly we see the first Time War in Time Lord history, where the Order of the Black Sun make a pre-emptive strike on the Gallifreyans' experiments with time travel. In the first story, "Star Death" (Doctor Who Magazine #47), we see Rassilon gaining the equipment to control time travel thanks to the failed initial attack. In the DWM comic strips, Rassilon is shown existing in the Matrix as part of a council of "Higher Evolutionaries" acting as the guardians of Time (The Tides of Time Part 2, DWM #62, among others).
In the Doctor Who audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
, Rassilon is voiced by Don Warrington
Don Warrington
Don Warrington, MBE is a Trinidadian British actor.-Personal life:Warrington was born in Trinidad and Tobago on 23 May 1951 and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne, England from age five. His father was the Trinidadian politician, Basil Kydd, who died in 1958. He has two sons.His acting career...
in Seasons of Fear
Seasons of Fear
Seasons of Fear is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
, Neverland
Neverland (Doctor Who audio)
Neverland is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
, and Zagreus
Zagreus (Doctor Who audio)
Zagreus is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This audio drama was presented on three compact discs, and was made by Big Finish as their primary release to celebrate forty years of Doctor Who.-Plot:Following directly...
. In those plays, he was also shown to continue to exist in the Matrix. He is also portrayed, not as a benevolent figure, but a master manipulator willing to preserve Time Lord history and society as he knew it at all costs, transforming the Doctor into his assassin- a being of pure anti-time that identifies itself as Zagreus- to defeat the Divergents, a race who would have evolved to surpass the Time Lords if reality had progressed as it should have, only for his plans to fail when the Doctor proclaims that he does not kill and Zagreus refuses to be Rassilon's puppet.
At the end of Zagreus, the Doctor was exiled to the Divergents' universe, having previously cast Rassilon into that reality to end his actions but unable to return to his universe as he is still contaminated by anti-time. He eventually tracked down Rassilon in that universe, and discovered that he had been manipulating an entity called the Kro'Ka to observe and control the Doctor and Charley
Charley Pollard
Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 7, based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman...
's actions. At the end of the events of "The Next Life
The Next Life
The Next Life is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the culmination of the "Divergent Universe" saga.-Plot:...
", the Doctor and his companions escaped the timeless Divergent universe- Rassilon having previously filtered the Zagreus energies out of the Doctor upon his arrival in this universe without the Doctor's knowledge-, but Rassilon and the Kro'Ka remained trapped in a permanent loop.
In Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is a series of episodic third-person adventure games, based on the BBC TV series Doctor Who and developed by Sumo Digital. Charles Cecil served as executive producer and worked with Sean Millard and Will Tarratt on the design...
, Rassilon's Final Solution is mentioned when Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
looked at a 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...
Staff that the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
kept in his study.