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In the Doctor Who episode "Hell Bent" we've seen that Gallifrey was moved to the end of the universe, give or take one star system. And after that, the universe has ended.

My question is, could succeeding Doctors visit Gallifrey anymore, as long it's not time locked? Because, let's say that any new Doctor visits Gallifrey right when Gallifrey is being moved to the end of the universe or gets out from the pocket universe (before the "Hell Bent" timeline)?

Wouldn't this affect Peter Capaldi's Doctor in "Hell Bent", as the Time Lords didn't mention that another Doctor visited Gallifrey previously before all of these events?

So, my questions are, is Gallifrey visitable? And in what circumstances (I'm curious if Time Lords can be seen again)?

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  • This seems somewhat speculative and unless there is something specifically stated in the show it's likely to be opinion-based. I'm not familiar enough with the subject matter but I'm wondering if this might not be a better fit on SF&F.
    – Paulie_D
    Commented Jul 9, 2019 at 12:28

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Assuming the Time Lords don't move it again, you'd have to go to the end of the universe. The Doctor should find that the time passed on Gallifrey is at least as long as their own personal time since they last left.

The exact mechanism by which Gallifrey is "currently" at the end of the universe is unknown. It may exist in its own spacetime extending beyond the "end", or it may be constantly travelling back in time to "always" remain at the moment of the end, or something else involving lots of words like quantum.

As a general principal, it is not possible to travel into Gallifrey's past. The universe, and TARDIS travel in particular, is synchronised to Gallifrey's local time. Once anyone has interacted with Gallifrey it is impossible to "later" interact at an "earlier" time.

This concept is most explicit in the novels. See for example, the Web of Time. It is consistent with on-screen portrayals.

Exceptions

When Clara entered the Doctor's time-stream one fragment appeared in Gallifrey's past. However, at that point Gallifrey didn't "currently" exist in the Universe, so the rule may not be applicable.

The Moment brings the Doctor's future incarnations to Gallifrey. The Moment is highly advanced Time Lord technology, the most powerful weapon ever to exist. I can believe it is capable of bypassing whatever enforces the synchronisation.

Clara ends up under the Doctor's childhood bed during "Listen", somehow casually bypassing the war's time lock as well.

Out of Universe, consistency arises more through coincidence than writer effort.

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  • Is that rule supposed to survive regenerations or is each regeneration a new 'anyone'?
    – user18935
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 10:28
  • @Jeeped I don't think it's been violated cross-regeneration. Although similar rules like the Blinovitch Limitation Effect don't appear to apply cross-regeneration. It's unclear how many of these "rules" are natural, how many are created by the Time Lords, and how many require active Time Lord activity to be in effect.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 10:38
  • I was thinking of the three Doctors on the surface of Gallifrey with the bomb (personified by Rose).
    – user18935
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 10:46
  • @Jeeped ah yes. The Moment is highly advanced Time Lord technology, the most powerful weapon ever to exist. I can believe it is capable of bypassing whatever enforces the synchronisation.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Jul 10, 2019 at 10:50

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