Was just thinking about the manner of his original exit from gallifrey along with the question of his name being "the question you've been running from all your life" and it's kind of made me wonder, could the doctor have previously been a criminal on gallifrey?.

He makes out that he just wanted to see the universe, and that is obviously part of it, but what if his leaving when he did was necessary because he was actually escaping justice or even execution for some serious crime and then when safely hidden away on earth has an epiphany that he wants to make up for his previous ways and then spends the rest of his life doing so?

Things that have mainly made me think of this are:

>In name of the doctor, we see the 1st doctor and clara running toward the tardis, as if in some kind of hurry.

>In an unearthly child the doctor and susan have stayed put long enough to for Ian and barbara to notice that something is unusual about her, suggesting that they could have been 'lying low' to avoid detection by the timelords.

>As mentioned above, there seems to have been suggested a link between the running away and his name, so possibly he is ashamed of the man he used to be and his name reminds him of that, so he never wishes to speak it again.

>The fact that the doctor seems to use companions to help him could be a remnant from being used to having 'accomplises'

>He makes mistakes and people often die, and yet when all is said and done, he seems to care little as long as he has done what he set out to do - much like a hardened criminal.

>The time lords never seem to be particularly happy to see him. if he were previously a criminal it could be that they saw evidence his potential by his actions off world and when they ask him to do things (as in genesis of the daleks) there's sort of unwritten community service type agreement going on in exchange for otherwise letting him live how he pleases that has been agreed upon sometime off screen.

> He's not exactly the purest hero who ever lived and although avoids killing, will often dispense justice as he sees fit. (think of his planning to use the moment, or what he did with adam at the end of the long game)


Thinking even a little bit further into this, It could even be that the master holds such a personal grudge against him now because maybe they were once partners in crime in some form. as I often get the impression that if the doctor would agree to team up with him, the master would happily oblige, and sometimes seems to ask/ offer him that chance.

Anyway a theory that's completely crazy and probably has no basis, but just thought that some of his attitudes and manner of leaving gallifrey mean it could in theory be possible.


It's a bit 'out there' I know, but what do you think? Possible or completely off base?

"More than meets the eye"

So we're getting Optimus Prime as a companion? Man, that's going to be awesome.

I've brought this up before and likely will again, but there is a story (I think in the novels) that involves The Doctor being part of an alliance with a group of other Timelords...including The Master and The Rani.

I would love such an idea to be reworked into the show, with The Doctor, The Rani, The Corsair, The Master and perhaps one or two others becoming an infamous rebel group that all turned against Rassilon or Gallifrey in general at one point. It'd be a marvellous way to continue doing Timelord stories, maybe gradually tease a return for Gallifrey, without actually having to rush the 'Gallifrey returns' story too quickly.

The Doctor is certainly a criminal, but none of the Time Lords have mentioned any crime other than a) stealing a Tardis, and b) interfering in the lives of lower species. That doesn't rule out a crime that they don't know about, of course, but it's more likely to just be a personal matter.

He's supposed to be a rebel against the Timelords' general disinterest in and apathy towards the rest of the universe. All they wanted to do was watch without interfering with events and all he wanted to do was get involved and help the rest of the universe.

I think that is reason enough why he was originally running from the Timelords.

What follows is just speculation:

Of course, if he was duped or set up by the Master (and maybe the Rani) in some way that would provide additional "motivation" for him to steal the TARDIS. More likely though is that he was falsely accused of some crime by "the powers that be" because he wanted to interfere and help.

Some people prefer all this to remain shrouded in mystery and never be revealed.

Nooooooo. Not the Rani, please, please please don't keep suggesting that the Bl**dy Rani should return....
She was a useless villain, in two fairly awful stories, she has no relevance to the series as it is these days and simply doesn't need to come back. The part would be recast anyway, so why not just invent a new, and considerably better, female villain? Or expand the role of Kovarian for example.

Though in a minority that actually liked the concept of the Rani, I'd also like this.

No matter what we need more female villainy.

Yes, he was tried for his crimes in the War Games and it was really just about his continual intervening.

I just watched Deadly Assassin last week and the Time Lords read out his log entry in which it said he was guilty of 'malfeasance' but was then pardoned (after saving the Time Lords from Omega in the Three Doctors). Apparently most of the details were redacted by the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency).

I always thought it was a bit odd for a non-interventionist society to have an intervention agency but I suppose they couldn't resist the pun

Could definitely be interesting to have something within a future story that further enchances the 'lore' of the show. Wouldn't want his pre 'totters lane' days plotted out or even partially understood as the mystery is all part of the show, but a story involving one specific event that happened between the doctor and master during this period would be good.

Oh okay, I understood that the time lords disapproved of his interference with the universe but didn't realise that they felt strongly enough that they classed it as a crime.

I still wonder though, why was he hurriedly stealing a TARDIS? surely there must have been something that occured before he actually left gallifrey that had put him in such a desperate position. Had he just felt like leaving with no pressure, surely he could have acquired his own TARDIS legitimately and would have been in no hurry to leave. Given what others have said, I'm wondering now if he was some sort of political criminal, as in, he was on the council at one time, strongly argued and campaigned for the right to get involved, maybe held protests for this right which got out of hand, and then having proved dangerous to there ideals and in general, was barred from using a TARDIS through fear of what he might do with one, leading to him eventually stealing one. Just my speculation of course.

Supposedly it was answered in the audio book by Big Finish Productions "The Beginnings" that the Doctor and Susan stole the TARDIS while running away with the Hand of Omega. Which then ties in with the episode "Rememberance of the Daleks". As most consider the audio books canon, this may explain his running away if he stole the Hand of Omega.

While he may had his reasons at the time, they may have frowned on the theft of it.

I wouldn't presume to think that 'most' consider the audio stories canon, as it seems more 50/50 especially since a lot of people don't actually listen to them.

With the absence of anything on screen though that sounds like a pretty good explanation and, as you say, does nicely tie into remebrance of the daleks. Although could be subject to change if moffat decides to do anything on the subject.

I don't listen to them. I don't consider the 'Big Finish' audios to be canon.

The only ones I have listened to, and have got on CD are Blood of the Daleks featuring the 8th Doctor and Lucie Miller, plus Energy of the Daleks featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela. I really like those.

I got Energy of the Daleks really because we haven't seen Leela face the Daleks on TV, and I wanted to know how Leela gets on facing them. Overall, I am pleased with EOTD. Shame there are only two 27 minute parts, but to get this out as a single disc, that's all the 'Big Finish' people could do.

Guys, they're canon. That's not my opinion, it's FACT. McGann referenced his audio companions just before regenerating into John Hurt.

It may be canonical that he had companions with those names - but that doesn't mean that all his adventures with them fit into the modern continuity as-is. Similarly, just because the Doctor and the Master are mentioned, it doesn't mean that any spin-off story featuring them necessarily happened in the TV version of events.