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{{short description|Fictional character in Doctor Who}}
{{short description|Fictional character in Doctor Who}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox character
{{Infobox character
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| series      = [[Doctor Who]]
| series      = [[Doctor Who]]
| image      = Glove of Rassilon.jpg
| image      = Glove of Rassilon.jpg
| image_size  = 200px
| image_size  = 200
| caption    = [[Timothy Dalton]] as Rassilon in "The End of Time".
| caption    = [[Timothy Dalton]] as Rassilon in "The End of Time".
| first      = ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' (1983)
| first      = ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' (1983)
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| home        = [[Gallifrey]]
| home        = [[Gallifrey]]
}}
}}
'''Rassilon''' is a [[fiction]]al [[Character (arts)|character]] in the British [[science fiction on television|science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of [[Time Lord]] society on the planet [[Gallifrey]] and its first leader, as Lord High President.<ref>Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 697. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. {{ISBN|978-193523411-1}}.</ref> After the original television series ended in 1989, Rassilon's character and history were developed in books and other media.
'''Rassilon''' is a fictional character from the British [[science fiction on television|science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of [[Time Lord]] society on the planet [[Gallifrey]] and its first leader. Rassilon was first mentioned in the 1976 serial ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'', where he was [[retconned]] into being a major establishing figure in Time Lord society, filling the role previously fulfilled by the character [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]]. Despite his impact on Time Lord society, he was implied to be a cruel leader. He would later appear in the 1983 episode "[[The Five Doctors]]" in a physical appearance. In the show's revival, he appears as an antagonist in the 2009–2010 episodes "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]" and the 2015 episode "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]". Rassilon has also appeared in a large amount of spin-off media associated with the show.  
 
The role of Rassilon has been portrayed by several actors throughout the series, with Richard Mathews portraying him in "The Five Doctors", [[Timothy Dalton]] portraying him in "The End of Time", and [[Donald Sumpter]] portraying him in "Hell Bent". He also has been voiced by actors [[Don Warrington]] and [[Richard Armitage (actor)|Richard Armitage]] in [[Big Finish audio dramas|Big Finish produced audio dramas]]. Rassilon has been analysed for his role as a leadership figure in the series, as well as in comparisons between the series and real-world religions.  


==Character history==
==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 travel]] that made his people lords of time in the distant past together with his colleague [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]].<ref name="timelordorigins">{{cite web
| url        =https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/timelordorigins.shtml
| title      = Time Lord Origins
| work        = Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide
| publisher  = [[BBC]]
| access-date  =2010-01-02
| quote      =Only when Omega was brought into the picture did Rassilon perceive that together they could create fully functioning time travel craft.
}}</ref> 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 [[Black hole#Singularity|nucleus]] of the black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey and became the first and, to date, only Lord High President, his successors taking the title Lord President.<ref>Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 697. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. {{ISBN|978-193523411-1}}.</ref> The official history is that he was a benevolent ruler who ruled his people wisely. However, there are other accounts that paint Rassilon as a cruel dictator.<ref>''Doctor Who'' – "[[The Five Doctors]]" tx BBC1 25 November 1983</ref> The first mention of Rassilon is in the Fourth Doctor serial ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]''.


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 [[symbiosis|symbiotic]] nucleus of Time Lords' cell structures that allows them to withstand the molecular stresses of time travel and grants them a link to their [[TARDIS]] time machines.<ref name="twodoctors">{{cite web
=== Television series ===
| url         =https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/twodoctors/detail.shtml
''[[Doctor Who]]'' is a long-running British [[Science fiction on television|science-fiction television]] series that began in 1963. It stars its protagonist, [[The Doctor]], an alien who travels through time and space in a ship known as the [[TARDIS]], as well as their travelling [[Companion (Doctor Who)|companions]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicol |first=Danny |date=May 1, 2020 |title=''Doctor Who'', Family and National Identity |journal=Entertainment & Sports Law Journal |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=1–11 |via=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]]}}</ref> When the Doctor dies, they are able to undergo a process known as "[[Regeneration (Doctor Who)|regeneration]]", completely changing the Doctor's appearance and personality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grady |first=Constance |date=2023-12-13 |title=''Doctor Who''{{’}}s big twist betrayed the show's oldest rule |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/24000340/doctor-who-the-giggle-david-tennant-russell-t-davies |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=[[Vox media|Vox]] |language=en-US |archive-date=29 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229131412/https://www.vox.com/culture/24000340/doctor-who-the-giggle-david-tennant-russell-t-davies |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout their travels, the Doctor often comes into conflict with various [[List of Doctor Who universe creatures and aliens|alien species]] and antagonists.<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Cardin |first=Matt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKnIEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Sutekh%22+doctor+who+-wikipedia&pg=PT12 |title=Mummies around the World: An Encyclopedia of Mummies in History, Religion, and Popular Culture |date=2014-11-17 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing USA]] |isbn=979-8-216-12019-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Bobby |date=2022-01-24 |title=''Doctor Who'' Villains, Ranked |url=https://www.space.com/doctor-who-villains-ranked-worst-to-best |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250617143728/https://www.space.com/doctor-who-villains-ranked-worst-to-best |archive-date=2025-06-17 |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=[[Space.com|Space]] |language=en}}</ref>
| title      = The Two Doctors
| author      =[[Paul Cornell]], [[Martin Day (writer)|Martin Day]], [[Keith Topping]], [[David J. Howe]], [[Stephen James Walker]]
| work        = Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide
| publisher   = [[BBC]]
| access-date =2010-01-02
| quote      =... in order to find the Rassilon Imprimature—the symbiotic nuclei within a Time Lord's genes that are the key to time travel.
}}</ref>


Several other Time Lord artifacts named after him have a technological function, in addition to their ceremonial roles:
Within the context of the series, Rassilon was a historic figure within the history of the Doctor's people, the [[Time Lord|Time Lords]]. Rassilon had fought in a war against a race known as the [[Great Vampire|Great Vampires]], constructed a defence system of living metal known as [[Validium]], and created technology that could capture peoples from throughout time and space known as a [[Time Scoop]]. Rassilon worked with another Time Lord named [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]] to create the first time travel spaceship, harnessing the power of a star undergoing a [[supernova]] to fuel the device. Though it succeeded, Omega disappeared during the incident.<ref name="timelordorigins">{{cite web |title=Time Lord Origins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/timelordorigins.shtml |access-date=2010-01-02 |work=Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide |publisher=[[BBC]] |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202061143/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/timelordorigins.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Rassilon harnessed the [[Black hole#Singularity|nucleus]] of the resulting black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel,<ref name=":0" /> resulting in much of Omega's praise being given to Rassilon,<ref name="timelordorigins" /> and Rassilon became a defining figure in Time Lord society. Rassilon took control of the Time Lords' home planet [[Gallifrey]] as its "Lord High President".<ref name=":0">Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). ''A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition)'', p. 697. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. {{ISBN|978-193523411-1}}.</ref> Despite being seen in Time Lord society as a hero and benevolent ruler, the Doctor stated that rumors existed that Rassilon was secretly a [[dictator]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wilkins |first=Alasdair |date=2010-01-04 |title=Figuring Out Doctor Who's Lingering Mysteries |url=https://gizmodo.com/figuring-out-doctor-whos-lingering-mysteries-5439138 |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-US}}</ref> Rassilon died long before the series' in-universe events began.  
* The '''Sash of Rassilon''' allows the wearer to be in close proximity to the singularity that is the Eye of Harmony, providing protection from the Eye's gravitational and energy forces, and preventing the wearer from being drawn across the [[event horizon]] of the captured [[black hole]]. 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 [[Matrix (Doctor Who)|Matrix]], 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 Time]]''.
* The '''Rod of Rassilon''' (referred to as "the Great Key" in the Book of the Old Time in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'') allows the user to physically access the containment/control apparatus of the Eye of Harmony itself, that was historically hidden beneath the Panopticon central dais.
* 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 passage|secret room]] within the High Council chambers. This hidden compartment held the controls for the Time Scoop—a rudimentary "time corridor" technology, used presumably before time travel was perfected by Rassilon after the installation of the [[Eye of Harmony]] on [[Gallifrey]].
* 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.


[[File:Seal of Rassilon.svg|thumb|180px|left|The seal of Rassilon.]]
Though the character is first mentioned in the 1976 serial ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'',<ref name=":1" /> Rassilon first appears physically in "[[The Five Doctors]]" (1983), where the Lord President of Gallifrey, [[Borusa]] ([[Philip Latham]]), seeks immortality, which he believes can be granted via entering Rassilon's tomb. To accomplish this, Borusa uses the Time Scoop to transport various versions of the Doctor, their [[Companion (Doctor Who)|companions]], and several of their enemies to the Death Zone, a location contains a tower holding Rassilon's tomb. Borusa uses them to find a way into the tower, at which point Borusa appears and seeks immortality from Rassilon. Rassilon (Richard Mathews) appears as a disembodied image, granting Borusa immortality by turning Borusa into a stone bust on Rassilon's tomb. Rassilon soon after dissipates, but returns the various displaced beings back to their home times.  
Rassilon is also given credit, variously, for [[TARDIS]] technology; the living metal and super-weapon [[Silver Nemesis|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 is not certain. However, it is established that a [[TARDIS]] derives its power primarily from the Eye of Harmony.


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 [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|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 Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier]] that Rassilon put a stop to the games ("[[The Five Doctors]]", 1983). It was rumoured 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".
Due to the effects of the [[Last Great Time War]], a war waged across time and space by the Time Lords against the [[Dalek|Daleks]], Rassilon was revived into a physical form, becoming much crueler. Leading the Time Lords in the war, Rassilon learned that the Doctor planned to end the war by destroying both sides. Rassilon implanted the sound of a drumbeat in the head of antagonist [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]], and during the events of "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]" (2009–2010), in which the Master ([[John Simm]]) turns every human on Earth into a copy of himself, the sound of the drumbeat is amplified, allowing Rassilon ([[Timothy Dalton]]) and the Time Lords to lock onto the signal it creates. Nearly escaping the Time War, the [[Tenth Doctor]] ([[David Tennant]]) destroys a device causing the drumbeat's amplification, causing the Time Lords and Rassilon to be returned to the War.  


==="The Five Doctors"===
In "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]" (2015), set after the Doctor saves Gallifrey from being destroyed (As seen in the 2013 episode "[[The Day of the Doctor]]"), the [[Twelfth Doctor]] ([[Peter Capaldi]]) arrives on Gallifrey and learns that Rassilon ([[Donald Sumpter]]) was responsible for the Doctor's imprisonment and torture for four and a half billion years (As seen in the 2015 episode "[[Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)|Heaven Sent]]"), as well as being indirectly responsible for the death of the Twelfth Doctor's companion, [[Clara Oswald]] ([[Jenna Coleman]]). Rassilon briefly discusses matters with various Time Lords, including Ohila, a member of the [[Sisterhood of Karn]], a Gallifreyan religious group. On arrival on Gallifrey, he leads a military revolt against Rassilon, deposes him, and sends him into exile.  
[[File:Rassilon.jpg|thumb|Richard Mathews as Rassilon in "[[The Five Doctors]]"]]
In "The Five Doctors", 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 the majority of his [[regeneration (Doctor Who)|incarnations]] (along with various [[companion (Doctor Who)|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 in which he had been trapped. 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.


People with major involvement in the ''Doctor Who'' television series, [[Doctor Who spin-offs|''Doctor Who'' spin off media]] and in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'', when asked in ''The Essential Doctor Who'' magazine, were divided over whether the image of Rassilon seen in "The Five Doctors" is actually alive or an artificial intelligence or if he had ever died prior to "The Five Doctors". According to ''DWM'' editor [[Tom Spilsbury]], it hadn't occurred to him before that he was anything other than being alive, and that "it might come down to semantics over what being alive means". ''Doctor Who'' scriptwriter [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]] believed that Rassilon is dead and the face that appears is "a clever AI". [[Head writer]] and [[executive producer]] [[Russell T Davies]] believed that Rassilon is "clearly alive", with his big face in the story being "A projection from [[Matrix (Doctor Who)|the Matrix]]. A mental life extending beyond the body's death." Spin-off writer [[George Mann (writer)|George Mann]] believed that Rassilon ''was'' dead, but the Time Lords had figured out a way of "resurrecting dead people in extreme circumstances", doing "something horrible and timey wimey". Spin-off writer and ''DWM'' columnist [[Jacqueline Rayner]] described his condition as "a permanent sleep which is pretty much indistinguishable from death", and that "He's immortal, but he has no awareness," and when the trap inside the Tomb of Rassilon is triggered, "he becomes semi-aware so he can oversee or judge what's going on, before going back into his eternal sleep again". ''DWM'' deputy editor Peter Ware believed that Rassilon is dead by the time of "The Five Doctors", and his dead mind is speaking from the Matrix to the Doctors and Borusa. He mentions the line from the episode "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]" (2015)—"Rassilon the resurrected", as further proof that he had died. ''Doctor Who'' scriptwriter [[Mark Gatiss]] quipped that Rassilon is "biding his time until he regenerates into [actor] [[Daniel Craig]]". Head writer and executive producer [[Steven Moffat]], who also wrote "Hell Bent", understood that Rassilon was "alive, but in 'eternal sleep'", having got up from his eternal sleep to participate in the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]], "And got killed. And resurrected. Because that happened a lot in the Time War." According to scriptwriter [[Terrance Dicks]], who wrote "The Five Doctors", Rassilon has "gone to a higher plane where he's a benevolent being who can, if he feels it's a big enough crisis, intervene".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=Mark |date=March 2016 |title=Beyond the Grave |journal=The Essential Doctor Who |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=#7: ''The Time Lords'' |pages=72–73 }}</ref>
=== Spin-off media ===
The [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'' (1992) depicts ancient history on Gallifrey, as well as Rassilon's role in its founding. The later novel ''[[Lungbarrow]]'' depicts a more tyrannical Rassilon, resulting in the mysterious "[[Other (Doctor Who)|Other]]" fleeing from Rassilon. The 2014 novel ''[[Engines of War]],'' set during the Time War, depicts some of Rassilon's actions during the War, including resurrecting Borusa to serve as an engine capable of predicting what moves Rassilon should take during the War. A comic strip, dubbed ''Supremacy of the Cybermen'' (2016), depicts Rassilon following the events of "Hell Bent", in which he encountered the [[Cybermen]] during his exile and allied with them to get revenge on the Doctor. The Cybermen eventually betray Rassilon, causing him and the Doctor to have to work together to stop them.


=== Revived series ===
Rassilon appears in several audio dramas produced by [[Big Finish Productions]]. He appears in [[Zagreus (audio drama)|''Zagreus'']] (2003) where Rassilon, portrayed by [[Don Warrington]],<ref name=":1" /> exists in the [[Matrix (Doctor Who)|Matrix]], a Time Lord information hub, and attempts to convert the Doctor into an assassin. Subsequent audio dramas depict Rassilon exiling the Doctor to another universe as punishment for not obeying him, and the Doctor's conflict with Rassilon. Rassilon further appears in the audio drama spin-off series ''Gallifrey'', where he is shown revived from the dead, resulting in Rassilon becoming a dictator on Gallifrey. He comes into conflict with the Doctor's former companion [[Romana (Doctor Who)|Romana]] as a result. He also appears in several audio dramas in the ''Time War'' series, in which he is portrayed by actor [[Richard Armitage (actor)|Richard Armitage]] and depicts Rassilon's role during the Time War.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-26 |title=Doctor Who recasts Hannibal star Richard Armitage as Rassilon in new Time War series |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a32983554/doctor-who-time-war-rassilon-richard-armitage/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Rassilon (portrayed by [[Timothy Dalton]]) appears as the villainous mastermind of "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]", the two-part finale of the series' [[List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present)|2009 Specials]]. Though referred to by name by the Tenth Doctor, Dalton is credited as the 'Narrator / Lord President' with [[Russell T Davies]] confirming his name in a ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' episode.<ref name="rassilon">{{cite video |people=[[Russell T Davies]] |date=1 January 2010 |title=Doctor Who Confidential |publisher=BBC |time= 15:15 |quote= Right at the end, the Master has found a greater enemy than the Doctor in Rassilon, the Lord President...}}</ref>


During the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]], Rassilon became ruthless, and determined to avoid death at any cost, motivating his formulation of the "Final Sanction", which would destroy all creation whilst elevating himself and the Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness. The Doctor in his [[War Doctor]] incarnation learned of this and decided to end the war using the Gallifreyan superweapon called "the Moment".<ref>{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Tony|title=Don't Step on the Grass|year=2009|publisher=IDW}}</ref> With the prophecy (that the Doctor would destroy Gallifrey to end the Time War, and told he would die on that day) deciphered, Rassilon refuses to accept his fate and kills his advisor for speaking out against his plans.
== Conception and development ==
[[File:Seal of Rassilon.svg|thumb|180px|left|The seal of Rassilon. Named after Rassilon, the seal is often used as a way to visually identify Time Lords.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-24 |title=All the Easter Eggs and DOCTOR WHO Callbacks in 'Wish World' |url=https://nerdist.com/article/doctor-who-wish-world-easter-eggs-callbacks/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Nerdist |language=en-US |archive-date=19 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250619070316/https://nerdist.com/article/doctor-who-wish-world-easter-eggs-callbacks/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]Rassilon was first introduced by name in the 1976 serial ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'', being created by writer [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Ainsworth |first=John |title=Doctor Who: The Complete History: Terminus – Enlightenment – The King's Demons – The Five Doctors |date=18 October 2017 |publisher=Hachette Partworks, Panini Publishing. |issn=2057-6048}}</ref> Despite the character [[Omega (Doctor Who)|Omega]] previously having served as a mythical figure in Time Lord society, the serial introduces Rassilon and has him take over much of Omega's mythic role within the series. Though later spin-off media expanded on the relationship between the two, the change has been considered to be a [[retcon]] within the lore of the series.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Britton |first=Piers D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RKJDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rassilon%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT17 |title=TARDISbound: Navigating the Universes of Doctor Who |date=2011-03-30 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85773-221-7 |language=en}}</ref> The character's later appearance in "[[The Five Doctors]]" was written by [[Terrance Dicks]], who imitated Holmes's writing style and implied a dark, sinister past of Rassilon that expanded on what information was revealed about him in ''The Deadly Assassin''. For the character's physical appearance, it was initially planned for Rassilon to be portrayed by actor Charles Grey, but this was changed to being played by Richard Mathews, a friend of the episode's director [[Peter Moffatt]], who had a deep voice.<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Ainsworth |first=John |title=Doctor Who: The Complete History: Terminus – Enlightenment – The King's Demons – The Five Doctors |date=18 October 2017 |publisher=Hachette Partworks, Panini Publishing. |issn=2057-6048}}</ref> Rassilon's depiction in this episode as a disembodied apparition left Rassilon's status following "The Five Doctors" unclear, with many involved with the show giving differing responses: some stated he was alive, others stated he was a projection or hologram, and others stated that Rassilon had died and was later revived. Dicks, who wrote the episode, wrote in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' that Rassilon has "gone to a higher plane where he's a benevolent being who can, if he feels it's a big enough crisis, intervene".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=Mark |date=March 2016 |title=Beyond the Grave |journal=The Essential Doctor Who |location=Tunbridge Wells |publisher=[[Panini Comics|Panini UK Ltd]] |issue=#7: ''The Time Lords'' |pages=72–73}}</ref>


Anticipating Gallifrey's complete annihilation in "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]" (2009–10), Rassilon attempted to break the planet out of the Time Lock implemented in the latter phases of the Time War to block creative attacks involving time travel, placing a drumbeat (actually the heartbeat of Gallifreyan twin-hearts) in the mind of [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]] when he was a child. As a result, Rassilon is the cause of the Master's insanity and indirectly responsible for the Time Lord's actions. When the Master turned all of humanity into copies of himself, the now-amplified drum beat acts as a signal that, with a White Point Star diamond (a diamond unique to the planet, Gallifrey), allows Rassilon and Gallifrey to escape the Time Lock. Destroying the White Point Star, the Doctor severs the link between Gallifrey and Earth. Rassilon's attempts to kill the Doctor in revenge are blocked by the Master, vengeful owing to his manipulation by Rassilon, who then follows him and the other Time Lords into the last day of the Time War.<ref>''Doctor Who''. "The End of Time, Part 2", original airdate 1/1/2010.</ref>
For the two-part episode "[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]", the unnamed Lord President in the original draft of the episode was decided to be depicted as Rassilon in its final draft. Actor [[Timothy Dalton]] portrayed the role of Rassilon.<ref name=":63">{{Cite book |last=Ainsworth |first=John |title=Doctor Who: The Complete History: The End of Time |date=17 May 2017 |publisher=Hachette Partworks, Panini Publishing. |issn=2057-6048}}</ref> According to director [[Rachel Talalay]], it was planned for Dalton to return to the role of Rassilon in "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]", but due to Dalton being unavailable, [[Donald Sumpter]] portrayed the part instead, with the change in actor being explained to be the result of [[Regeneration (Doctor Who)|regeneration]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-21 |title=Doctor Who almost brought back Timothy Dalton |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a798604/doctor-who-almost-brought-back-timothy-dalton-so-what-happened/ |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB |archive-date=7 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250707091423/https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a798604/doctor-who-almost-brought-back-timothy-dalton-so-what-happened/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sumpter was initially unaware of the role's importance within the show's mythos, and researched the part online and via watching Dalton's performance in "The End of Time".<ref name=":64">{{Cite book |last=Ainsworth |first=John |title=Doctor Who: The Complete History: Hell Bent - The Husbands of River Song |date=19 September 2018 |publisher=Hachette Partworks, Panini Publishing. |issn=2057-6048}}</ref>


In "[[The Day of the Doctor]]" (2013), the Time Lords are revealed not to have been destroyed at the Time War's conclusion; all incarnations of the Doctor united and used their TARDISes to send Gallifrey into a pocket dimension.<ref>''Doctor Who''. "The Day of the Doctor", original airdate 23/11/2013.</ref> In "[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]" (2015), the [[Twelfth Doctor]] arrives on Gallifrey and learns that a regenerated Rassilon was responsible for his imprisonment and torture for four and a half billion years, as well as indirectly responsible for the death of his companion, [[Clara Oswald|Clara]]. On arrival on Gallifrey, he leads a military revolt against Rassilon, deposes him, and sends him into exile. Timothy Dalton was asked to reprise the role for the episode, but was replaced by [[Donald Sumpter]] as a regenerated Rassilon when he became unavailable for filming.<ref>{{cite AV media | people = Talalay, Rachel | date = 12 June 2016 | title = Radio Free Skaro #533 – The First Second of Eternity | medium = Podcast | language = en | url = http://www.radiofreeskaro.com/2016/06/12/radio-free-skaro-533-the-first-second-of-eternity/ | access-date = 19 June 2016 | format = MP3}}</ref>
== Analysis ==
[[File:Massalitinov and Knipper in Hamlet 1911.jpg|thumb|251x251px|Rassilon was compared to [[King Claudius]] (pictured, left) by the book ''A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Cartmell |first=Deborah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lm_rAwAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation |date=2014-08-25 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-91753-4 |language=en}}</ref> Claudius is a major antagonist in the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] play ''[[Hamlet]]''.<ref name="Boyce 147">{{cite book |last=Boyce |first=Charles |title=Critical Companion to William Shakespeare: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=0-8160-5373-1 |page=147}}</ref>  ]]
The book ''Women in Doctor Who: Damsels, Feminists and Monsters'' wrote that Rassilon embodied the idea of "supreme [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] power" in "Hell Bent", comparing his attempts at assuming authority to that of Ohila of the [[Sisterhood of Karn]], who undermined his authority with cleverness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frankel |first=Valerie Estelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8VODwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rassilon%22&pg=PP1 |title=Women in Doctor Who: Damsels, Feminists and Monsters |date=2018-03-04 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3154-7 |language=en}}</ref> The book ''A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation'' characterised Rassilon as being a corrupted fatherly figure in his role in the series, comparing him to the ''[[Hamlet]]'' character [[King Claudius]].<ref name=":2" /> The book ''The Villain's Journey: Descent and Return in Science Fiction and Fantasy'' opined that Rassilon's role in "Hell Bent" served as an example of a [[tyrant]], and that due to the Twelfth Doctor reminding the Time Lords that Rassilon only had power so long as they granted it to him, they could depose him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frankel |first=Valerie Estelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkJUEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rassilon%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA205 |title=The Villain's Journey: Descent and Return in Science Fiction and Fantasy |date=2021-11-22 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-8430-7 |language=en}}</ref>


==Other appearances==
Rassilon's role in "The Five Doctors" was stated by the paper ''Doctor Who and Immortality: Influence of Christian and Buddhist Ethics'' as being an example of showing that the pursuit of immortality in the real world was something considered "reprehensible". The paper compared Rassilon passing his judgement on Borusa as being similar to that of [[God in Christianity|God]], with Rassilon's actions symbolically stating that God had the final verdict in matters related to the length of a life.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vuolteenaho |first=Leena |date=2015 |title=Doctor Who and Immortality: Influence of Christian and Buddhist Ethics. |journal=Implicit Religion |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=507–516 |via=EBSCO}}</ref> Similarly, his defeat in "The End of Time" were seen as being a result of [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]] catching up to Rassilon for his prior actions during the story, including the murder of a [[councilmember]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Crome |first1=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-VNAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rassilon%22&pg=PR9 |title=Religion and Doctor Who: Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith |last2=McGrath |first2=James F. |date=2013-11-14 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-62564-377-3 |language=en}}</ref>
Rassilon's rise to power was explored in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] 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 (Doctor Who)|Omega]] and a mysterious figure called the [[Other (Doctor Who)|Other]]. Together, they rebuilt Gallifrey and re-ordered the universe along rational and scientific lines, outlawing superstition and banishing magic. The later 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 (Alan Moore)|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 popular culture ===
 
A long-running ''Doctor Who'' quiz group, The Quiz of Rassilon, is named after the character.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-10 |title=Beloved Doctor Who quiz game takes the TARDIS from pub to Zoom, everybody wins |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/doctor-who-the-quiz-of-rassilon-zoom |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=SYFY |language=en-US |archive-date=7 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250707091423/https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/doctor-who-the-quiz-of-rassilon-zoom |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the ''Doctor Who'' audio plays produced by [[Big Finish Productions]], Rassilon is voiced by [[Don Warrington]]. He is shown to continue to exist in the Matrix. According to audio plays, Rassilon developed the power of regeneration from the Vampires, who were apparently peaceful until the Time Lords attacked them. He transforms 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 is 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 was still contaminated by anti-time. He eventually tracks down Rassilon in that universe, and discovers that he has been manipulating an entity called the Kro'Ka to observe and control the Doctor and [[Charley Pollard|Charley]]'s actions. At the end of the events of "[[The Next Life (audio drama)|The Next Life]]", the Doctor and his companions escape 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 remain trapped in a permanent loop.
 
Rassilon's next audio appearance comes in ''Desperate Measures'', concluding the ninth series of [[Big Finish Productions]] spin-off ''Gallifrey''. During the [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]], the Time Lord Valerian ([[David Sibley (actor)|David Sibley]]) becomes a host through whom Rassilon is resurrected to lead Gallifrey. These events will lead into the tenth series of the spin-off, where the part will be played by [[Terrence Hardiman]]. This season ends with Romana attempting to arrange an assassination to stop his dictatorship, ending with Rassilon beginning to regenerate. The series ends on a cliffhanger as he uses his regeneration as a propaganda opportunity.
 
In ''[[Doctor Who: The Adventure Games]]'', Rassilon's Final Sanction is mentioned when [[Amy Pond]] looked at a [[Time Lord]] Staff that the [[Eleventh Doctor]] kept in his study.
 
Rassilon features in the War Doctor novel ''[[Engines of War]]'' by [[George Mann (writer)|George Mann]], which looks at the events that led to the War Doctor's decision to use the Moment, including the discovery that Rassilon has resurrected [[Borusa]] as a possibility engine to help him decide what actions he should take during the war.
 
Rassilon returns to Gallifrey in the Titan Comics 2016 multi-Doctor event story ''Supremacy of the Cybermen'', which depicts the last Cybermen at the end of the universe forming an alliance with Rassilon with the goal of conquering Gallifrey and using Time Lord energy to regenerate the universe into one under Cyber-control. Although Rassilon's insight allows the Cybermen to conquer history and defeat all of the past Doctors, the Twelfth Doctor is able to convince Rassilon to help him after the Cybermen betray Rassilon, the two turning the Cybermens' equipment against them so that the universe is 'regenerated' to a point before the Cybermen conquered Gallifrey. Although the Twelfth Doctor is the only one shown to remember these events, he is shown speculating that Rassilon may also remember the horrors of what he did.
 
In the subsequent Titan Comics special ''The Lost Dimension'', the Eleventh Doctor briefly accidentally travels back to ancient Gallifrey where he assists Rassilon in a testflight of the very first Tardis.
 
==List of appearances==
===Television===
*"[[The Five Doctors]]"
*"[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]"
*"[[Hell Bent (Doctor Who)|Hell Bent]]"
 
===Novels===
*''[[Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]''
*''[[Engines of War]]''
 
===Comics===
*"Star Death" (''Doctor Who Magazine'' #47)
*''Supremacy of the Cybermen'' (Titan Comics)
*''Monstrous Beauty'' (''Doctor Who Magazine'' #556-558)
 
===Audio plays===
*''Zagreus''
*"The Next Life"
*''Desperate Measures''
*''Havoc''
*'Collateral''
*''Assassins''
*''Deception''
*''Homecoming''
*''The Last Days of Freme''
*''The Passenger''
 
==See also==
*[[History of the Time Lords]]


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Extraterrestrial supervillains]]
[[Category:Male villains]]
[[Category:Recurring characters in Doctor Who]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1983]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1983]]
[[Category:Television supervillains]]
[[Category:Time Lords]]
[[Category:Time Lords]]
[[Category:Male characters in television]]
[[Category:Male villains]]
[[Category:Recurring characters in Doctor Who]]

Latest revision as of 06:03, 8 December 2025

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Rassilon is a fictional character from 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 and its first leader. Rassilon was first mentioned in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin, where he was retconned into being a major establishing figure in Time Lord society, filling the role previously fulfilled by the character Omega. Despite his impact on Time Lord society, he was implied to be a cruel leader. He would later appear in the 1983 episode "The Five Doctors" in a physical appearance. In the show's revival, he appears as an antagonist in the 2009–2010 episodes "The End of Time" and the 2015 episode "Hell Bent". Rassilon has also appeared in a large amount of spin-off media associated with the show.

The role of Rassilon has been portrayed by several actors throughout the series, with Richard Mathews portraying him in "The Five Doctors", Timothy Dalton portraying him in "The End of Time", and Donald Sumpter portraying him in "Hell Bent". He also has been voiced by actors Don Warrington and Richard Armitage in Big Finish produced audio dramas. Rassilon has been analysed for his role as a leadership figure in the series, as well as in comparisons between the series and real-world religions.

Character history

Television series

Doctor Who is a long-running British science-fiction television series that began in 1963. It stars its protagonist, The Doctor, an alien who travels through time and space in a ship known as the TARDIS, as well as their travelling companions.[1] When the Doctor dies, they are able to undergo a process known as "regeneration", completely changing the Doctor's appearance and personality.[2] Throughout their travels, the Doctor often comes into conflict with various alien species and antagonists.[3][4]

Within the context of the series, Rassilon was a historic figure within the history of the Doctor's people, the Time Lords. Rassilon had fought in a war against a race known as the Great Vampires, constructed a defence system of living metal known as Validium, and created technology that could capture peoples from throughout time and space known as a Time Scoop. Rassilon worked with another Time Lord named Omega to create the first time travel spaceship, harnessing the power of a star undergoing a supernova to fuel the device. Though it succeeded, Omega disappeared during the incident.[5] Rassilon harnessed the nucleus of the resulting black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel,[6] resulting in much of Omega's praise being given to Rassilon,[5] and Rassilon became a defining figure in Time Lord society. Rassilon took control of the Time Lords' home planet Gallifrey as its "Lord High President".[6] Despite being seen in Time Lord society as a hero and benevolent ruler, the Doctor stated that rumors existed that Rassilon was secretly a dictator.[7] Rassilon died long before the series' in-universe events began.

Though the character is first mentioned in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin,[7] Rassilon first appears physically in "The Five Doctors" (1983), where the Lord President of Gallifrey, Borusa (Philip Latham), seeks immortality, which he believes can be granted via entering Rassilon's tomb. To accomplish this, Borusa uses the Time Scoop to transport various versions of the Doctor, their companions, and several of their enemies to the Death Zone, a location contains a tower holding Rassilon's tomb. Borusa uses them to find a way into the tower, at which point Borusa appears and seeks immortality from Rassilon. Rassilon (Richard Mathews) appears as a disembodied image, granting Borusa immortality by turning Borusa into a stone bust on Rassilon's tomb. Rassilon soon after dissipates, but returns the various displaced beings back to their home times.

Due to the effects of the Last Great Time War, a war waged across time and space by the Time Lords against the Daleks, Rassilon was revived into a physical form, becoming much crueler. Leading the Time Lords in the war, Rassilon learned that the Doctor planned to end the war by destroying both sides. Rassilon implanted the sound of a drumbeat in the head of antagonist the Master, and during the events of "The End of Time" (2009–2010), in which the Master (John Simm) turns every human on Earth into a copy of himself, the sound of the drumbeat is amplified, allowing Rassilon (Timothy Dalton) and the Time Lords to lock onto the signal it creates. Nearly escaping the Time War, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) destroys a device causing the drumbeat's amplification, causing the Time Lords and Rassilon to be returned to the War.

In "Hell Bent" (2015), set after the Doctor saves Gallifrey from being destroyed (As seen in the 2013 episode "The Day of the Doctor"), the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) arrives on Gallifrey and learns that Rassilon (Donald Sumpter) was responsible for the Doctor's imprisonment and torture for four and a half billion years (As seen in the 2015 episode "Heaven Sent"), as well as being indirectly responsible for the death of the Twelfth Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman). Rassilon briefly discusses matters with various Time Lords, including Ohila, a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, a Gallifreyan religious group. On arrival on Gallifrey, he leads a military revolt against Rassilon, deposes him, and sends him into exile.

Spin-off media

The Virgin New Adventures novel Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (1992) depicts ancient history on Gallifrey, as well as Rassilon's role in its founding. The later novel Lungbarrow depicts a more tyrannical Rassilon, resulting in the mysterious "Other" fleeing from Rassilon. The 2014 novel Engines of War, set during the Time War, depicts some of Rassilon's actions during the War, including resurrecting Borusa to serve as an engine capable of predicting what moves Rassilon should take during the War. A comic strip, dubbed Supremacy of the Cybermen (2016), depicts Rassilon following the events of "Hell Bent", in which he encountered the Cybermen during his exile and allied with them to get revenge on the Doctor. The Cybermen eventually betray Rassilon, causing him and the Doctor to have to work together to stop them.

Rassilon appears in several audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions. He appears in Zagreus (2003) where Rassilon, portrayed by Don Warrington,[7] exists in the Matrix, a Time Lord information hub, and attempts to convert the Doctor into an assassin. Subsequent audio dramas depict Rassilon exiling the Doctor to another universe as punishment for not obeying him, and the Doctor's conflict with Rassilon. Rassilon further appears in the audio drama spin-off series Gallifrey, where he is shown revived from the dead, resulting in Rassilon becoming a dictator on Gallifrey. He comes into conflict with the Doctor's former companion Romana as a result. He also appears in several audio dramas in the Time War series, in which he is portrayed by actor Richard Armitage and depicts Rassilon's role during the Time War.[8]

Conception and development

File:Seal of Rassilon.svg
The seal of Rassilon. Named after Rassilon, the seal is often used as a way to visually identify Time Lords.[9]

Rassilon was first introduced by name in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin, being created by writer Robert Holmes.[10] Despite the character Omega previously having served as a mythical figure in Time Lord society, the serial introduces Rassilon and has him take over much of Omega's mythic role within the series. Though later spin-off media expanded on the relationship between the two, the change has been considered to be a retcon within the lore of the series.[11] The character's later appearance in "The Five Doctors" was written by Terrance Dicks, who imitated Holmes's writing style and implied a dark, sinister past of Rassilon that expanded on what information was revealed about him in The Deadly Assassin. For the character's physical appearance, it was initially planned for Rassilon to be portrayed by actor Charles Grey, but this was changed to being played by Richard Mathews, a friend of the episode's director Peter Moffatt, who had a deep voice.[12] Rassilon's depiction in this episode as a disembodied apparition left Rassilon's status following "The Five Doctors" unclear, with many involved with the show giving differing responses: some stated he was alive, others stated he was a projection or hologram, and others stated that Rassilon had died and was later revived. Dicks, who wrote the episode, wrote in Doctor Who Magazine that Rassilon has "gone to a higher plane where he's a benevolent being who can, if he feels it's a big enough crisis, intervene".[13]

For the two-part episode "The End of Time", the unnamed Lord President in the original draft of the episode was decided to be depicted as Rassilon in its final draft. Actor Timothy Dalton portrayed the role of Rassilon.[14] According to director Rachel Talalay, it was planned for Dalton to return to the role of Rassilon in "Hell Bent", but due to Dalton being unavailable, Donald Sumpter portrayed the part instead, with the change in actor being explained to be the result of regeneration.[15] Sumpter was initially unaware of the role's importance within the show's mythos, and researched the part online and via watching Dalton's performance in "The End of Time".[16]

Analysis

File:Massalitinov and Knipper in Hamlet 1911.jpg
Rassilon was compared to King Claudius (pictured, left) by the book A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation.[17] Claudius is a major antagonist in the Shakespeare play Hamlet.[18]

The book Women in Doctor Who: Damsels, Feminists and Monsters wrote that Rassilon embodied the idea of "supreme patriarchal power" in "Hell Bent", comparing his attempts at assuming authority to that of Ohila of the Sisterhood of Karn, who undermined his authority with cleverness.[19] The book A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation characterised Rassilon as being a corrupted fatherly figure in his role in the series, comparing him to the Hamlet character King Claudius.[17] The book The Villain's Journey: Descent and Return in Science Fiction and Fantasy opined that Rassilon's role in "Hell Bent" served as an example of a tyrant, and that due to the Twelfth Doctor reminding the Time Lords that Rassilon only had power so long as they granted it to him, they could depose him.[20]

Rassilon's role in "The Five Doctors" was stated by the paper Doctor Who and Immortality: Influence of Christian and Buddhist Ethics as being an example of showing that the pursuit of immortality in the real world was something considered "reprehensible". The paper compared Rassilon passing his judgement on Borusa as being similar to that of God, with Rassilon's actions symbolically stating that God had the final verdict in matters related to the length of a life.[21] Similarly, his defeat in "The End of Time" were seen as being a result of karma catching up to Rassilon for his prior actions during the story, including the murder of a councilmember.[22]

In popular culture

A long-running Doctor Who quiz group, The Quiz of Rassilon, is named after the character.[23]

References

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  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition), p. 697. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. Template:ISBN.
  7. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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