Relative Time

[Lensman]

Does the Doctor keep to relative time when he goes to see people he’s met before.

For example if he wished to visit Susan who he’s not seen for over 40 years, would he just go back to roundabout when and where they last met or would he add on the 40+ years and visit the more mature Susan.

I know River Song blows this theory out of the water but she usually instigates their meetings.

Actually for pragmatic reasons the question answers itself because if they use the original actors then of course they will have aged in the meantime, but I mean in the actual Whoniverse.

 

[Snaploud]

I think he tries to see them soon after last leaving them, but (River Song excepted) he also tries to keep to a linear relationship. That means he would be unlikely to go back to when a companion was young after inadvertently seeing that companion as an older self.

 

[captcalhoun]

depends. he met elizabeth I and Sally Sparrow out of order.

 

[Chaos Descending]

The 4th Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith was about 750 years old, and the 10th Doctor was about 900 years old, but when he saw SJS again in School Reunion, she wasn't 150 years older. Therefore I would say, "no".

 

[Sci]

Does the Doctor keep to relative time when he goes to see people he’s met before.

For example if he wished to visit Susan who he’s not seen for over 40 years, would he just go back to roundabout when and where they last met or would he add on the 40+ years and visit the more mature Susan.

It's been far more than 40 years for the Doctor since he left Susan. He claimed to be 450 years old in The Tomb of the Cybermen when he was in his second incarnation and 749 in The Brain of Morbius. And in The Ribos Operation, Romana said that the Doctor was 759 years old and had been piloting the TARDIS for 523 years. And depending on who you talk to now, the Doctor is either 907 or well over 1,200 years old -- meaning that it's been between 150 to 441 years since Romana cited his age, and 673 to 964 years since the Doctor first stole the TARDIS.

And since Susan must have been abandoned within the first few years' of his piloting the TARDIS (as they'd met Ian and Barbara soon after escaping Gallifrey and as Ian and Barbara hadn't aged many years since coming across the TARDIS), that means it's been at minimum over 650 years since the Doctor last saw Susan, not counting The Five Doctors (unless you count her appearances in the novels or audio adventures, some of which contradict one-another).

Also, apparently Susan is dead and has been wiped from history, like the rest of the Time Lords ("The Doctor's Daughter").

 

[David cgc]

Still, other time travelers seem to stay in order, if not over the same length of time, probably because of the "Causal Nexus." I don't think he's ever met the Master out of order, for instance. Non-time travelers, he just does it to be polite.

 

[starsuperion]

the 10th doctor went back and saw rose before his earlier 9th self met her

 

[captcalhoun]

^ d'oh! can't believe i forgot that one!

 

[starsuperion]

^ d'oh! can't believe i forgot that one!

hehehehe...also, in the classic series, he (the sixth doctor) took Mel back into his own timeline, and met his 2nd incarnation, and saw Jaime again..

and during the big bang, he jumped all over the place..

 

[Mr Awe]

I don't think he's ever met the Master out of order, for instance. Non-time travelers, he just does it to be polite.

The 3rd Doctor met the Ainley Master in The Five Doctors. Granted, that was a special case. But, IIRC, the 3rd Doctor didn't initially know who Ainley was.

Mr Awe

 

[Nerys Myk]

Here's a twist. Could 11 meet a pre-Delgado Master? IIRC, the Master had used up most of his regenerations so there has to be several incarnations we've never seen. Might be a headache for the Archivists. Actor X is the 9th person to play the Master, but he played the 3rd incarnation.

 

[captcalhoun]

that's what i've said more than once since the show came back and we were told all the Time Lords are dead: it's a fucking time-travel show, why can't we see the Third Master or the Fourth Rani or the Second Meddling Monk from before the TW and they died?

 

[Sci]

that's what i've said more than once since the show came back and we were told all the Time Lords are dead: it's a fucking time-travel show, why can't we see the Third Master or the Fourth Rani or the Second Meddling Monk from before the TW and they died?

One of the many reasons I think that the Time Lords were actually erased from history in addition to being consumed in fire.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Might not the Master be excluded from that? Would his time as Professor Yana preserve his past selves?

 

[Sci]

Might not the Master be excluded from that? Would his time as Professor Yana preserve his past selves?

I'd hypothesize that the Time Lords were erased from history, except for "pockets" of time, periods when they were interacting with the Doctor. Like that photograph of Rory that survived even after he'd been erased from history, the periods when the Time Lords interacted with the Doctor in some fashion represent effects without causes -- events that survived when they should not have.

 

[starsuperion]

I choose to believe the show writers would rather just leave it as the time lords were killed not erased, and yes, that previous incarnations of the meddling monk, and rani, or the earlier master incarnations are possible to be met in future stories, just their last incarnation at the time of the time war are not accessible..

I mean I read some where that in the new upcoming season 6

Spoiler: Season 6"

that River song will meet the doctor (11th doctor) for the first time, and her last meeting with him (10th doctor silence in the library), was his first meeting with her..

so using that information

I can see them going backwards in time and us seeing those things.. I think that the time war blocked Gallifrey off from time and space journeys and the rest of the planets involved, only those outside of the bubble were able to be accessed through time..

I don't believe every part of the time lords were erased from history, just the time war happened so far in the past, that in the future no one really knows about it..except in legends...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I think he tries to see them soon after last leaving them, but (River Song excepted) he also tries to keep to a linear relationship. That means he would be unlikely to go back to when a companion was young after inadvertently seeing that companion as an older self.

Actually, that doesn't quite work if you follow the Big Finish audio plays.

Spoiler: The Fifth Doctor's Cobwebs

The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough reencounter Nyssa a mere two days after they left her, but it's been 50 years for her.

 

[Lensman]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure the Time Lords are quite finished yet as afterall there's a few hours of their final day left.

mm...I wonder if they could slow those final hours down, could get quite a lot done then.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure the Time Lords are quite finished yet as afterall there's a few hours of their final day left.

mm...I wonder if they could slow those final hours down, could get quite a lot done then.

I'm moving soon, maybe they could help.