Claim: Time Lords' space/time travel machines are named TARDISes.

The Time Lords are a fictional , ancient extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , of which the series ' protagonist , the Doctor , is a member . Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their non-linear perception of time . Originally they were described as a powerful and wise race from the planet Gallifrey , from which the Doctor was a renegade ; details beyond this were very limited for the first decade of the series . They later became integral to many episodes and stories as their role in the fictional universe developed . For the first eight years after the series resumed in 2005 , the Time Lords were said to have been destroyed at some point between the original series ' cancellation in 1989 and the show 's revival during the fictional Last Great Time War . In 2013 , the 50th anniversary special `` The Day of the Doctor '' concerned this supposed destruction and their eventual survival .   They developed a culture of custodianship and time-related technologies based on this perception which includes strictly controlled space/time travel machines -LRB- known as `` TARDISes '' -RRB- and monitoring devices to travel through time and to prevent time from being subverted or abused -- although actual action was described as rare in practice due to their traditional policy of strict non-interference and neutrality . They can act to manipulate timelines of a wide range of events and individuals , so long as they do not cross back into their own timeline . Over subsequent episodes their history , their development of time manipulation , and their internal politics were touched upon , with Time Lord society portrayed as a stagnated ceremony-bound oligarchy and their past having descended into myth and legend . The Doctor became at times an ally , being appointed their president during his fourth incarnation and assisting them on many occasions .