Gallifreyan Gallifreyans were a humanoid species native to the planet Gallifrey . The majority of Time Lord s were Gallifreyans , since they arose from this species , and they considered themselves to be the elite of Gallifreyan society . ( PROSE : " Interference - Book Two " ) Appearance and biology . Gallifreyans were externally identical in appearance to human s , but had several biological differences internally . Culture and society . There was always a Lord or Lady President of Gallifrey , with a council of other Time Lords , approving or vetoing decisions . An exception to this was when the Lord President ( ignoring the Chancellor ) broke two Laws of Time to bring the First , Second and Third Doctor together to solve the problem of the power / life force - drainage into Omega ' s black hole . ( TV : " The Three Doctors " ) Time Lords and Gallifreyans regarded the Flower of Remembrance as an omen of death . ( PROSE : " The Ancestor Cell " ) A quarter of Gallifreyans on their homeworld worshiped the higher Eternal s such as and Time . ( PROSE : " Happy Endings " ) Gallifreyans and Time Lords . Time Lords may have been just Gallifreyans in possession of a TARDIS . ( AUDIO : " Omega " ) I . M . Foreman stated that Time Lords were a separate species due to Rassilon ' s intervention . ( PROSE : " Interference - Book One " ) The Eleventh Doctor and Vastra said that the Gallifreyans evolved into Time Lords via exposure to the Time Vortex and the Untempered Schism over billions of years . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) There was a community of Gallifreyan , non - Time - Lord farmer s in the Drylands . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) The Doctor spent some time among them in his first life , sleeping in a barn as a young boy . One night , a man was overheard saying that the Doctor would have to join the army when he grew up , believing he lacked the potential to be a Time Lord . ( TV : " Listen " ) At one point in Gallifreyan history , members of Gallifreyan religious orders who were not Time Lords were nonetheless given certain rights : access to time travel , certain gene tic privileges , and the right to observe High Council procedure . However , the High Council later disestablished the churches , monasteries and other religious orders , effectively abolishing these rights . ( PROSE : " Interference " ) Despite the fact that the vast majority of Time Lords were Gallifreyans , many Time Lords were non - Gallifreyan . ( PROSE : " The Infinity Doctors " ) These included Ace , ( AUDIO : " Intervention Earth " ) members of House Paradox , ( PROSE : " The Book of the War " ) Lolita , ( AUDIO : " The Shadow Play " ) and River Song . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) Within the Capitol . Even within the Time Lord sanctum of the Capitol , " plebeian classes " existed . ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " ) Outsiders and outcasts . Billions of Gallifreyans lived outside the Capitol and the other cities of the Time Lords . They made up almost the entire population of Gallifrey . They lived on farm s or homesteads and worked through the day to provide food for themselves and the Time Lord s in the cities . ( PROSE : " A Brief History of Time Lords " ) Bands of Gallifreyans called the Outsider s dropped out of the Time Lord Academy and lived in the Drylands to reconnect with nature . They lived a primitive lifestyle , wearing fur skins and using weapons like bows , arrows and spears for hunting food . ( TV : " The Invasion of Time " , PROSE : " A Brief History of Time Lords " ) Within the Capitol , rebels known as Shobogan s committed petty acts of vandalism . ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " )