High Council The High Council , sometimes called the Supreme Council or High Council of Time Lords , was the governing body of the Time Lord s on Gallifrey , composed of the Lord President and advisers from the ruling Houses . Officially , without a President , the Council could ratify nothing , even if this occurred in exceptional cases such as the absence of the President - elect . ( TV : " The Invasion of Time " ) Membership . The Council was composed of Cardinals representing the Chapter s of Gallifrey . Its members were elected . ( TV : " The Ultimate Foe " ) The Inner Council consisted of the Lord or Lady President , the Lord or Lady Chancellor , ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " ) and the Castellan . ( TV : " The Five Doctors " ) Other offices associated with the Council included the Gold Usher ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " ) , the Surgeon General ( TV : " The Invasion of Time " ) and the Inquisitor . ( TV : " The Trial of a Time Lord " ) History . At the end of the trial against the Sixth Doctor and the revelation of the Time Lord ' s involvement in the Ravolox affair , insurrections burst on Gallifrey and the High Council was deposed ; new elections were announced . ( TV : " The Ultimate Foe " ) By time of the Last Great Time War , the Time Lords had resurrected Rassilon , who returned to lead the High Council against the Dalek s . At least an emergency session of the council was arranged , when the War Doctor and his companion Cinder landed on Gallifrey , bringing news about the Temporal Cannon of the Dalek s . It was the first time a human had been allowed to attend such a meeting . ( PROSE : " Engines of War " ) By the last day of the war , the High Council met in a darkened chamber in the ruined Citadel . They met there on the last day of the war to discuss Rassilon ' s Final Sanction . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) While this was happening , the War Council threw away the High Council ' s plans and made some of their own . ( TV : " The Day of the Doctor " ) When Clara Oswald pleaded with the Time Lords to save the Doctor , the High Council decided to grant him a new regeneration cycle . ( TV : " The Time of the Doctor " ) After the Twelfth Doctor returned to Gallifrey , by this point hidden at the end of the universe , Rassilon sent them out to meet the Doctor who merely walked back inside the barn he had slept in as a child . Rassilon was ultimately forced to come greet the Doctor himself . After overthrowing Rassilon , the Doctor banished him and the High Council from Gallifrey for their roles in both his imprisonment and their crimes in the Time War . ( TV : " Hell Bent " ) Known members of the High Council . Members of the High Council included Councillor Hedin ; ( TV : " Arc of Infinity " ) Councillors Rath , Elar and Morin ; ( PROSE : " Blood Harvest " ) Councillor Delox ; ( AUDIO : " Appropriation " ) Councillor Ryoth , a member of the Arcalian Chapter and a member of the Celestial Intervention Agency ; ( PROSE : " The Eight Doctors " ) Surgeon General Lord Gomer ; ( TV : " The Invasion of Time " ) the Gold Usher ; ( TV : " The Invasion of Time " ) Inquisitor Prime Darkel ; ( AUDIO : " Weapon of Choice , " AUDIO : Mindbomb ) Councillors Flavia , Engin and Ortan ; ( PROSE : " The Eight Doctors " ) Councillor Ragnar , a member of the Prydonian Chapter ; Councillor Milvo , a member of the Arcalian Chapter ; Councillor Sardon , a member of the CIA ; ( PROSE : " World Game " ) Councillor Ratisbon a member of the CIA ; ( PROSE : " Warmonger " ) Coordinator Narvin , head of the CIA ; ( AUDIO : " Gallifrey ( audio series ) " ) Councillor Romana II ; ( PROSE : " Blood Harvest " , " Human Nature " ) Councillor Wblk ; ( PROSE : " Heart of TARDIS " ) Councillor Verne ; ( PROSE : " The Twin Dilemma " ) Cardinal Matthias ; ( AUDIO : " Mindbomb " ) During the Last Great Time War , Grayvas was Castellan , ( PROSE : " Engines of War " ) Ollistra was a Cardinal . ( AUDIO : " The Innocent " ) Lord President Rassilon headed the High Council , with the Chancellor ; the Visionary and the Partisan also on the Council . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) Following the end of the Time War , there were shown to be only a few councillors , meeting with Rassilon about the Doctor ' s return and attempting , unsuccessfully , to speak to the Doctor himself . After the Doctor overthrew Rassilon , he banished him and the High Council from Gallifrey ( TV : " Hell Bent " )