Pandora Pandora was the first female President of the Time Lord s . Following her election , she revealed her true tyrannical nature and declared herself Imperiatrix . Biography . Early career . According to legend , she sought to overthrow the traditions of Rassilon , lead Gallifrey to war and use time travel to reshape the Web of Time to her own design . She used an offworld bodyguard who killed all who opposed her will . In time , however , the High Council managed to convince the bodyguard to betray her mistress in return for the Time Lords improving her people ' s livelihood . Punishment by the Time Lords . However , once Pandora was betrayed , the High Council took the bodyguard back to her planet , where she was placed in an eternal 6 . 8 second time loop from which there was no escape . The captured Pandora was dispersed in such a thorough manner in that she never existed in the first place . She existed only in legends . The dispersal chamber was in the old Capitol , which was destroyed in Gallifrey ' s civil war . The new Capitol was built over the ruins , which became the Vaults . The legends said that Pandora ' s dying screams still could be heard in the Vaults where she eternally cried out for vengeance . Return . From her last remaining presence in the Matrix , Pandora manipulated Time Lord genetics through the centuries until the result was Romana . During her time at the Time Lord Academy , Pandora ' s voice enticed Romana into visiting the Vaults . Pandora told Romana of her Imperiatrix Imprimatur , and of her destiny to rule Gallifrey under her influence . Disturbed by the encounter , Romana told her tutor , Irving Braxiatel . He used his skills to hypnotise her into forgetting both Pandora and himself . Some time later , during her travels with the Fourth Doctor , torture by the the Shadow , an agent of the Black Guardian released the hidden memories . After the conclusion of this adventure , Romana regenerate d in order to repress them . Now in her second incarnation , Romana continued to travel with the Doctor for a time before exiling herself in E - Space . Pandora apparently engineered Romana ' s return to Gallifrey and her ascension to the Presidency after the disastrous Lady President Flavia was deposed . Braxiatel had supported her campaign in order to closely observe her for any sign of continued influence by Pandora . ( Romana was unaware she had ever known Braxiatel . ) During her Presidency , accompanied by her own offworld bodyguard , Leela , Romana again encountered Pandora , who used the energy of Coordinator Narvin to take the physical form of Romana ' s own first incarnation . Through this meeting , Romana learned of her own history . Pandora was trapped in the Matrix by K9 , but only temporarily . ( AUDIO : " Lies " ) Shortly afterwards , Castellan Wynter came into contact with Pandora and was driven mad . As a stabler solution , Braxiatel absorbed the past and present aspects of Pandora from the Matrix and went into exile to isolate her from other Time Lords ( specifically the most ambitious of them - Darkel ) , leaving the future aspect still present . In spite of the risks involved , Romana continued to seek advice from Pandora through K9 , on the various challenges facing her rule . Pandora ' s advice was generally to declare herself Imperiatrix and to rule by decree . Darkel , meanwhile , had been receiving guidance from a disembodied voice in the Vaults , and challenged Romana for the presidency . Before an election could be held , Romana declared herself Imperiatrix and dismissed the High Council . Pandora materialised ( again in the form of the first Romana ) claiming superior rights to the title . ( AUDIO : " Imperiatrix " ) A short but bloody civil war ensued , ranging the more reactionary forces of Pandora ( including Darkel , Valyes , Janartis and , superficially , K9 ) against the more progressive elements and those concerned with maintaining the technicalities of the succession ( Romana , Leela , Narvin , Hallan , Annos and , waveringly , Matthias ) . The war was won not by military might , but rather by Romana and K9 tricking Pandora back into a Matrix partition , and then destroying the Matrix entirely , killing this aspect of Pandora . ( AUDIO : " Warfare " ) The remaining aspects of Pandora became a force of pure hate , and when Braxiatel returned to Gallifrey and was cajoled into releasing the force by Darkel , it consumed Darkel rather than Braxiatel . With still a tiny part of Pandora remaining in his mind , Braxiatel then returned to his exile , the threat apparently neutralised . ( AUDIO : " Mindbomb " ) Pandora was later removed from Braxiatel ' s mind by Avril Fenman and sent into the mind of the Braxiatel on the Braxiatel Collection . ( AUDIO : " The Curse of Fenman " )