Omega (Doctor Who)
Omega is a fictional character created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin for the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. In the context of the series, Omega is known as one of the founders of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey, and is a revered figure in Time Lord history together with the equally legendary Rassilon; the Third Doctor refers to him as the Time Lords' "greatest hero". Omega first appeared in the 10th anniversary story, The Three Doctors.[1]
For the audio drama, see Omega (audio drama).Omega
The Three Doctors (1973)
Arc of Infinity (1983)
- Stephen Thorne (1973)
- Ian Collier (1983)
- Peter Davison (1983)
The character was portrayed in The Three Doctors by Stephen Thorne[1] and in Arc of Infinity by both Ian Collier and Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison.[2]
Character history[edit]
Omega was a stellar engineer and a member of the High Council on Gallifrey who developed the Hand of Omega, a remote stellar manipulator which could be used to control the reactions within a star.[3] Using the Hand, Omega performed adjustments on a star near Gallifrey's in an attempt to provide a power source for the time travel experiments he conducted with Rassilon. However, Omega was thought to have been killed in the resulting supernova, which then collapsed into a black hole.
Rassilon subsequently captured the nucleus of the black hole and used its power to perfect time travel technology. Rassilon then took control of Gallifrey as Lord President. The nucleus eventually became known as the Eye of Harmony,[4] and Omega's name passed into heroic legend.[1]
Millennia later, during the events of the Doctor Who serial The Three Doctors, it was revealed that Omega had not died, but had rather been sent through the event horizon into an antimatter universe and had been trapped there since then; although he was able to shape that universe according to his will, it meant that he could not leave that universe. His exile and solitude turned him quite insane, and he sought revenge on the Time Lords for "abandoning" him. Despite the Third Doctor's assurances that he was revered among the Time Lords and still remembered fondly, Omega still sought retribution.[1] He made two attempts in the television series to re-enter the positive matter universe: in The Three Doctors where he attempted to force the Doctor to take his place in the antimatter universe so that he could depart it, and in the serial Arc of Infinity where he attempted to create a new body for himself using the Doctor's biological data.[2] Both attempts were thwarted by the Doctor, with his universe being destroyed in The Three Doctors when he was tricked into touching the Second Doctor's recorder—which had remained matter when the others were converted into antimatter—and his new body was seemingly destroyed in Arc of Infinity before it could convert back to antimatter and destroy Earth.