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Rassilon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey and its first leader. Rassilon was first mentioned in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin, where he was retconned into being a major establishing figure in Time Lord society, filling the role previously fulfilled by the character Omega. Despite his impact on Time Lord society, he was implied to be a cruel leader. He would later appear in the 1983 episode "The Five Doctors" in a physical appearance. In the show's revival, he appears as an antagonist in the 2009–2010 episodes "The End of Time" and the 2015 episode "Hell Bent". Rassilon has also appeared in a large amount of spin-off media associated with the show.
The role of Rassilon has been portrayed by several actors throughout the series, with Richard Mathews portraying him in "The Five Doctors", Timothy Dalton portraying him in "The End of Time", and Donald Sumpter portraying him in "Hell Bent". He also has been voiced by actors Don Warrington and Richard Armitage in Big Finish produced audio dramas. Rassilon has been analysed for his role as a leadership figure in the series, as well as in comparisons between the series and real-world religions.
Within the context of the series, Rassilon was a historic figure within the history of the Doctor's people, the Time Lord. Rassilon had fought in a war against a race known as the Great Vampire, constructed a defence system of living metal known as Validium, and created technology that could capture peoples from throughout time and space known as a Time Scoop. Rassilon worked with another Time Lord named Omega to create the first time travel spaceship, harnessing the power of a star undergoing a supernova to fuel the device. Though it succeeded, Omega disappeared during the incident. Rassilon harnessed the nucleus of the resulting black hole to provide the energy that powers time travel, resulting in much of Omega's praise being given to Rassilon, and Rassilon became a defining figure in Time Lord society. Rassilon took control of the Time Lords' home planet Gallifrey as its "Lord High President".Parkin, Lance & Pearson, Lars (2012). A History: An Unauthorised History of the Doctor Who Universe (3rd Edition), p. 697. Mad Norwegian Press, Des Moines. . Despite being seen in Time Lord society as a hero and benevolent ruler, the Doctor stated that rumors existed that Rassilon was secretly a dictator. Rassilon died long before the series' in-universe events began.
Though the character is first mentioned in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin, Rassilon first appears physically in "The Five Doctors" (1983), where the Lord President of Gallifrey, Borusa (Philip Latham), seeks immortality, which he believes can be granted via entering Rassilon's tomb. To accomplish this, Borusa uses the Time Scoop to transport various versions of the Doctor, their companions, and several of their enemies to the Death Zone, a location contains a tower holding Rassilon's tomb. Borusa uses them to find a way into the tower, at which point Borusa appears and seeks immortality from Rassilon. Rassilon (Richard Mathews) appears as a disembodied image, granting Borusa immortality by turning Borusa into a stone bust on Rassilon's tomb. Rassilon soon after dissipates, but returns the various displaced beings back to their home times.
Due to the effects of the Last Great Time War, a war waged across time and space by the Time Lords against the Dalek, Rassilon was revived into a physical form, becoming much crueler. Leading the Time Lords in the war, Rassilon learned that the Doctor planned to end the war by destroying both sides. Rassilon implanted the sound of a drumbeat in the head of antagonist the Master, and during the events of "The End of Time" (2009–2010), in which the Master (John Simm) turns every human on Earth into a copy of himself, the sound of the drumbeat is amplified, allowing Rassilon (Timothy Dalton) and the Time Lords to lock onto the signal it creates. Nearly escaping the Time War, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) destroys a device causing the drumbeat's amplification, causing the Time Lords and Rassilon to be returned to the War.
In "Hell Bent" (2015), set after the Doctor saves Gallifrey from being destroyed (As seen in the 2013 episode "The Day of the Doctor"), the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) arrives on Gallifrey and learns that Rassilon (Donald Sumpter) was responsible for the Doctor's imprisonment and torture for four and a half billion years (As seen in the 2015 episode "Heaven Sent"), as well as being indirectly responsible for the death of the Twelfth Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman). Rassilon briefly discusses matters with various Time Lords, including Ohila, a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, a Gallifreyan religious group. On arrival on Gallifrey, he leads a military revolt against Rassilon, deposes him, and sends him into exile.
Rassilon appears in several audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions. He appears in Zagreus (2003) where Rassilon, portrayed by Don Warrington, exists in the Matrix, a Time Lord information hub, and attempts to convert the Doctor into an assassin. Subsequent audio dramas depict Rassilon exiling the Doctor to another universe as punishment for not obeying him, and the Doctor's conflict with Rassilon. Rassilon further appears in the audio drama spin-off series Gallifrey, where he is shown revived from the dead, resulting in Rassilon becoming a dictator on Gallifrey. He comes into conflict with the Doctor's former companion Romana as a result. He also appears in several audio dramas in the Time War series, in which he is portrayed by actor Richard Armitage and depicts Rassilon's role during the Time War.
For the two-part episode "The End of Time", the unnamed Lord President in the original draft of the episode was decided to be depicted as Rassilon in its final draft. Actor Timothy Dalton portrayed the role of Rassilon. According to director Rachel Talalay, it was planned for Dalton to return to the role of Rassilon in "Hell Bent", but due to Dalton being unavailable, Donald Sumpter portrayed the part instead, with the change in actor being explained to be the result of regeneration. Sumpter was initially unaware of the role's importance within the show's mythos, and researched the part online and via watching Dalton's performance in "The End of Time".
Rassilon's role in "The Five Doctors" was stated by the paper Doctor Who and Immortality: Influence of Christian and Buddhist Ethics as being an example of showing that the pursuit of immortality in the real world was something considered "reprehensible". The paper compared Rassilon passing his judgement on Borusa as being similar to that of God, with Rassilon's actions symbolically stating that God had the final verdict in matters related to the length of a life. Similarly, his defeat in "The End of Time" were seen as being a result of karma catching up to Rassilon for his prior actions during the story, including the murder of a councilmember.
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