May 23, 2025
As the Reality War begins to rage, Wish World became the harbinger for the return of one of the Doctor’s oldest and most powerful foes – Omega.
A founder of Time Lord society turned renegade, Omega was corrupted by anti-matter and his own ego. The Doctor has faced him twice before on television - ahead of their battle in the Season 2 finale, it’s time to get to know Omega a little better…
Omega’s Beginnings
One of the founders of Time Lord society, Omega was a renowned solar engineer.
By exploding a star in supernova, using the Hand of Omega, he invented the technology that allowed Time Lords to travel through time and space.
In generating this massive power source, Omega appeared to have been consumed by the supernova, and his fellow Time Lords considered him lost. Consequently, he was revered as one of their greatest heroes.
The Hand of Omega was returned to Gallifrey, where, according to the Seventh Doctor, it later came into the possession of his first incarnation. Davros, creator of the Daleks, hoped to use the Hand of Omega to enable them to obtain time travel; the Doctor reversed it, vaporising Skaro and seemingly the Daleks along with it.
Unwanted Exile
In fact, Omega had been transported through a black hole to an anti-matter universe, where he resented having been abandoned by his people and attempted to find a way to escape. Able to manipulate this reality by force of will, Omega was able to create new life, such as lumpy orange creatures who later pursued the Third Doctor and UNIT, but at great cost to himself.
Unbeknownst to him, anti-matter radiation led to the destruction of his body, leaving his now non-physical presence to exist only via his original protective suit, and his universe became unstable and entirely dependent on his will.
The Three Doctors
Corrupted by his exile, Omega sent an energy blob to capture the Doctor and a black hole to drain the energy of the universe, in the hope of exacting revenge on Gallifrey; destabilising the whole of time and space in the process. The Time Lords sent the Second Doctor to help his third self in order to stop Omega’s plans., The First Doctor was also sent by the President to “keep them in order” but a Time Eddy meant that he could only communicate with his other selves via video screen in the TARDIS. All were transported to Omega’s universe alongside UNIT HQ, where the Time Lord attempted to force the Third Doctor to take his place so he could return to Gallifrey, and exact his revenge, through a battle of minds. Not realising he had only survived by the force of his will alone and no longer had a physical presence, Omega had a break in his will and became determined to destroy all life.
The Second and Third Doctors successfully manipulated him into returning their companions to our universe, finally managing to destroy the anti-matter reality and, seemingly, Omega with it…
Arc of Infinity
High Councillor Hedin, a follower of Omega, attempted to extract the rogue Time Lord from the anti-matter universe by stealing the Doctor’s bio-data, allowing Omega to construct a new body. Hedin failed to realise that Omega has been driven mad, and although the Time Lords attempted to prevent his return by executing the Doctor (a plan that failed as the Doctor’s mind was hidden in the Matrix), Omega was able to use the Arc of Infinity to return to Earth. The Doctor sabotaged his plan, as Omega’s anti-matter body became increasingly unstable, and used Ergon’s anti-matter converter on Omega, expelling him back to his own dimension once more.
Other appearances
The Fifth Doctor faced Omega again in Big Finish’s Omega, released as part of Doctor Who’s 40th Anniversary celebrations, which explored yet more of the Time Lord’s origins. A third incarnation of Romana and Ace also faced off against him during a mission for the Celestial Intervention Agency of Gallifrey, during which Stephen Thorne returned to the role – for the first time since 1972!
Wish World
At the end of Season Two’s penultimate episode, the Rani reveals her grand plan (which consisted of trapping the Doctor within the Wish World) – to find Omega. can be heard crying:
“Long live Omega! Omega shall be free!”
What’s Omega’s plan? And how can the Doctor stop it? Find out in the epic season finale, The Reality War, premiering on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and cinemas across the UK on Saturday 31st May.
