How the new Gallifreyan Translator was made

We spoke to programmer Devon Rohlfing about how his Gallifreyan Translator went from a fun family project to an exciting new feature on the Doctor Who website... 

Doctor Who launched the new GALLIFREYAN TRANSLATOR, a tool that lets fans translate any word or sentence into the language of the Time Lords, and save it as a custom graphic on their devices.

This official Doctor Who Gallifreyan Translator is based on the earlier work of Devon Rohlfing, a programmer and Doctor Who fan from the United States. His own Gallifreyan translator began several years ago as a family project, and has since become a fan favourite, even influencing some of the language seen in the TV series. 

As a Doctor Who fan since the days of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, Devon later shared his love for the show with his daughter, who became a fan during the era of Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. Together, they found a bonding opportunity in both the show and Devon’s work.

“She and I were talking about projects that we could do to help her learn how to write some code. She came up with this idea of a Gallifreyan translator, and I thought, ‘Maybe we could figure out a way to teach you something while doing that?’”

Debuting in Series 1 of Doctor Who in 2005, the complex circular symbols of Gallifreyan were originally designed by graphic artist Jenny Bowers. However, they were first interpreted into a readable language by webmaster and Doctor Who fan Loren Sherman, who devised a style of lettering that could be combined to form words. Using Sherman’s system as a guide, Devon and his daughter were able to translate their names into Gallifreyan. And after some research – and an 8-hour train ride – they created a tool capable of translating almost any word. 

“That to me was the highlight of the time working on it,” says Devon. “It was about three days of work total, but it was very fun to teach her how to code while doing this”. 

To read the Gallifreyan generated by the translator, each string of symbols in a word or sentence starts from the bottom of the circle (or six o’clock), and is read anti-clockwise, in a very timey-wimey fashion. Fans know this style as  “Sherman Gallifreyan” and it is usually written and read phonetically, so Devon made a few tweaks to allow the program to generate complete letters, words and sentences more seamlessly. 

“I used to put ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ in there all the time as my test text,” says Devon. “The goal was really to be able to write your name, but then we started thinking ‘Can we do multiple sentences?’ And it started to spiral out of control!” 

Devon’s translator tool on his website soon caught the attention of Doctor Who fans, who have since adopted the use of Gallifreyan in everything from tattoos to teapots. And while Devon’s tool has got plenty of use from the fandom, the one missing feature was the ability to save Gallifreyan creations after they’d been generated. The new translator now includes this capability, along with the options to change the outline and background colours. 

“We didn’t originally plan for this to be anything more than a fun little tool,” admits Devon. “It’s a little bare bones, but a few people have told me they were using it to make a gift for their friend or spouse.” 

And it’s not only fans who have adopted Devon’s translator – Gallifreyan has appeared more frequently within the show itself, as the production team has discovered plenty of creative uses for the language. Eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted the symbols decorating the Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS, or most recently, prominently embellishing the Fifteenth Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, where it is used to represent the Rwandan proverb: “The sharpness of the tongue defeats the sharpness of the warrior”. 

Much of Doctor Who’s long-standing mythology is steeped in the creativity and ingenuity of its fans, and Devon and his daughter’s efforts to make Gallifreyan accessible to the world are a testament to that shared passion. And even though his daughter is now grown up, Devon shares that they still talk about Doctor Who from time to time. 

“It’s a great show”, enthuses Devon. “I love the world that they’ve developed, and the Doctors themselves – they’re just great.”

As a final parting message to the Whoniverse, Devon has left this secret message in Gallifreyan below. Can you figure out what it says? 

Visit the official Gallifreyan Translator here to create messages for yourself and your fellow Time Lords!