Professor Chronotis
| Professor Chronotis | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
 Denis Carey as Professor Chronotis |
|
| First appearance | Shada |
| Last appearance | Shada |
| Portrayed by |
Denis Carey (television) James Fox (webcast) Andrew Sachs (radio) |
| Information | |
| Affiliated | Time Lords |
| Species | Time Lord |
| Home planet | Gallifrey |
| Home era | Rassilon Era |
Professor Urban Chronotis is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams. He was originally created for the 1979 Doctor Who serial Shada, starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. However, the filming of the serial was never completed due to a strike. Adams then re-used the character and many of the themes from Shada in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, first published in 1987. In both versions, Chronotis is a clandestine time-traveller, whose time machine (or TARDIS, as they are termed in Doctor Who) is disguised as his college rooms.
In 1992, Shada was completed through the use of linking narration by Tom Baker and released on home video. In this version, the character was played by Denis Carey.
In 2003, Shada was remade as an animated webcast by Big Finish Productions for the BBC. Professor Chronotis was played by James Fox in this version, which was also released as an audio play on CD.
Chronotis holds the post of Regius Professor of Chronology at Cambridge University. He is also a Fellow of the fictional St. Cedd's College, Cambridge, where he has resided for three centuries. In Shada, Chronotis is a retired Time Lord and old friend of the Doctor, living out his remaining centuries in academic seclusion. His unnaturally long life goes un-discussed by his colleagues, owing to the discretion he claims is a hallmark of the old Cambridge colleges. Owing to repeated time travel and advanced age, he is extremely forgetful and absent-minded. He often does not remember which time period he has travelled nor the reason why. Among other things, he has a liking for tea and silly jokes. It is also revealed during the course of Shada that Chronotis was a Time Lord criminal named Salyavin, who was falsely imprisoned on and escaped from the prison planetoid Shada.
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