Omega Lives! How the Founder of the Time Lords Turned Renegade Returned to "Doctor Who"
Following the return of the Rani to Doctor Who for the first time in over 30 years, this weekend’s penultimate episode of the season also teased the return of another villainous Time Lord from the classic series – Omega. As with the Rani, I’m sure many more casual fans have no idea who Omega is, so I’ve made it my job to make you aware!
As with the Rani, Omega has only made two appearances in the show, but his origins date back further, to the tenth anniversary of the series in 1973. Facing off against the first three Doctors in the 10th anniversary story, aptly titled “The Three Doctors," Omega was introduced as the founder of Time Lord society, who was corrupted by his own ego and anti-matter. Omega had been abandoned and seemingly ignored by the Time Lords, turning him into a faceless being that could only survive by the force of his will in a world of anti-matter. Omega’s plans for revenge were thwarted by the Doctor, but it took three of him to do so!
10 years later, Omega returned in “Arc of Infinity" alongside Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor. Sporting a slightly different look, a Time Lord follower of Omega attempted to extract him from the anti-matter universe by stealing the Doctor’s bio-data. In fact, towards the end of the story, it seems that Omega was successful, as he’s shown walking around Amsterdam in the form of the Fifth Doctor. Of course, it didn’t last, quickly becoming unstable, and Omega was once again banished back to his own dimension.
1988’s “Remembrance of the Daleks" expanded on the story of Omega by introducing the Hand of Omega, a massive power source he created that allowed Time Lords the ability to travel through space and time. It was this creation that consumed Omega, sending him directly to the dimension of anti-matter. The Daleks hatched a plan to steal the Hand of Omega, in an attempt to obtain time travel – which was of course thwarted by the Doctor.
And that brings us to today, over 40 years since Omega’s last proper appearance in the show. In “Wish World," the Rani revealed that Omega is “The One Who Waits," planning to rip open the fabric of the universe to bring Omega back. We even hear a snippet of Omega’s roaring voice performance from “The Three Doctors," performed by the late Stephen Thorne. Just how Omega will appear and what his plans are will be revealed in the final episode of the season, “The Reality War."