The war occurs between the events of the 1996 film and the 2005 revived series, with the Time Lords fighting the Daleks until the apparent mutual destruction of both races.
With the Temporal Powers being wiped out one-by-one, the Time Lords formally declared war with the Daleks.
The Doctor is killed in the crash, but is temporarily restored to life by the Sisterhood of Karn, who finally convince him to fight for the sake of the universe.
The War Doctor stole an ancient Gallifreyan weapon known as the Moment, and intended to reduce Gallifrey into "rocks and dust" with the inferno wiping out the Dalek fleet.
[4] Rassilon and his fellow councillors attempt to escape the Time Lock by retroactively planting a four-note drumbeat into the Master's brain as a child and cause his descent into madness.
The sudden disappearance of Gallifrey left the Daleks firing upon and subsequently annihilating themselves, while the Time Lords remained; albeit powerless and forgotten.
[18] The Time Lords could also prevent or repair paradoxes such as the one created by Rose in an attempt to save her father's life in a traffic accident.
The Master had been hiding in human form at the end of the universe using a Chameleon Arch, having escaped the destruction of both the Time Lords and the Daleks.
By taking human form, he avoided detection by the Doctor, who was apparently unaware of his nemesis' resurrection during the Time War.
[21][8] The timelines of other races and planets shift without the inhabitants of the worlds affected being aware of the changes in history, as they were a part of them.
The Time War provides a convenient in-story explanation for any contradictions in series continuity: for example, writer Paul Cornell has suggested that Earth's destruction by an expanding sun in "The End of the World" five billion years hence, as opposed to the original depiction of its demise around the year 10,000,000 AD in The Ark (1966), can be attributed to changes in history due to the war.
During the novel, the War Doctor and his new companion Cinder discover that the Daleks intend to use the temporal anomalies of a rift in time in the Moldox system, to develop a weapon that could completely erase Gallifrey and the Time Lords from history, with Rassilon's plan to stop the Dalek plot involving the destruction of the rift and all inhabited planets around it.
The Doctor sabotages Rassilon's plan and uses the energy of the rift to erase the Daleks' scheme, but the actions of a Time Lord agent result in Cinder's death, leaving the War Doctor resolved to end the war once and for all as he recognises how far his people have fallen in the name of victory.
Hurt reprised his role alongside Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra, who frequently sends the War Doctor on missions to give the Time Lords the upper hand over the Daleks.
A follow-up series was subsequently launched featuring the Eighth Doctor and set during the early years of the Time War.
[32] The third volume also features the return of the Valeyard, who is recruited by the Time Lords attempt to be a soldier in the War after he is 'recreated' through an accident when the Doctor uses a transmat while carrying a device that can manipulate biology.
The release features Derek Jacobi reprising his role as The Master from the 2007 episode "Utopia" and follows the character during the Time War.