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Not sure if this is addressed in the old series:

Suppose that there is this famous Time Lord that invented chess, and one morning he regenerates and no one witnesses it.

How do Time Lords prove to others that they are the same person?

Since the regeneration thing is managed by those High Council guys, I suppose that they are able to verify it somehow. But what about the rest of the community? How can they tell, trivially, if this new face is truly the inventor of chess, and not somebody impersonating him?

I'd imagine that a TARDIS, which is apparently linked to its owner, can serve as credentials. But I doubt everybody has a TARDIS - besides, that's probably not the most convenient way to show people who you are.

And finally, I'm not sure, but it looks like most Time Lords have some sort of tool (like the Doctor's screwdriver, or the Master's deathstick), which I guess is good for credentials - but heck, the impostor could've just stolen it.

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    On the other hand, a regeneration may be the same Time Lord, but it is not the same person. The Doctor repeatedly has to figure out "what kind of man" he is when he regenerates.
    – kojiro
    Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 14:01

2 Answers 2

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This has been a matter of some discussion on the Doctor Who Wikia;

In short, Timelords seem to be able to almost immediately recognise each other. On top of that they're capable of telepathy so any lingering doubt could easily be erased by conducting a mind-to-mind contact;

They can still recognise each other regardless of regeneration. This was shown in The Armageddon Factor when Drax was able to recognise the Fourth Doctor and The Twin Dilemma when Azmeal was able to recognise the Sixth Doctor, despite their last encounter being in the Doctor's fourth incarnation.

Given that Time Lords have been shown to have some telepathic ability, it is reasonable to suppose that this is how they recognise each other after regenerations. However, this doesn't explain how the Doctor recognised the Master on television in "The Sound of Drums". It is possible, therefore, that certain other traits are carried from one incarnation to the next e.g. Subtle facial characteristics.

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    I believe the reason he recognized him was because Martha, Jack, and The Doctor both heard his voice after he transformed when The Master regenerated into Harold Saxxon. Martha said she recognized his voice and The Doctor realized that Harold Saxxon won the election, so the winner of the election the newly elected Prime Minister was actually The Master.
    – DoctorWho22
    Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 4:20
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    There doesn't seem to be any such ability that is consistently available, however. Note that the Doctor doesn't recognise his old teacher in Planet of the Spiders until the latter begins dropping hints as to his identity.
    – Jules
    Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 11:45
  • @Jules - Agreed. The question was "how would you confirm". As far as I'm concerned using a mindmeld would be the clincher.
    – Valorum
    Commented Apr 20, 2014 at 11:48
  • Smell (like that episode of the family of aliens that comes after the Doctor essence). Some kind of magnetism perhaps. Or even the glance of another time lord/lady would do... I think :/
    – Michel
    Commented Jun 13, 2014 at 13:01
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    It seems inconsistent because (spoiler?) the Doctor (Whittaker) failed to recognize the Master in the episode "Spyfall", at least not until he had already sprung his trap. For that matter, the Doctor got blindsided by MIssy too. It seems a recurring thing: the Master (or Missy) always knows it's the Doctor and gets the drop on him/her before the Doctor clues in.
    – Anthony X
    Commented Jan 19, 2020 at 17:28
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Thing is are Time Lords even a race of people or after their 13th regeneration are they given a new persona. If so then all Time Lords are the same person; a timeless child with endless regenerations. Time Lords could be a race of one.

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    This is a very bold claim, do you have any evidence for it that you could edit in?
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    Commented Jan 19, 2020 at 17:06

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