This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Ununnilium: IMHO, the Doctor Who example doesn't count, because the Gallifreyans weren't really the supporting cast of the show.
Smapti: There were plenty of Time Lords in the supporting cast of the original series - the Master, Romana, the Rani, the Valeyard, and the Monk to name a few.
Ununnilium: True... hmf.
- DC gave villain-turned-hero Black Adam a "Black Adam" family to mirror Captain Marvel's that was introduced and immediately killed off in the course of the same storyline.
This definitely doesn't count, since it was all part of the wider arc; it wasn't done for sales reasons.
Later:
- The difference here being that there was no major backdraft. The Time Lords as a whole were generally worthless, occasionally screwing with The Doctor because he dared to DO STUFF! Of the four renegade Time Lords, The Doctor is fine, The Master and The Rani wouldn't have cared about Galifrey, and Rowana was last seen in another dimension.
Conversation In The Main Page. And there was certainly some backdraft when the concept was announced; it just cooled down as everybody realized how good the show was.
