Mary Tamm Mary Tamm ( born 22 March 1950 ) was a graduate and an associate member of the . She was the first actress to play Romana in " Doctor Who " , appearing as the companion of Tom Baker ' s Fourth Doctor in Season 16 . Tamm began her acting career on the stage with the Birmingham Repertory Company in 1971 , moved to London in 1972 and appeared in the musical " Mother Earth " . Before her association with " Doctor Who " , Tamm acted in several motion pictures , most notably Sigi in ( 1974 ) and ( 1976 ) . Tamm was not initially interested in playing a companion to the Doctor . She believed the role was merely that of the " damsel in distress . " She changed her mind when assured by the producer s and her agent that Romana would be different . While Romana was supposed to be a Time Lady , a member of the Doctor ' s own people and therefore as capable as the Doctor , the character eventually took on the characteristics that Tamm was concerned about ; as a result of this , she left the programme after only one season . Other reasons for her departure were reported in media and in fandom , but this is the only reason mentioned in the recent " Key to Time " DVD box set . The role of Romana was assumed by Lalla Ward . On the 2007 Special Edition DVD release of the " Key to Time " , Tamm states she was willing to film a regeneration sequence , but was not asked to do so . Since then , Tamm acted in film and television , playing the characters of Penny Crosbie in the soap opera from 1993 to 1995 , Yvonne Edwards in the BBC drama ( 2002 ) and guest roles in many television programmes . In one of her films , the 1987 release " Three Kinds of Heat " , her character has the dubious distinction of being killed off by a villain portrayed by future Doctor Sylvester McCoy . Tamm returned to the role of Romana in the second series of " Gallifrey " audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions . In 2007 she added " interviewer " to her CV when she hosted and conducted interviews for a brief documentary entitled " Stones Free " for the DVD release of " The Key to Time " , in which she talked to historians about one of the locations for the serial , " The Stones of Blood " . The 2 | entertain documentary " There ' s Something About Mary . . . " saw Tamm recount her time on the show and the means by which she acquired and later left the role . She performed in the Big Finish production " The Stealers from Saiph " ( released June 2009 ) , again playing Romana , as well as reading the voice of the Fourth Doctor . Also in 2009 , she read an audio book version of the Time Hunter novella " The Tunnel at the End of the Light " . She was married with one daughter and a grandson . On 14 September 2009 , Tamm published her autobiography , " First Generation " — a reference to the fact she was in the first generation of her family born in the UK , as her parents hailed from the then - Soviet Union . She also recorded an audio book version . " First Generation " was publicised as " volume 1 " of her autobiography , suggesting a follow - up book in the future . In early 2010 , 2 | entertain announced a new series of DVD featurettes entitled " Tomorrow ' s Times " would be featured on upcoming DVD releases . The first chapter of this series was presented by Mary Tamm . In 2011 and 2012 , Tamm recorded a series of Big Finish audios as Romana alongside Tom Baker . These were released from January to July 2013 . On 24 July 2012 , Tamm died at the age of 62 . The BBC confirmed that Tamm died in hospital following a battle against cancer . Tom Baker said in a statement : " She was a darling companion and wonderfully witty and kind . I ' m so sorry to hear of her death . " There was some initial confusion in the media regarding the actual date of her death , with the " Radio Times " later confirming that she died the morning on 24 July .