Romana

**Romanadvoratrelundar** — known in short as **Romana** — was a Time Lord who was assigned the task to assist the Fourth Doctor in his quest for the Key to Time. She stayed with him long after that task was done and parted from him in E-Space.

## Biography

### Meeting The Fourth Doctor

Romana was working at the Bureau of Ancient Records when the White Guardian assigned her to assist the Fourth Doctor in the quest for the Key to Time, appearing to her as the Lord President of Gallifrey. Though she was much younger than the Doctor, she considered him an academic inferior because of his final grades. The Doctor was initially unwilling to take Romana along and was somewhat hostile to her as he believed he did not need her help.

They found the first segment on the planet Ribos in the form of a lump of jethrik. They had to recover it against the will of Graff Vynda-K. During this time the two bonded, even though Romana made the mistake of thinking the first segment was a crown rather than the jethrik. Romana came to respect the Doctor for his experience despite his academic failings although she was frustrated he didn't immediately go after the segment and was more interested in Garron and Unstoffe. (DW: *The Ribos Operation*)

### Travels with The Fourth Doctor

Romana and the Doctor arrived on the planet Zanak in their search for the second segment of the Key to Time. Here they met the Captain, who used Zanak to materialise around and mine other planets. They discovered that the segment they sought was the planet Calufrax, which had recently fallen victim to Zanak. They retrieved the remaining components of Calufrax, which had been shrunk by the Captain as a trophy, also disabling in the process Zanak's ability to materialise around and destroy other planets. (DW: *The Pirate Planet*)

On her first visit to the planet Earth in 1978, while looking for the third segment, Romana befriended Professor Amelia Rumford and Vivian Fay. Vivian was really Cessair of Diplos. She kidnapped Romana, taking her to a ship in hyperspace. They met the Megara and she attended the Doctor's trial. Upon their escape, the Doctor and Romana found the segment was the Great Seal of Diplos. (DW: *The Stones of Blood*)

On Tara, Romana immediately found the segment was a statue after leaving the Doctor. However, while fleeing a Taran wood beast, she met Count Grendel, who decided to take Romana prisoner. He introduced her to Princess Strella, whose appearance was identical to Romana's. Taking advantage of this likeness, the Count decided Prince Reynart would marry Romana, pretending she was a dancer from Gallifrey. Reynart would be killed and the Count would marry his widow. He would then rule as King. However, the Doctor interrupted the wedding and defeated the Count. (DW: *The Androids of Tara*)

On Delta III, Romana was captured by Swampies and offered as a sacrifice to Kroll. The Doctor freed her, but they were quickly recaptured. This time both the Doctor and Romana were offered in sacrifice in the last of the Seven Holy Rituals of the Swampies. This involved them being stretched by vines, known as creepers, until their backbones broke. The Doctor freed them by resonating his voice and breaking a window so rain water loosened the creepers. The segment was within Kroll himself and the Doctor recovered it. (DW: *The Power of Kroll*)

The Doctor and Romana went to Atrios for the final segment. Romana was captured by the Shadow and tortured. She was freed with the Doctor's help and the segment was Princess Astra of Atrios herself.

The Doctor and Romana assembled the Key in the TARDIS, then disassembled it to escape the wrath of the White Guardian's foe, the Black Guardian. The Doctor fitted a randomiser to the TARDIS' controls to prevent the Black Guardian from hunting them down. During the adventure she met Drax, one of the Doctor's peers from his own time on Gallifrey. (DW: *The Armageddon Factor*)

### First Regeneration

Due to being tortured by The Shadow, She was forced to regenerate.

Still using the randomiser to evade the Black Guardian, Romana's second incarnation's first adventure was on Skaro where she was captured and interrogated by the Daleks and made to work as a slave before using her respiratory bypass system to feign death and escape. She met Davros and assisted the Doctor in defeating the Daleks, the Movellans and freeing the slaves. (DW: *Destiny of the Daleks*)

Arrving in Paris in 1979, Romana and the Doctor enjoyed the city before uncovering Scaroth's plan to use the *Mona Lisa* and a number of copies to fund his time travel experiments. She provided Scaroth with time travel technology but, after realising her mistake, helped the Doctor stop him. (DW: *City of Death*)

On Chloris, Romana was captured by a party of bandits. She became involved in Lady Adrasta's plans to kill the Tythonian ambassador Erato when she made the mistake of showing what K9 could do. (DW: *The Creature from the Pit*)

When two spaceships, the Empress and the Hecate, collided, Romana helped separate them. She also helped to uncover a drug-smuggling plot involving the lethal drug vraxoin via Tryst's Continuous Event Transmuter and the Mandrels it contained. (DW: *Nightmare of Eden*)

Romana prevented the Nimon from continuing their cycle of taking over planets by posing as gods. She travelled to Crinoth and met Sezom, the sole survivor of the people there who had formerly welcomed the Nimon in the hope they would give them higher technology, only to realise too late the Nimon were parasitic nomads who consumed them and their world. (DW: *The Horns of Nimon*)

The Doctor and Romana went to Cambridge in 1979, intending to meet Professor Chronotis. Whilst punting up the River Cam, the Doctor's first four incarnations, along with their companions, were taken by a time scoop to the Death Zone on Gallifrey. The Doctor and Romana were caught in a time eddy and failed to arrive in the Death Zone. They were released several hours later once Borusa was sealed in the Tomb of Rassilon. (DW: *The Five Doctors*)

The Doctor arrived in Brighton, but in the wrong season. Bored and with K9 out of action after going in the sea, Romana suggested they visit the Leisure Hive. There, they prevented the rebirth of Argolin civilisation. Despite her protests, the Doctor removed the randomiser from the TARDIS, making them vulnerable to the Black Guardian finding them again. (DW: *The Leisure Hive*)

On Tigella, Romana freed herself from the Bell Plants' harassment before she was captured by Gaztaks. She bluffed the Gaztaks by claiming she was leading them to the TARDIS before taking them around in circles. She lost them by leading them into the Bell Plants. (DW: *Meglos*)

### E-Space

After forgetting all about the matter, the Doctor received an order from the Time Lords to return Romana to Gallifrey given that they had assembled the Key to Time. Romana, having tasted a life of adventure with the Doctor and bonded with him, did not want to return and spend the rest of her life there. The TARDIS entered a Charged Vacuum Emboitment and entered E-Space where they landed on the planet Alzarius. Infected by an Alzarian spider, Romana was controlled by its venom to complete tasks to help the Marshmen. The Doctor restrained her and she soon recovered. (DW: *Full Circle*)

Romana and the Doctor began searching for a CVE to return home. They came across a planet and landed upon it. They found an Alzarian, Adric, had stowed away on board. Romana was taken by a group of vampires as a sacrifice to the King Vampire. The Doctor rescued her and they resumed searching. (DW: *State of Decay*)

The TARDIS crew arrived at the Gateway where they encountered the Tharils. With K9 damaged by time winds and unable to return to N-Space, Romana chose to remain with him in E-Space where they could help release the Tharils from captivity. (DW: *Warriors' Gate*)

## List of Appearances

Season 16 (1978-79)* *The Ribos Operation*
* *The Pirate Planet*
* *The Stones of Blood*
* *The Androids of Tara*
* *The Power of Kroll*
* *The Armageddon Factor*

Season 17 (1979-80)* *Destiny of the Daleks*
* *City of Death*
* *The Creature from the Pit*
* *Nightmare of Eden*
* *The Horns of Nimon*

Season 18 (1980-81)* *The Leisure Hive*
* *Meglos*
* *Full Circle*
* *State of Decay*
* *Warriors' Gate*

20th Anniversary Special (1983)* *The Five Doctors*