Romana

All the televised incarnations of Romana

Susannah Harker (1998-)

Maggy Armitage (1979)

**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. When she returned to N-Space, she became the Lady President of the Time Lords of Gallifrey. She ultimately lost this position to Veylon, but was able to gain a new position on the High Council as Chief Vicegerent of the Gallifreyan Military.

## Name

Romanadvoratrelundar seemed to be a single, long name when she introduced herself to the Doctor. He quickly shortened it to "Romana", though given the choice of being called "Romana" or "Fred" she told him to call her "Fred". (TV: *The Ribos Operation*) The Fourth Doctor later called her "Miss Dvoratrelundar" when she was a witness during his trial before the Megara, (TV: *The Stones of Blood*) though when the Ninth Doctor referred to her as such out of respect, she corrected him and told him to call her "Romana". (TV: *The Council's Reverence*)

## Biography

### Early Life

As a Time Tot, she had a copy of the Gallifreyan nursery book, Our Planet Story. (PROSE*: Shada*)

She was raised by robots. (PROSE: *The Pirate Planet*)

### At the Academy

During her time at the Time Lord Academy, Romana recited an oath as she became a Time Lady to master her emotions. (TV: *Shada*) For her seventieth birthday, she was given an air car. (TV: *The Pirate Planet*)

She excelled at reason, caution and quiet calculation during her training. (PROSE: *The Pirate Planet*)

She graduated with a "triple first" from the Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey. (TV: *The Ribos Operation*) One of her early jobs was part of the Chancellery Guard, where she met Illistras for the first time. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*) She also spent some time working in the Bureau of Ancient Records on Gallifrey. (TV: *State of Decay*)

### Travels with the Doctor

#### Quest for the Key to Time

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. (TV: *The Ribos Operation*)

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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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 the Second Drax, one of the Doctor's peers from his own time on Gallifrey. (TV: *The Armageddon Factor*)

#### First Death

Romana seemed carefree as she tried on various bodies, (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*) and one account claimed that she had regenerated purely "for the fun of it". (PROSE: *City of Death*)

#### Evading the Black Guardian

Still using the randomiser to evade the Black Guardian, Romana'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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *The Horns of Nimon*)

The Doctor and Romana went to Cambridge in 1979, intending to meet Professor Chronotis. Whilst punting up the River Cam, (WC: *Shada*) 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. (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

The Doctor, having gone "nowhere" for several hours, went back to the TARDIS, demanding everyone to put their bathing suits on as they were going to Brighton. The Doctor and Romana, though retaining memories of the punting trip, had forgotten they intended to visit Chronotis. The Doctor said that they had intended to be back "before lights out", but "went on somewhere else", according to Romana, after only being away from the TARDIS for two hours and twenty-one minutes. (WC: *Shada*)

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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *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. (TV: *Warriors' Gate*)

### Return to Gallifrey and First Term as President

Romana returned to N-Space by unknown means.

Romana met Ruath and was trapped by her in a miniscope to prevent her from stopping her plan to turn the Time Lords into vampires. Romana was later picked up by Spandrell and received a position on the High Council. (TV: *Goth Opera*) At some point afterwards, she won election to the Presidency on Gallifrey. Her policies were largely based around opening up Gallifrey to the rest of the universe, with one of her first acts upon election being to sign a trade deal with the neighbouring planets of Vesstrick and Ione 7. Whilst these policies were popular with younger Time Lords, many traditional Gallifreyans, among them Castellan Illistras feared they would render Gallifrey too soft. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*)

She arrived at the House of Lungbarrow following some of the goings-on there and met the Doctor, now in his eighth incarnation. (TV: *Lungbarrow*)

Romana was contacted by Bernice Summerfield and Norman Manning, who told her of the Master's gambit with the Mind Wrest, and that the Doctor was in danger. She later arrived at the Master's base of operations with the Chancellery Guard and oversaw both Ruath's being taken into custody and the Doctor's regeneration into his ninth incarnation. (TV: *Mind Games*)

After the newly regenerated Doctor had been taken to a hospital in the Capitol to recover, Romana was informed by a nurse that a patient with a disease unheard of in Gallifreyan medical history had been brought in, and saw the first Time Lord die of the Eyes of Madmen, during which time she herself was infected. When telling the Doctor about what she had seen with Benny and Norman, the Doctor told Norman to stay with her and report the symptoms she exhibited. She soon complained of feeling sick, with her breathing quickening, and later coughing up blood and becoming more paranoid. The Doctor alleviated these symptoms after he gave her a drug to treat the illness. (TV: *The Eyes of Madmen*)

### Second Death and Term as Chief Vicegerent

Following her first term, Romana ran for re-election against Patrex leader Veylon. During the election, Romana was engaging Veylon in a debate, when the Capitol suddenly suffered a blackout, giving Illistras enough time to force Romana into taking Omega's Bane and effectively kill her. Veylon was implicated.

The Ninth Doctor and Lena Haigh arrived soon after, and took over the investigation alongside Illistras, who continued to kill key supporters of Romana, and K9 Mark II. Ultimately, after Illistras revealed the truth and Veylon was released, the Doctor found an antidote for Omega's Bane and used it to try and resuscitate the members of the High Council affected. When he found he did not have enough for Romana, he channelled regeneration energy into her in order to override the Omega's Bane and jumpstart a regeneration. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*) Romana was given a three-month period to recover from her experience and re-evaluate her policies. She decided to stay firm with her previous policies, something which earned her the votes of many younger Gallifreyans, as well as the Doctor. (PROSE: *The Council's Reverence*) Ultimately, however, Romana lost the election to Veylon. Despite running against her, Veylon nonetheless elected her to the High Council as Chief Vicegerent of the new Gallifreyan Military in place of the now-defunct Chancellery Guard. She was present when the Doctor refused a position on the High Council offered by Veylon, exchanging joking words with him, and watching as he and Lena left in the TARDIS. After they left, she told Veylon that it would be best to begin the business of government. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*)

Shortly after the first session with the High Council was called, Romana noticed something strange happening to the air outside the Capitol. She and Veylon went to investigate, taking a Gallifreyan military squadron with them, and found a wormhole connecting Gallifrey to the Pyramid, and Bernice Summerfield and Norman Manning staring back at them. When she attempted to cross, she found herself unable to, though she could still communicate with Benny. Shortly after arriving, the Doctor attempted to analyse the cause of the wormhole, which Romana advised against him continuing after it expanded into an Earth Empire vessel. She warned the vessel alongside Brigadier Bambera of its new temporal position and tried to come to a practical solution. She, Bambera and Lena jointly led the forces of the Earth Empire, Gallifreyan military and UNIT against the interdimensional monsters after they began to come through the wormhole, shooting down a couple herself. After communication was re-established with the Doctor, Romana worked alongside Veylon to channel all the Capitol's power towards the wormhole, successfully beginning to close it after the Capitol's energy was combined with that of the Pyramid, the Earth Empire vessel and the TARDIS. However, whilst the TARDIS made it safely onto the Earth Empire vessel, the Doctor was stuck in the middle of the wormhole. Romana watched as the Doctor reassured his companions and began to regenerate, successfully closing the wormhole. (TV: *Visions of Tomorrow*)

## Personality

#### Romana I

Romana I was exceptionally bright, very good at puzzles, (TV: *The Stones of Blood*) but she lacked experience outside of academia. (TV: *The Ribos Operation*) She was able to properly and smoothly land the TARDIS simply by reading the Instruction Manual. (TV: *The Pirate Planet*)

Due to her inexperience, Romana was wont to panic in life-endangering situations during her early adventures with the Fourth Doctor. (TV: *The Ribos Operation*) Romana was later willing to concede that one of The Doctor's plans was "fantastic". (TV: *The Pirate Planet*) Whilst she could be arrogant and patronising, (TV: *The Ribos Operation*, etc.) she became less aloof as a result of her travels (TV: *The Armageddon Factor*) and showed friendship and affection to some that she met. (TV: *The Stones of Blood*) She also became more resourceful and competent as an adventurer. (TV: *The Androids of Tara*) Like the Doctor, she preferred to think her way out of situations, but was not opposed to force when necessary, although she was saddened after shooting a guard. (TV: *The Pirate Planet*)

#### Romana II

Romana was confident, intelligent (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*, *The Leisure Hive*, etc.) and witty, (TV: *City of Death*, *Shada*) more than capable of separating from the Doctor and resolving situations on her own. (TV: *Nightmare of Eden*, *The Horns of Nimon*, etc.) She felt that she had learnt from him (TV: *Meglos*) although some of her previous incarnation's iciness remained early on. (TV: *The Creature from the Pit*) Whilst she could be fearful, she remained quick to react. (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*, *Meglos, The Horns of Nimon*)

Whilst she claimed that she never lied, this was not always true. (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*) She also had something of a maternal side and was not above using guns when absolutely necessary. (TV: *The Horns of Nimon*)

Due to her new lifestyle of exploration and adventure, Romana dreaded the thought of spending the rest of her life on Gallifrey. (TV: *Full Circle*) Nonetheless, once back on Gallifrey, she devoted much of her time to ensuring its people were better off, opening Gallifrey up to the wider universe and placing a heavy emphasis on peace with neighbouring civilisations, something Veylon credited to Romana's time with the Doctor. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*)

In her free time, Romana enjoyed embarking on constructive and intellectual activities, finding recreation such as walking along a beach dull and pointless. (TV: *The Leisure Hive*)

The Doctor described her as "wonderful", which she supposed she was, (TV: *State of Decay*) and as "the noblest Romana of them all". (TV: *Warriors' Gate*) Likewise, Romana regarded the Doctor as one of her closest friends and reacted with shock to news that he may be in danger. (TV: *Mind Games*)

#### Romana III

Romana's third incarnation was fairly similar in mentality to her first incarnation, being exceptionally focused on her work as Chief Vicegerent and often adopting a serious composure. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*) She was a quick thinker and highly authoritative, even towards those whom she had never met. (TV: *Visions of Tomorrow*) Whilst not as icy as her first incarnation, Romana was capable of being direct towards her subordinates as Chief Vicegerent, and commanded respect easily. (TV: *Visions of Tomorrow*)

Despite this serious veneer, Romana remained a friendly and cheerful character with those who she knew well, often joking around with those she deemed her friends. (TV: *The Council's Reverence*) She was also polite when talking to acquaintances. (TV: *Visions of Tomorrow*)

Romana believed her travels with the Doctor to have affected her for the better in many ways, ranging from policy decisions to advice and even the clothes she wore. (PROSE: *The Council's Reverence*)

### Skills

#### Romana II

Romana proved a scientific genius. Her intellect rivalled and sometimes surpassed the Doctor's, as proven by her superior sonic screwdriver. (TV: *The Horns of Nimon*)

Romana had great strength, as shown when she took on Sharrel unarmed. (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*)

#### Romana III

Romana was a skilled markswoman, and could use a staser with deadly accuracy, even against airborne targets. She also had a good understanding of computing and energy systems. (TV: *Visions of Tomorrow*)

## Appearance

### Romana I

Romana was a tall, aristocratic woman with dark hair parted in the centre. She had a finely-chiselled, almost Grecian face with arched eyebrows, pale eyes and delicately curved lashes. (PROSE: *Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation*) She was elegantly beautiful. (PROSE: *Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara*)

This incarnation of Romana was particularly fashion conscious. She had access to a large variety of clothing in the TARDIS wardrobe and changed her clothing frequently. (TV: *The Ribos Operation*, etc.) While on Tara, Romana took special care in choosing her clothes. She eventually came across a specific dress for Tara, or at least in that style. (TV: *The Androids of Tara*)

### Romana II

Romana was aristocratically beautiful with long fair hair and a high forehead. (PROSE: *The Five Doctors*) After regenerating, she described herself as having an imposing forehead, nice hair, a neat little chin and slightly overlong arms, although the Fourth Doctor assured her that their length was fine. (PROSE: *Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks*) Duggan thought that she looked twenty-five. (PROSE: *City of Death*)

Romana once donned a pink version of the Doctor's coat, with a white version of his scarf. (TV: *Destiny of the Daleks*) She also wore a variety of dresses, building on her previous incarnation's sense of style. (TV: *The Androids of Tara*, *The Creature from the Pit*) On Tigella, she wore a frilled dress. (TV: *Meglos*) When defeating the Nimon, she wore a crimson frockcoat, a gold brocade waistcoat, an ivory stock tie, beige trousers, and brown boots. (TV: *The Horns of Nimon*) Once she returned to Gallifrey, she wore traditional Time Lord garb. (TV: *Goth Opera,* *The Eyes of Madmen*, *The Council's Reverence*)

### Romana III

Romana was youthful in appearance and, according to the Ninth Doctor, carried herself with her predecessors' customary aristocratic air. She had a round face with long, golden blonde hair parted in the centre. (PROSE: *The Council's Reverence*) She had striking green eyes. (PROSE: *Visions of Tomorrow*)

Unlike her prior two incarnations, Romana stuck to one particular style of clothing, tending most prominently towards a black suit jacket over a grey dress alongside brown leather boots. She wore this when being inaugurated as Chief Vicegerent, (TV: *The Council's Reverence*) deeming traditional Time Lord garb uncomfortable and tacky. (PROSE: *The Council's Reverence*)

## Age

Romana told the Doctor that she was nearly one hundred and forty when they met, (TV: *The Ribos Operation*) although her second incarnation later gave her age as one hundred and twenty-five. (TV: *City of Death*)

## Behind the Scenes

### Romana I

* For a long time, it was only assumed that this is Romana's first incarnation. There was nothing in any televised episode to indicate this to be so. She was never actually called "Romana I" in any story, televised or otherwise. The nomenclature comes from repetition across several non-fictional reference books, such as *The Companions of Doctor Who*, that have been written throughout the years. *The Council's Reverence* was the first televised story to officially confirm Tamm's Romana as being Romana I, as the Doctor states that Romana was only on her second regeneration.
* Mary Tamm agreed to play Romana after being convinced she wouldn't just be a "damsel in distress". However, by the end of Season 16, Tamm felt her character had fallen into that category. This, along with the fact her character had no room to grow in such a small format, left Tamm unwilling to carry on.
* Auditioning for the role of Romana along with Mary Tamm was Belinda Mayne. (TCH 28) The two actresses had previously appeared together in an episode of *Whodunnit?*, the game show hosted by Jon Pertwee.
* The first episode filmed with Tamm's successor, Lalla Ward, was *The Creature from the Pit*. Ward complained at the way her character was scripted to be like Tamm's version, even wearing the same style of clothing. (TV: *The Creature from the Pit*)

### Romana II

* Although a relationship was never explicitly shown or intended by the writers, many fans have found the signs of a romantic relationship particularly evident in the story *City of Death*, perhaps reflecting the real-life romance between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward which reportedly blossomed during the production of that story and led to their brief marriage. In 1980, Ward and Baker made a series of television commercials in Australia for Prime Computers, performing as Romana and the Doctor. The advertisements feature a parody romance between the two characters, culminating in the Doctor proposing marriage to Romana.
* The status of Romana during the events of *The Five Doctors* depends upon which version is viewed. In the original 1983 broadcast version (and four-episode rebroadcasts), she is trapped in the vortex with the Fourth Doctor when the Time Scoop malfunctioned (as evidenced by an image of the two of them that appears on Borusa's monitor). For the 1995 Special Edition, only the Fourth Doctor is visible in the vortex image. According to production notes on the 2008 DVD release, Romana is not trapped with the Doctor in the Special Edition version. However, in the webcast *Shada*, Romana remembers being taken out of time along with the Doctor.
* Three alternative "physical" forms of Romana seen in Part One of *Destiny of the Daleks* were played, uncredited, by Yvonne Gallagher, Lee Richards and Maggy Armitage respectively (the voice continued to be that of Lalla Ward).
* Romana's clothing was examined in the 2|entertain documentary *Lalla's Wardrobe*.

### Romana III

* The original script of *The Council's Reverence* had the Doctor saving Romana using the antidote to Omega's Bane. However, due to Lalla Ward expressing a wish to step away from the role, it was decided by Colin Brake to have the Doctor run out of antidote and trigger a regeneration instead. Another alternative version of the script also had Romana win the election instead of Veylon, however, this was changed in order to allow for greater future story potential.

## Appearances

### Season 16

* *The Ribos Operation*
* *The Pirate Planet*
* *The Stones of Blood*
* *The Androids of Tara*
* *The Power of Kroll*
* *The Armageddon Factor*

### Season 17

* *Destiny of the Daleks*
* *City of Death*
* *The Creature from the Pit*
* *Nightmare of Eden*
* *The Horns of Nimon*
* *Shada*

### Season 18

* *The Leisure Hive*
* *Meglos*
* *Full Circle*
* *State of Decay*
* *Warriors' Gate*

### Season 35

* *The Council's Reverence*
* *Visions of Tomorrow*