Doctor(s): 4th Doctor (Tom Baker)
Traveled: 1978 – 1981, across two on-screen incarnations
Actors: Mary Tamm (Romana I, 22 December 1950 – 26 July 2012) and Lalla Ward (Romana II, born 28 June 1951)
Episodes & Stories
Romana I: the “Key to Time” season (1978-79), including The Ribos Operation and The Armageddon Factor. Romana II: Destiny of the Daleks through Warriors’ Gate, including City of Death.
Personality
Romana is a Time Lord and the Doctor’s intellectual equal. Romana I is poised and haughty; Romana II, after regenerating, is warmer, wittier and more confident.
Interesting Facts
- Romana is one of the only on-screen companions who is herself a time-travelling Time Lord capable of regeneration.
- Her regeneration scene, trying on multiple bodies before choosing one, is one of the most comedic in the show’s history.
- Lalla Ward and Tom Baker were married in real life from 1980 to 1982.
What Happened to the Character
In Warriors’ Gate (1981), Romana II chooses to remain in the pocket universe of E-Space to help liberate the Tharils, taking K9 with her.
The Actors Today
Mary Tamm continued acting until her death from cancer on 26 July 2012. Lalla Ward largely stepped back from acting after marrying Richard Dawkins in 1992, though she has returned for Big Finish audio work.