Romana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Romana (disambiguation).
Doctor Who universe character

Lalla Ward as Romana II
Romana
Affiliated with Fourth Doctor
Race Time Lord
Home planet Gallifrey
Home era Rassilon Era
First appearance The Ribos Operation (Romana I)
Destiny of the Daleks (Romana II)
Last appearance The Armageddon Factor (Romana I)
Warriors' Gate (Romana II)
Portrayed by Mary Tamm (Romana I)
Lalla Ward (Romana II)

Romana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, she was a companion of the Fourth Doctor.

As a Time Lord, Romana was able to regenerate, having two on screen incarnations with somewhat different personalities (dubbed Romana I and Romana II by fans). Romana I was played by Mary Tamm from 1978 to 1979. When Tamm became pregnant and chose not to sign on for a second season, the part was recast. Romana II was played by Lalla Ward from 1979 to 1981.

Romana remains one of only two members of the Doctor's own race to travel with him during the entire television series and the only explicit female Time Lord companion. The other member of his race to travel with him was Susan Foreman, the Doctor's granddaughter, and Susan was never explicitly designated as a Time Lord.

Contents

[edit] Romana I

Mary Tamm as Romana I
Mary Tamm as Romana I

The White Guardian originally assigns Romana to assist the Doctor during the quest for the Key to Time, a series of linked serials which constitute the whole of Season 16 (1978-79). Romana first appears in The Ribos Operation, and was intended as a contrast to her predecessor, the savage Leela. Romana is initially haughty and somewhat arrogant, looking down on the Doctor (whom she considers to be her academic inferior; she obtained a triple first at the Academy, while the Doctor passed with only 51 percent, on his second attempt) and responding to his initial resentment at her presence with icy put-downs. However, she soon gains an appreciation for the Doctor's experience and sense of adventure, and begins to respect him as a teacher.

Over the course of Season 16, Romana begins to take some of the characteristics of the screaming "damsel in distress", which reinforced Tamm's decision not to remain in the role as she felt the character had been taken as far as she could go. As a result, Romana regenerates at the start of Season 17, emerging with a different physical appearance and a lighter personality.

The suddenness of the regeneration scene was also dictated by real life events. Although Tamm had left the show on relatively good terms, by the start of Season 17, she was very visibly pregnant, making her return even for a regeneration scene impractical.

[edit] Romana II

The introduction of Romana's second incarnation in Destiny of the Daleks, a script credited to Terry Nation, but with several additions and alterations by script editor Douglas Adams, treats the concept of regeneration humorously. At the beginning of the serial, Romana changes bodily forms several times, rather like someone casually trying on different outfits, before deciding to take the form of Princess Astra, who had been played by Lalla Ward in the final serial of Season 16, The Armageddon Factor. This regeneration scene is controversial with some fans; see "Romana's Regeneration".

Romana II enjoys a more intimate relationship with the Doctor than her predecessor, to the point that some fans have assumed a romantic relationship with the Doctor. 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, leading to their brief marriage. In many ways, she is the companion most alike her Doctor - besides being of the same race and comparable intelligence, she occasionally mimics his sense of style, wields her own sonic screwdriver and can occasionally get the better of him in moments of banter and more practical situations. As her practical experience develops, she also becomes more assured and capable in the situations she finds herself in.

Her final television appearance was in Warriors' Gate, where she leaves the Doctor with the robot dog K-9 to forge her own path in the parallel universe of E-space. She also appears briefly in the 20th Anniversary special The Five Doctors through the reuse of footage from the uncompleted story Shada, and in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.

However she is mentioned in the Fifth Doctor episode Arc of Infinity in which the Doctor returns to Gallifrey. When the Council of the Time Lords reprimands him for "leaving Romana behind," he retorts that she "chose to remain in E-Space".

[edit] Appearances in other media

Outside of the television programme, the Fourth Doctor and Romana II also appear in Australian-filmed television advertisements for PR1ME Computers in 1980, which played in a tongue-in-cheek way with the idea that the two characters shared a romantic relationship, climaxing with the Doctor proposing marriage (which occurred in real life between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward after her departure from the series that same year).[1]

An article by Russell T. Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 states that Romana was President of the Time Lords during the Time War against the Daleks (see below). Gallifrey was destroyed in this conflict. As with all spin-off media, its canonicity is uncertain.

[edit] Novels

In the licensed Virgin New Adventures novel Blood Harvest by Terrance Dicks, Romana II leaves E-Space and returns to Gallifrey with the help of the Seventh Doctor. In Goth Opera by Paul Cornell, from the complementary Missing Adventures series, she is given a seat on the High Council of Time Lords. In New Adventures' Happy Endings, also by Cornell, it is revealed that Romana has become Lady President of Gallifrey. Romana's presidency is reflected in the later novels and in her appearances (voiced by Ward) in audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. She also makes a cameo appearance in Human Nature. Romana appears in independent charity novel Time's Champion, in the role of President of the Time Lords.

Romana's appearance in the 1997 novel The Eight Doctors was highlighted in a trailer for the re-launched Doctor Who range which was included on a number of BBC videos in 1997-8. The trailer used a clip from Destiny of the Daleks to illustrate Romana.

In the BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, Romana undergoes a second regeneration, and her new incarnation (Romana III, whose appearance was modelled on silent movie actress Louise Brooks) is far less sympathetic and far more ruthless than the other two. This third incarnation pursues the Eighth Doctor in a story arc which results in the obliteration of Gallifrey and the apparent retroactive wiping out of the Time Lords from history. However, it is hinted in Tomb of Valdemar by Simon Messingham that Romana may be one of a few Time Lords who survived this cataclysm, possibly in a fourth incarnation.

[edit] Audio plays

Romana II appeared pseudonymously in a series of audio plays produced in the early 2000s by BBV. In this series, Lalla Ward played a character who appeared with K-9 in an unnamed parallel universe. This character is called the Mistress (which was what K-9 called Romana in the television series). Because of an unusual copyright situation in which BBV was able to license K-9 but not Romana or other Doctor Who elements, the Mistress is not explicitly called Romana. For similar reasons, the parallel universe (obviously intended to reflect Romana's exile in E-Space) is called a "pocket universe" in the series' packaging.

In Big Finish's regular line of Doctor Who audio stories, Ward joined Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor in The Apocalypse Element, in which Romana is Lady President of Gallifrey. In the story, it is revealed that Romana II was abducted by the Daleks soon after assuming the presidential office, and remained in captivity for twenty years before making her escape, briefly reuniting with the Doctor before reassuming her post. Romana II also appears with Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor in the 2003 remake of Shada, an audio play produced by Big Finish for the BBC's Doctor Who website and accompanied by Macromedia Flash animations, and also in Neverland and Zagreus.

In Zagreus, Romana II is forced to banish the Eighth Doctor from the universe as he has become a danger to it following his infection by the forces of "anti-time". Following on from this, she is featured in a number of audio plays with former Doctor companion Leela (played by Louise Jameson) under the umbrella title of Gallifrey.

In the audio series, Romana has to contend with the emergence of a terrorist group known as Free Time, which wants to break the technological monopoly on time travel and threatens not just Gallifrey, but its time travel-capable allies. Romana's progressive policies, including opening the Academy to non-Gallifreyans, also face opposition from more conservative elements. Complicating this is the escape of an ancient evil called Pandora from the Matrix in the paradoxical form of Romana's first incarnation (played once again by Mary Tamm). Both Romana and the Pandora entity proclaim themselves Imperiatrix of Gallifrey, provoking a civil war. At the war's end, Romana destroys Pandora by trapping her in the Matrix and destroying it. She is also removed from the Presidency.

The series ends on a cliffhanger, with Gallifrey on the brink of economic and social collapse as well as in danger of being overrun by a Free Time virus, while most of the characters are trapped with no apparent means of escape.

[edit] Current status

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Romana's current status remains unclear, due to conflicting continuity issues regarding the 2005 revival of the "Doctor Who" franchise and the various spin-off material in the form of book and audio dramas released during the period in which the show was off the air.

Accepting only the television series as canon, Romana was last seen in the separate universe known as "E-Space", where she opted to stay at the end of the serial Warrior's Gate. However, in the years between the cancellation of the original Doctor Who series and the 2005 revival, Romana's story was picked up in the spin-off media (novels and audio dramas) and continued due to the popularity of the character.

In the spin-off media, Romana left the "E-Space" universe for her home universe, and became the elected President of the Time Lords. She would also form a friendship with fellow companion Leela, becoming Romana's bodyguard and confidant.

This in turn has led to debate amongst fans over whether or not Romana's spin-off media adventures are considered canon by the BBC, either in the scenario of her being a fatality of the Time War, or if she remains alive in E-Space. In a 2005 issue of Doctor Who Magazine, series showrunner Russell T. Davies stated that he considered the spin-off media's tales of Romana's later adventures (leaving E-Space and becoming President of the Time Lords) as being canon and that Romana was the Time Lord President during the Time War. However, Davies and other writers for the revival series have yet to introduce any of this backstory from the spin-off media into the actual television series.

As such, many fans of the character have taken the stance of presuming that until the television series states otherwise, Romana's fate remains unknown save for the fact that she was last seen in E-Space and that the Doctor presumes her to be dead for reasons yet to be revealed.

The BBC's official Doctor Who website continues to assert that the Doctor is the last of the Time Lords, and has "no details of any other survivors". However, since Romana was last seen in E-Space (with her only conceivable way home being the construction of a new TARDIS for which K-9 Mark II stored the blueprints) it is possible that she was declared missing or dead by the Time Lords. Some fans speculate that Romana may be the woman known as "Professor Riversong" in two episodes from the 2008 series entitled "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead."

[edit] List of appearances

[edit] Television

Season 16
Season 17
Season 18
20th anniversary special
30th anniversary special

[edit] Audio dramas

BBV
  • K-9: The Choice (pseudonymous appearance)
  • K-9: The Search (pseudonymous appearance)
Big Finish Productions

[edit] Novels

Virgin Missing Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
Eighth Doctor Adventures
Past Doctor Adventures
Independent Novels

[edit] Short stories

[edit] Comics

  • "Terror on Xaboi" by Paul Crompton (Doctor Who Annual 1980) - 1st incarnation
  • "The Weapon" by Paul Crompton (Doctor Who Annual 1980) - 1st incarnation
  • "Every Dog Has His Day" by Mel Powell (Doctor Who Annual 1981) - 2nd incarnation
  • "Victims" by Dan Abnett, Colin Andrew and Enid Orc (Doctor Who Magazine 212–214) - 2nd incarnation
  • "The Seventh Segment" by Gareth Roberts, Paul Peart and Elitta Fell (Doctor Who Magazine Summer Special 1995) - 1st incarnation

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bernard, Marcus. Doctor Who — Commercials. TVARK. Archived from the original on 2006-04-28. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Flavia as Acting-President]]		 Lady-President of Gallifrey
unknown		 Succeeded by
herself in her Third-Regeneration
v • d • e
Companions of the Fourth Doctor
Seasons Season 11 Season 12 Season 13 Season 14 Season 15 Season 16 Season 17 Season 18
Serials 074 075 - 079 080 081 - 085 086 - 087 089 - 091 092 093 - 097 098 - 103 104 - 109 110 - 111 112 - 114 115 116
Companions ← Sarah Jane Leela Romana I Romana II Tegan →
Harry K-9 Mark I K-9 Mark II Nyssa →
Adric →
v • d • e
Companions of the Eighth Doctor (Audios)
Season BBCi Season 27 Season 28 Season 29 Season 30 Continuing Adventures New EDAs
Production Shada 16 - 19 28 - 33 50 + 52 53 - 55 61 - 64 72 75 77 80 83 88 101 103 1.1 - 2.7
Companions (←) Romana II Charley Lucie
(←) K-9 Mark II C'rizz