Romana
- This is a general overview of the character. For detailed information see the individual articles for each incarnation.
Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana for short) was a Time Lord assigned 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. Later, she was the Lady President of the Time Lords of Gallifrey.
Name
Romanadvoratrelundar seemed to be a single, long name when she introduced herself to the Fourth Doctor. He seemed to have trouble pronouncing the full name and quickly shortened it to "Romana". (DW: The Ribos Operation) The Doctor later glibly called her "Miss Dvoratrelundar" when she was a witness during his trial before the Megara. (DW: The Stones of Blood)
Biography
Early Life
Romana graduated with a "triple first" from the Time Lord Academy on Gallifrey. (DW: The Ribos Operation) One of her early jobs was working in the Bureau of Ancient Records on Gallifrey. (DW: State of Decay)
Travels with the Doctor
Romana I
Romana first met the Doctor when she was a young (about one hundred thirty-nine) and relatively inexperienced Time Lady. She had a haughty, aristocratic air and her personality did not always mix well with that of the Doctor.
The White Guardian sent Romana to help the Doctor and K9 Mark II locate the Key to Time. It was the Doctor who gave her the shortened version of her name. (DW: The Ribos Operation) It was during this mission that she visited Earth for the first time (DW: The Stones of Blood).
Romana II
After the completion of the quest, the Doctor installed a randomiser in the TARDIS, to evade the wrath of the Black Guardian. The result of this was that the travellers didn't know where they would materialise next. (DW: The Armageddon Factor) Romana regenerated into a new incarnation, seemingly on a whim, adopting the likeness of Princess Astra of Atrios. An adventure on the planet Skaro followed, during which Romana encountered the Daleks. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks) In this incarnation, Romana travelled for a time with the Doctor and K9. Leaving the randomiser behind on Argolis (DW: The Leisure Hive), the three accidentally passed through a CVE into the universe called E-Space. It was here they encountered Adric. (DW: Full Circle) Adric stowed away onboard the TARDIS and all the travellers were brought to an encounter with an ancient enemy of the Time Lords, the Great Vampire. (DW: State of Decay) Romana and the Doctor parted when she decided to remain in E-Space with K9 to help the enslaved Tharils regain their freedom. The Doctor and Adric left for N-Space, the Doctor's native universe. (DW: Warriors' Gate)
Accounts of the reasons for her first regeneration and the circumstances differ, though all agree that in this incarnation, Romana adopted the likeness of Princess Astra of Atrios.
- One account said that, unknown to the Doctor, Romana was harmed by the Key to Time. Just as she was about to regenerate, an anthropomorphised manifestation of the Doctor's TARDIS, jealous of her, trapped her in a force field and pretended to be her. The TARDIS changed into different forms and finally became a double of Princess Astra (ST: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe) Realising the error of its ways after that, it released Romana, but not before making her assume the form of Astra. (ST: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe)
- Another account said that Romana forced her own regeneration to prevent an ancient Gallifreyan evil called Pandora from gaining power over her. (BFG: Lies)
- A third account said that when the Key to Time was assembled without the sixth piece, it left Princess Astra and was absorbed by Romana. The strain forced a regeneration. (BFA: The Key 2 Time - The Chaos Pool)
There was also an account that suggested that, at some point after the installation of the randomiser in the Doctor's TARDIS but before the Doctor, Romana and K9 found themselves trapped in E-Space, Romana left the TARDIS. The Doctor and K9 continued to travel on their own for a time (DWM: Timeslip), even picking up a new companion along the way (DWM: The Star Beast). Eventually Romana returned to the Doctor and they resumed their travels together.
As Lady President
- Conflicting accounts of Romana's career as Lady President are tricky to reconcile,. They may not have even happened in the same timeline.
Romana II
Romana returned to N-Space; one account suggested the Seventh Doctor made this possible. (NA: Blood Harvest) She subsequently assumed a seat on the High Council of Time Lords (MA: Goth Opera) and later attained the office of President. She was at this time generally referred to by her full name, and had Leela, K9 and Irving Braxiatel as her closest confidantes.
She was abducted by the Daleks and kept prisoner for twenty years, barely escaping with her sanity intact, although an adventure shared with the Sixth Doctor helped her recover (BFA: The Apocalypse Element). After this, she presided over Gallifrey in a ever-changing political situation where new time-active powers like the Monan Host were coming to prominence. The machinations of the Free Time terrorist group and a civil war against the malevolent Pandora (who took on the form of Romana's first incarnation) would eventually see Gallifrey fall into ruin and Romana lose her position to Matthias. Braxiatel tried to salvage the situation, but this went "pear-shaped", leaving Gallifrey overrun by Dogma Virus zombies and about to be hit with temporal weapons. Romana, however, had a plan: explore alternate universes to find a new Gallifrey to live on. Finally, Romana, Leela, and Narvin settled on a version of Gallifrey in which time travel was just beginning to be realised. Romana assumed the Presidency after the assassination of her alternate universe counterpart and appointed Narvin her chancellor. (Gallifrey (audio series))
Romana III
Still Lady President, Romana regenerated into her third incarnation. (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon) Now far more ruthless, she presided over a war with the Enemy and the destruction of Gallifrey. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell). She looked (worryingly from the Doctor's point-of-view) like the Doctor's mother and had a Seal of Rassilon tattoo on her ankle. She had dark hair that she wore long and straight.
Some evidence suggests that Romana may have been one of a few Time Lords to survive this cataclysm, possibly in a fourth incarnation. (PDA: Tomb of Valdemar)
Last Great Time War
Accounts suggest that Romana was still the President of the Time Lords at the start of the Last Great Time War. (DWAN: Doctor Who Annual 2006)
After an escalation of hostilities with the Daleks (BFA: The Apocalypse Element), Romana made diplomatic overtures. (NA: Lungbarrow) She later initiated a Dalek-Time Lord peace treaty under the Act of Master Restitution. (DWAN: Doctor Who Annual 2006)
Fate
By the end of the Last Great Time War, Romana was no longer Lady President of Gallifrey. She had been replaced by Rassilon. (DW: The End of Time) The Tenth Doctor stated that "Things went well for Romana... until the Time War." (IDW: The Forgotten)
Alternate versions
The Eighth Doctor saw a version of Romana in a projection built by The Matrix to show Gallifrey after being affected by Anti-Time. Romana had taken the title "Imperiatrix" and was much more ruthless than the Doctor expected. In the projection, she presided over the obliteration of a Dalek Fleet trapped in a time loop. (BFA: Neverland)
Personality
Romana was an exceptionally clever (even on par with the Doctor), bossy person. She shared many personality traits with the Doctor. She was capable of killing when necessary. (DW: The Pirate Planet)
In her first incarnation, she was haughty and "by the book" and occasionally annoyed by the Doctor's eccentricities. She did not mind taking on the form of Princess Astra of Atrios. (DW: The Armageddon Factor)
In her second incarnation, Romana was more bubbly and free spirited, a female version of the Fourth Doctor. She liked to emulate the Doctor's sartorial style, initially wearing a pink version of his overcoat, complete with white scarf. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)
She also wore period Earth-style outfits such as a schoolgirl costume. (DW: City of Death) She did on at least one occasion slip back into the haughty nature of her first incarnation. (DW: The Creature from the Pit)
Her third incarnation was not as positively disposed towards the Doctor. It is said she regenerated as she felt her second incarnation wasn't ruthless enough to handle the coming war. (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon)
The Tenth Doctor jokingly said of Romana that that she "knows everything". (NSA: Wetworld)
Age
Romana stated that she was "nearly 140" when she first met the Doctor (DW: The Ribos Operation). A while after she regenerated, she stated she was 126. (DW: City of Death) She was 150 by the time the Doctor was on Argolis. (DW: The Leisure Hive) In EDA: The Ancestor Cell she was celebrating her sesquicentennial as Lady President of Gallifrey, meaning she had held the office for precisely 150 years.
Behind the scenes
- When Romana regenerated in Destiny of the Daleks, she was shown to be able to "try on" different "possibilities" before settling on that of Princess Astra. Indeed, the fact that she was able to replicate a person she'd met was an ability not seen in any regeneration before or since. Exactly why she is able to do this has never been made clear, although some attempts at addressing this have been made. In Doctor Who and The Parting of the Ways the Doctor says humanoid regenerations aren't always guaranteed. In The Christmas Invasion and Let's Kill Hitler, it's asserted that a Time Lord's body remains in flux for hours after the regeneration, allowing, for example, the regrowth of a severed hand.
- Romana also appears in the mini-episode Dimensions in Time, although this is not considered part of regular continuity, and the episode provides no clue as to where in Romana's personal timeline her appearance occurs (if it is even Romana).
- The revelation in DW: Utopia that the Master survived the Last Great Time War has led to subsequent fan speculation over whether certain female characters in the revived series might be a disguised Romana. This has included River Song (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead), Donna Noble (Season 4), and the character of Lady Christina de Souza. The Doctor mentions that Christina de Souza looks like a Time Lord in the 2009 special Planet of the Dead and this has been the subject of speculation as to whether she has Time Lord connections or may, in fact, be Romana. This interpretation was addressed in the next season in an exchange between Amy Pond and the Doctor, in which she commented that he looked human, and he replied, "No, you look Time Lord. We came first." (DW: The Beast Below). There was also speculation that The Woman from The End of Time was Romana.
- Three prospective successors to Romana I were seen in part one of Destiny of the Daleks. Though uncredited, they were played by Yvonne Gallagher, Lee Richards and Maggy Armitage respectively.
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