Romana
Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana for short) was the Time Lady companion to the Fourth Doctor. She was later the Lady President of Gallifrey.
Biography
Travels with the Doctor
Romana first met the Doctor in her first incarnation. Though a young (about 120) and relatively inexperienced Time Lady, she was nevertheless extremely bright and capable, having obtained a triple first at the Academy. (The Doctor scraped through with a minimal passing score on his second attempt.)
The Time Lords and the White Guardian sent Romana to help the Doctor and K-9 Mark II locate the Key to Time. It was the Doctor who first gave her the shortened version of her name. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
After the completion of the quest Romana regenerated into her second incarnation. Accounts as to the reasons for this regeneration and the circumstances differ, though all agree that in her second incarnation, Romana permanently adopted the likeness of Princess Astra of Atrios for the duration of the incarnation.
- One account says that, unknown to the Doctor, Romana suffered damage due to exposure to the Key to Time. Just as she was about to regenerate, an anthromorphized manifestation of the Doctor's TARDIS, jealous of Romana, trapped her in a force field and proceeded to pretend to be Romana. The TARDIS changed into different forms, and finally became a double of Princess Astra (ST: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe) An adventure on the planet Skaro followed. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks) Realising the error of its ways after that adventure, it released Romana, but not before making the female Time Lord assume the image 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)
Romana and the Doctor at last parted when she decided to remain in E-Space with K-9 in order to help the enslaved Tharils regain their freedom. The Doctor and Adric left for N-Space, their native universe, leaving Romana and K-9. (DW: Warriors' Gate)
As Lady President
Romana would later return to N-Space and assume a seat on the High Council of Time Lords. (MA: Goth Opera). She was 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 confidants.
She was abducted by the Daleks for twenty years (BFA: The Apocalypse Element) and afterwards 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 (taking the form of Romana's first incarnation) would eventually see Gallifrey fall into ruin and Romana lose her position to Matthias. Braxiatel attempted 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 in mind (though it is as yet unknown). (Gallifrey (audio series)).
Still as Lady President, Romana regenerated a second time into her third incarnation (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon) Romana was far more ruthless in this incarnation in the previous two and presided over a war with the Enemy and the destruction of Gallifrey. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell)
Some evidence may suggest that Romana may have been one of a few Time Lords that survived this cataclysm, possibly in a fourth incarnation. (PDA: Tomb of Valdemar) Her fate after the Last Great Time War is unknown as the Doctor believes all Time Lords died in the conflict (although proven wrong in the case of The Master). (DW: Utopia, et al)
- The events of Gallifrey (audio series) and the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures are tricky to reconcile, and it is improbable the former occurs after the latter, with Romana reborn as her second incarnation in the recreation of Gallifrey.
Personality
Romana is a clever, slightly bossy person. She possess many personality points of the Doctor. In her first incarnation, she was more haughty and "by the book" and was occasionally annoyed by the Doctor's eccentricities. She does not mind taking on the form of princess Astra. In her second regeneration, Romana was more bubbly and free spirited, in many ways a female version of the Fourth Doctor. It was also evident that in her second regeneration, she liked to emulate the Doctor's sartorial style.
See also
For more details on Romana's incarnations and the events which occurred to her during them, see their individual articles: Romana's First Incarnation. (Romana I), Romana's Second Incarnation (Romana II), Romana's Third Incarnation (Romana III).
Behind the scenes
When Romana regenerates for the first time, she initially takes on several different forms before choosing that of Astra. Exactly why she is able to do this and not the Doctor has never been made clear, although some attempts at addressing this have been made, such as Doctor Who: The TV Movie and The Parting of the Ways where the Doctor says humanoid regenerations aren't always guaranteed, and The Christmas Invasion in which it was revealed that a Time Lord's body remains in flux for hours after the regeneration, allowing, for example, the regrowth of a severed hand.
