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Romana was a female Time Lord who was forced to be the Fourth Doctor's assistant in the search for the Key to Time.
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Biography
Romana was born in the ancestral house of Heartshaven, one of the sub branches of the Hoise of Lungbarrow on Gallifrey (Gallifrey: Panacea) Romana attended the Time Lord Academy while Braxiatel was a tutor there. She hated the Academy and her class-mates regarded her with jealousy because of her effortless academic superiority, nick-naming her "The Ice Maiden". While there, she was contacted by the spirit of Pandora, who told her that she had manipulated Romana's genetic make-up through the centuries with the Imperiatrix Imprimatur, in order to create the perfect vessel for her to rule Gallifrey once again. Romana informed Braxiatel, who then hypnotised Romana to forget not only Pandora, but also Braxiatel himself. Thus, she recalled only having heard of him through his art collection before her eventual return to Gallifrey from her travels. (BFG: Lies)
The White Guardian originally assigned Romana to assist the Doctor during the quest for the Key to Time, having appeared to her as the Lord President of Gallifrey. Though she was much younger than the Doctor, she considered him an academic inferior. (DW: The Ribos Operation) However as they searched for the various pieces of the Key to Time she came to respect the Doctor for his greater experience and knowledge versus her stolid academic credentials.
Following the completion of the Key to Time mission, Romana chose not to immediately return to Gallifrey and she and the Doctor shared a few more adventures (BFA: The Stealers from Saiph, et al). Then, for reasons that remain unclear, she regenerated. The appearance of her new incarnation was based upon the appearance of Princess Astra of Atrios, who had been the sixth and final segment of the Key. (DW: The Armageddon Factor)
- Romana's apparent ability to not only choose her regenerated appearance, but also choose several additional body options before settling on that of Astra, has no correspondent in the chronicle, and as such is unexplained.
Romana later hypothesised that the torture she endured at the hands of The Shadow had somehow resurected the influence of Pandora, and that the only way to regain full control was to volunarily regenerate. (BFG: Lies) The first Romana's form would later be used by the Pandora entity when she confronted Romana's second incarnation and Leela, and again when Pandora became corporeal - after Romana declared herself Imperiatrix - allowing it to take control of part of Gallifrey and begin a civil war. (BFG: Imperiatrix)
Personality
Though a young 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.) (DW: The Ribos Operation)
Romana was an exceptionally clever (even on-par with the Doctor), and slightly bossy person. She possessed 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. However, she could also exhibit naivete about things outside her scope of understanding, and occasionally made unwise choices of clothing when travelling with the Doctor.
Like the Doctor, Romana preferred to think her way out of situations, but was not opposed to using force when necessary, at one point being forced to shoot a guard to protect others, an act that momentarily saddened her (DW: The Pirate Planet).
Age
Romana tells the Doctor that she is 140 (although her second incarnation would revise this number downwards to 125). (DW: The Ribos Operation)
Behind the scenes
- It is only assumed that this is Romana's first incarnation, as there is nothing in any televised episode to indicate this to be the case. She is never actually called "Romana I" in any story, televised or otherwise. The nomenclature comes from repetition across several non-fictional reference books, such as Companions of Doctor Who that have been written throughout the years.