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Romana was a Time Lady who was forced to be the Fourth Doctor's assistant in the search for the Key to Time.
Biography
Romana was born in the ancestral house of Heartshaven, one of the sub-branches of the House of Lungbarrow on Gallifrey (BFG: Panacea)
Romana attended the Time Lord Academy while Braxiatel was a tutor there. She really hated it. Her classmates 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 to create the perfect vessel for her to rule Gallifrey once again.
Romana told Braxiatel, who hypnotised her to forget not only Pandora, but also Braxiatel. She recalled only having heard of him through his art collection before her return to Gallifrey from her travels. (BFG: Lies)
The White Guardian assigned Romana to assist the Fourth Doctor during the quest for the Key to Time, appearing to her as the Lord President of Gallifrey. Though she was much younger than the Doctor, she considered him an academic inferior. The Doctor was initially unwilling to take Romana along and hostile to her.
They found the first segment on the planet Ribos in the form of a lump of Jethrik. They had to recover it against the will of Graff Vynda-K. During this time the two formed a bond and Romana respected the Doctor for his experience despite his academic failings. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
While the Doctor and Romana searched for the Key, they were twice interrupted by outside sources of chronometric radiation, disrupting the tracer's operation: a chronometric pulse caused by a breach in the higher dimensions (PDA: Tomb of Valdemar) and a network of spatial teleportation paths created by a malfuctioning time cabinet intersecting with Earth's ley lines. (MA: The Shadow of Weng-Chiang)
Romana and the Doctor travelled to the planet Zanak, where they met the Captain. They found the segment was the planet Calufrax, shrunk by the Captain. (DW: The Pirate Planet)
Arriving on Earth for the third segment on her first visit to the planet, Romana befriended Professor Amelia Rumford and Vivian Fay. Vivian was in fact Cessair of Diplos. She kidnapped Romana, taking her to a ship in hyperspace. Upon their escape, the Doctor and Romana found the segment was the Great Seal of Diplos. (DW: The Stones of Blood)
The search for the the fourth segment brought them back to Earth. They faced Millicent Ferril, a woman with the ability to control ferrous metal. The segment was disguised as a meteoroid which Romana was forced to destroy to stop Ferril's plan. It eventually reformed as a statue on Tara. (CC: Ferril's Folly)
On Tara, Romana immediately found the segment was a statue. However, while fleeing a Taran wood beast, she met Count Grendel, who decided to take Romana a prisoner. He introduced her to Princess Strella, who was identical in appearance to Romana. Taking advantage of this likeness, the Count decided Prince Reynart would marry Romana, pretending she was Strella. Reynart would be killed and the Count would marry his widow. This would allow him to rule as King. However, the Doctor interrupted the wedding and defeated the Count. (DW: The Androids of Tara)
On Delta III, Romana was captured by Swampies and offered as a sacrifice to Kroll. The Doctor freed her, but they were quickly recaptured. This time both the Doctor and Romana were offered in sacrifice in the Seven Holy Rituals of the Swampies. This involved them being stretched by vines, known as creepers, until their backbones broke. The Doctor freed them by resonating his voice and breaking a window so rain water loosened the creepers. The segment was within Kroll himself and the Doctor recovered it. (DW: The Power of Kroll)
The Doctor and Romana went to Atrios for the final segment. Romana was captured by the Shadow and tortured. She was freed with the Doctor's help and the segment was Princess Astra of Atrios.
The Doctor and Romana assembled the Key in the TARDIS, then disassembled it to escape the wrath of the White Guardian's foe, the Black Guardian. (DW: The Armageddon Factor)
Following the completion of the Key to Time mission, Romana chose not to return immediately to Gallifrey. She and the Doctor shared a few more adventures. (BFA: The Stealers from Saiph) Then, for reasons that remain unclear, she regenerated. Her new incarnation was based upon Princess Astra. (DW: Destiny of the Daleks)
Romana hypothesised the torture she had endured at the hands of the Shadow had somehow resurrected the influence of Pandora; the only way to regain full control was to regenerate voluntarily. (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, letting it take control of part of Gallifrey and begin a civil war. (BFG: Imperiatrix)
Personality
Though a young and relatively inexperienced Time Lady, Romana was extremely bright and capable, having taken a triple first at the Academy. The Doctor scraped through with a minimal passing score on his second attempt, information Romana used to put her achievement in perspective. (DW: The Ribos Operation)
Romana was an exceptionally clever (on par with the Doctor) and slightly bossy person. She shared many of the Doctor's traits. She was haughtier and "by the book" and was occasionally annoyed by the Doctor's eccentricities. However, she was naive about things outside her experience and occasionally made unwise clothing choices.
Like the Doctor, Romana preferred to think her way out of situations, but was not opposed to force when necessary. She shot a guard to protect others, an act that momentarily saddened her (DW: The Pirate Planet).
The Doctor threatened to call her "Fred" if she didn't let him call her "just Romana". (DW: The Ribos Operation)
Appearance
This incarnation of Romana was perhaps the most fashion conscious companion to date. She had access to a large variety of clothing in the TARDIS wardrobe and regularly changed her style of clothing (DW: The Ribos Operation, et al.)
While on Tara, Romana took special care in choosing her clothes. She eventually came across a specific dress for Tara, or at least in that style. (DW: The Androids of Tara)
Her later incarnation immediately changed her predecessor's style (DW: Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death) but briefly reverted to Romana I's style. (DW: The Creature from the Pit)
Although attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder, Romana I was considered particularly good looking - enough for the Doctor to take notice. (DW: The Pirate Planet)
Age
Romana told the Doctor that she was 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. Given her young age (for a Time Lord) it would seem likely this is her first incarnation. The Gallifrey series establishes that this incarnation attended the academy, making it likely this was indeed her first.
- Mary Tamm agreed to play Romana after being convinced she wouldn't just be a "damsel in distress". However, by the end of season sixteen, Tamm felt her character had fallen into that category. This, along with the fact her character had no room to grow in such a small format, left Tamm unwilling to carry on.
- The first episode filmed with Tamm's successor, Lalla Ward, was The Creature from the Pit. Ward complained at the way her character was scripted to be like Tamm's version, even wearing clothes of her style. (DCOM: The Creature from the Pit)