Romana
Portrayed by: Mary Tamm (First Incarnation), Lalla Ward (Second Incarnation)Travelled with: Fourth Doctor
Series: Classic
Romanadvoratrelundar was a companion of the Fourth Doctor, who first called her Romana for short. Romana was a Time Lady of Gallifrey and joined the Doctor when she was assigned the task of assisting him in his quest for the Key to Time. When Romana first met the Doctor, she was in her first incarnation and a rather young and relatively inexperienced Time Lady, though she was bright and capable, obtaining a triple first at the Academy. Romana was sent to help the Doctor by the White Guardian and the Time Lords to assist him and K9 Mark II locate the Key to Time. Romana travelled with the Doctor on this quest in her first incarnation until its completion, following which she regenerated for unknown reasons into her second incarnation. Romana’s regeneration was significantly different to the Doctor’s usual regenerations in that Romana was able to choose what she looked like after the regeneration process, deciding to look like Princess Astra of Atrios for the duration of her second incarnation. There is evidence suggested that Romana briefly left the Doctor’s company after The Armageddon Factor (Classic Series) but before the TARDIS crew found themselves trapped in E-Space in Full Circle (Classic Series), though such evidence is hazy at best.
The Doctor and Romana travelled together in several adventures after initially joining the TARDIS in The Ribos Operation (Classic Series) on their quest. In her second incarnation Romana encountered the Daleks with the Doctor in Destiny of the Daleks (Classic Series) among other enemies. Romana continued to travel with the Doctor until the TARDIS crew became trapped in E-Space, where Romana found the enslaved Tharils. When the Doctor was finally able to return to his native N-Space, Romana opted to stay behind to try and free the Tharils with K9, who also opted to stay with Romana. As a Time Lady is can be assumed that Romana was called upon to fight in the Last Great Time War, though no evidence is available to confirm this from the Doctor’s, or indeed anyone elses, accounts of the Time War. Romana’s intelligence was on-par with the Doctors, proving to be an exceptionally clever though slightly bossy person. She possessed many similar personality traits with the Doctor, such as being capable of using deadly force if absolutely necessary in The Pirate Planet (Classic Series). Romana’s first incarnation was a “by the book” incarnation, becoming occasionally annoyed at the Doctor’s eccentricities, though she did not mind taking on the form of Princess Astra of Atrios in The Armageddon Factor. In her second incarnation, Romana became more free spirited and bubble, becoming almost a female version of the Doctor, shown further in her choice of clothes emulating the Doctor’s own style, initially wearing a pink version of his overcoat with a white scarf. However she did wear period Earth-style outfits such as a schoolgirl uniform in City of Death (Classic Series) and did on one occasion slip back into the haughty nature of her first incarnation in The Creature from the Pit (Classic Series). Romana first stated that her age as “nearly 140” when she very first met the Doctor in The Ribos Operation, though a while after her regeneration she stated that she was 125 years old in City of Death and being 150 years old by the time the Doctor was on Argolis in The Leisure Hive (Classic Series). Due to Romana’s unknown participation (if any) in the Last Great Time Way, it is unknown how or if Romana died, or whether she stayed in E-Space and lived out her regenerations, or whether she is still alive in E-Space.