Moderator's Note: This is Mike's original Romana summary:

The idea of having an equal (well, almost equal) as a companion was a good idea and, for the first story, Mary Tamm looked like she was going to be able to hang with Tom Baker. It didn't take long for the writer's to lose their nerve and send Romana to the back seat. "The Androids of Tara" really did her in, by turning her into a damsel in distress.



Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't she screaming her head off at the schrivenzale (or however you spell it) by the end of her FIRST EPISODE?

She was still new. Eventually she got the screaming under control. More or less.

That's why she left after only one season. It's a pity really. I always thought she was incredibly sexy.

Sexy? I think you are a little wrong in the head but she was the best Romana. I miss her. Boo hoo hoo...........

The First Romana was not sexy. But the second...what about that schhol uniform? Cor blimey!

Romana #1 was extremely sexy in that sophistated woman sort of way, where as Romana #2 was more of a schoolgirl, not my cup of tea. But I suspect there are some guys that like that sort of thing.

Not me at all - no, no! Ahem.

I thought the first Romana was sexy myself.She's far better than the second one at acting (IMHO) also.

They're all doing it: Bonnie Langford, Tom Baker and now Mary Tamm... http://www.marytamm.co.uk.

Whoah.

A website of one of my favourite companions, now if there is only one with Nicole Bryant. (sigh - oh Peri...).

Thanks Chris

Actually there are quite a few, some quite good, but I meant 'official' as regards to Peri.

Is it my deranged imagination, or does Romana 1 sort of resemble Judy Garland?

I'm gonna have to go with "deranged imagination", Gordon.

Not when she was in The Wizard of Oz. When she was an adult.

I'm still sticking with my original statement. Adult Judy was short, chubby, wore lots of makeup and had close cropped hair. R#1 was tall, elegant, long hair, and very little makeup.

Judy Garland's more Kathleen Dudman.

Yeah, around "Meet Me in St. Louis" time.

It's a rather basic question, but why exactly is Romana #1 sent to assist Doctor #4? Is it a ruse by the Black..er..White..Black..er...Guardian? She isn't much use really. What qualified her over all other available Gallifreyans? This really gets on my wick whenever I watch The Ribos Operation....!

That's a point. Unlike every other Companion (well, bar Dodo) I can't offhand think of any occasion when Romana I saved the day or, indeed, made any difference whatsoever. Well, who can fathom the mind of an omniscient being? Maybe the Guardian knew that without her travels with the Doctor, Romana wouldn't have grown into the Time Lord President who managed to get Gallifrey destroyed. I dunno WHY he wanted Gallifrey destroyed, but maybe he felt a bit threatened or something.

You'd think at the end of The Armageddon Factor, when the "duplicity" of the Guardian(s) was revealed to him, the Doctor would have kicked Romana out the TARDIS. She was "sent" by the Guardian(s), and could have been a pawn on a mission to blaze a subsequent trail of nastiness and sabotage directed at the Doctor. Perhaps her regeneration took place before he had a chance to ponder too much on this, and he was blinded by the heartswarming glow he felt towards Romana #2...

Of course Romana 1 made a difference.
In episode 1 of The Ribos Operation she drilled the hole in the console for the detector & explained to The Doctor how it is to be used. (The White Guardian was apparently too busy drinking his Mint Julep to tell the Doctor how to use the device.)
In episode 2, she is there when the Doctor tells the conman that they have him surrounded, thereby convincing him that he's been captured, so he gives up instead of fighting or running.
Some people. Hmmmph! No difference my foot. ;-)

*Glares* ENOUGH OF THIS HEARTSWARMING GLOW STUFF!

It didn't take the Doctor long to suss out which Guardian was which, so he could have been pretty sure that the 'right' Guardian sent Romana. Anyway, if she'd been a Black Guardian pawn she'd have acted before the Key was dispersed. Plus the fact that her utter uselessness makes any attempted sabotage of hers irrelevant.

Keith, are you seriously trying to tell me that the Doctor would be incapable of working out how to plug in the tracer? I think not! (And if he was, the White Guardian would (presumably) know (being omniscient and all that) and should have given him instructions instead of lumbering him with Romana).

I'll have to watch episode two again before I'm sure, but I can't see why Romana's presence would make any difference to the conman, or why it would make much difference to the outcome if he did try to run away.

One more difference that Romana made in The Ribos Operation. When the Doctor was repairing Garron's communicator in ep 3, she held the wires in place.

sad to report that the Mary Tamm website no longer exists :-(

I always thought that the White Guardian really did employ the Doctor and sent Romana, and the Black just impersonated him at the end. I can see why he'd send someone, but I'm not sure why you'd want to pick Romana per se.

Louise Jameison left in "The Invasion of Time", & they had to come up with a Leela replacement in a hurry ?

Of course Romana 1 made a difference.
In episode 1 of The Ribos Operation she drilled the hole in the console for the detector & explained to The Doctor how it is to be used....
Some people. Hmmmph! No difference my foot. ;-)

Keith, are you seriously trying to tell me that the Doctor would be incapable of working out how to plug in the tracer?

OK, it turns out that ten years ago I was CONSIDERABLY more rubbish at spotting when people were being sarcastic than I am these days. Guess I have Nitcentral to thank for the improvement.

Had the misfortune to rewatch a few Romana I stories recently and she really is a STUNNINGLY bad Companion. Obviously not the Worst Ever from the point of view of WATCHING her, but quite possibly the Worst Ever from the point of view of actually making a DIFFERENCE in some way. I mean, Adders saved us from going splat like the dinosaurs and even Mel managed to inadvertently save what was left of Paradise Towers with her puerile desire for a nice swim, but Romana...! Occasionally she got captured in such a way as to lead the Doctor to the bad guys a few minutes before he'd've gone to find the bad guys ANYWAY, but what's the POINT of her? And the one-and-only Companion actually bestowed on the Doctor - by the Supreme Being of the universe, to boot!

You could try to argue that at least her obsession with the Key to Time kept the Doctor on-track, but of course it didn't. She kept dropping the Tracer, losing the Tracer, getting the Tracer nicked (hell, two minutes in Romana's company and even a nice guy like Merak was giving her a hefty shove and grabbing the thing). On the rare occasion she got her hand on a segment she managed to lose it too. And I'm pretty sure the Doctor only took that time off to go fishing to get on her nerves.

And she's ALWAYS getting captured, imprisoned, fooled, falling off cliffs, human-sacrificed, possessed, and SCREAMING HER BLOODY HEAD OFF (and not even in a CONVINCING manner. On a scale of 1-10 of screaming prowess, where Zoe and Victoria would score a 10, she'd get 3, maximum). Did the Doctor somehow FORESEE this when he BEGGED the White Guardian not to inflict her on him? He claimed that Companions were always needing rescuing but as the last few he'd had were the Brig, Sarah, Harry, Benton, and Leela, this seemed surprising.

There's a rather pathetic 'There's Something About Mary' interview on the Kroll DVD, where she keeps waffling about various stories being 'one of my favourites' (she only HAD six stories! And when one of 'em is Kroll...) and claiming that 'Romana had this strong feminist type character' (since WHEN?!). She says she left because there didn't seem anything new to do with the character, which is fair enough after 26 episodes of utter uselessness, but it must have been kinda embarrassing seeing Romana II become the greatest Old Who Companion.

>but what's the POINT of her? And the one-and-only Companion actually bestowed on the Doctor - by the Supreme
>Being of the universe, to boot!

If I remember correctly, it was the BLACK guardian, posing as the WHITE one, who asked the Doctor to assemble the Key to Time. Maybe the White Guardian used his own powers to influence the choice of companion in order to sabotage the mission without directly intervening himself?

If I remember correctly, it was the BLACK guardian, posing as the WHITE one, who asked the Doctor to assemble the Key to Time.

That was never established onscreen, though a lot of fans like that theory.

Was thinking about this recently. With the Time Lords are all dead and gone, save one, I'd like to see the new series bring back the Guardians.

Maybe they can actually, like, redeem them.

Was thinking about this recently. With the Time Lords are all dead and gone, save one, I'd like to see the new series bring back the Guardians.

Mmmmm. It might not be a good idea to let River know about the Guardians and, by extension, the Key to Time. Can you imagine the temptation, the power to do anything she likes, absolute power over every particle in the universe, everything that has ever existed or ever will exist? And even if she did resist it (which I'm pretty sure she would) the fact that she would know about it would mean that the Silence would know about it too, sooner or later, and THAT can't be good.

I'd like to see the new series bring back the Guardians.

Maybe they can actually, like, redeem them.

RTG could've redeemed them if He'd been bothered, which He rather sensibly was not. But The Moff doesn't exactly have the best team of Monster Redesigners on the planet...can you IMAGINE what those Guardians would end up wearing on their heads...?

Mmmmm. It might not be a good idea to let River know about the Guardians and, by extension, the Key to Time. Can you imagine the temptation, the power to do anything she likes, absolute power over every particle in the universe, everything that has ever existed or ever will exist?

She already HOLDS that power. Over MY Doctor. She made him MARRY her, for gods' sakes. She wouldn't waste two minutes of her time with those loser Guardians.

I'd like to see the new series bring back the Guardians.

If the Trickster isn't the Black Guardian, he's doing a pretty good imitation.

Yeah, that's true, and he's AT LEAST as good (sorry, I mean EVIL) as the real thing.

Pirate Planet:

'Familiarising myself with the technical details of this capsule' my ****! Is she trying to wind the Doctor up? Or the TARDIS?

'Good looks are no substitute for a sound character' - you tell her, Doc!

Hang on a sec...how DID Mr 'You're a beautiful woman, probably' KNOW Romana was good-looking, anyway? (Alright, K9 told him, but why believe a tin dog on this issue?)

Why does Romana send K9 to tell the Doctor she's being arrested instead of letting him stun the guard who's arresting her? Does she WANT to be a damsel in distress?

The Doctor doesn't even NOTICE K9 telling him the Mistress is in danger. Cos he just doesn't CARE.

'Romana has the Tracer, you see' - omigawd!!! The Doctor ADMITS he's only rescuing her cos she's got the Tracer!!

Romana doesn't know what 1.795372 plus 2.204628 is? What a moron.

'That's alright, K9, you're still my best friend' - my god how many MORE ways can the Doctor find to say ROMANA I DON'T LIKE YOU?

'Newton? Who's Newton?' - she's certainly changed her tune by the time of Shada...

'Let that be a lesson to you, my girl' - even Pertwee at his most condescending never said THAT to a Companion!

The Doctor doesn't even NOTICE K9 telling him the Mistress is in danger. Cos he just doesn't CARE.

Well, do we?

*Shrieks of outrage* Of COURSE we do!

She's GOT to live long enough to suicide into Romana II, the Best Old Who Companion EVER!

By "Romana II" you mean "Sarah Jane" of course. With Romana II you never forget that Lalla Is Acting. It's ghastly.

'I'd tried to break the mould of the "screaming companion" too much...and [the first] Romana was in danger of becoming too self-sufficient' - Graham Williams. What the hell was he ON?! Romana I was the least self-sufficient Companion since Victoria! She was screaming her lungs out by the end of her first episode and she seldom stopped for breath since...captured by the Captain, captured by the Calliach, captured twice and almost forced into marriage twice by Count Grendel, captured twice and nearly sacrificed twice by the Swampies, captured and tortured-and-screaming-her-head-off and possessed by the Shadow, chased off cliffs by big rocks...Her ONE JOB was to hang on to that Tracer and she managed to lose THAT in pratically every story too. And then she went and DIED for no reason! Wimp.

And... we've lost another Companion

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/9430375/Mary-Tamm.html

Telegraph - "Mary Tamm" [snip] was best known for her role as one of the many female assistants to Doctor Who"

Ouch.

The Doctor Who equivalent of Gilligan's Island's "all the rest".

*and* the rest.

Moffat:

'The Time Lady who thought the Doctor was HER companion. Perfectly brought to life by Mary, with such style and wit, you always thought she could have kicked the Doctor out of the time machine and got on with the adventure herself. A generation of little girls threw away the idea of being an assistant, and decided to fly the TARDIS for themselves.'

Actually *embarrassed cough* I've NEVER thrown away the idea of being an assistant...

Nice DWM tribute article to Mary Tamm. Though that moving quote from her friend about how Mary met her husband (the one who dropped dead on the day of her funeral) - 'It was the campest thing you've ever seen - they literally saw each other across a crowded room and it was suddenly as if no-one else was there at all' - is somewhat undercut by the rest of the article going on to claim 'He didn't call, however, and Mary soon forgot about the encounter'.

The REALLY interesting thing about the article, though, was how much MONEY seemed to be sloshing round the Tamm Era. They made FIVE copies of that Ribos white dress? The tracer cost £2000?? ('It was just plastic and it kept breaking'.)

Graham Williams REALLY didn't want her to leave: 'He took me out to lunch and promised me the earth - more money, more control, more costumes; he even asked if I would stay if Tom left! This was staggering; was he actually proposing to sack Tom in favour of me?...I declined, knowing that none of these promises would be fulfilled'. What kind of CRAZY FREAK goes round offering to SACK TOM BAKER??

'The BBC issued a press release announcing her departure...Mary was furious to discover that it falsely claimed she had left because she was pregnant' - she should have SUED the lying gits. Maybe then they wouldn't have tried to pull the same trick with Eccy's departure (OK, not EXACTLY the same trick...).

'Mary claimed she would have been willing to record a regeneration scene at the beginning of the next series, and was saddened not to be asked' - IDIOTS.

What kind of CRAZY FREAK goes round offering to SACK TOM BAKER??

Someone who'd had to work with him for two years...?

Ouch.

OK, not EXACTLY the same trick...

Does anyone else wish they *had* claimed Eccy was pregnant? ;)

Saw CI5: The New Professionals 1.2 Phoenix and it guest stars Mary Tamm.

Mary Tamm interview in DWM:

Re the offer to sack Tom for her: 'I was never sure if that was true, or just something Graham was saying to get me to stay on, but there certainly was the feeling at that time that Tom had probably done enough....When I said I wasn't going to stay on, I think they decided to keep Tom and go for Lalla Ward' - !!!!!

'The fact that [Louise Jameson] had done Doctor Who did kind of make me think it was OK to do it...there was a time in England when Doctor Who was considered a bit tacky. Louise...made it all right for people to become Doctor Who companions' - WELL.

'George Spenton-Foster, the first director, said to me, "What I'd like you to do is surprise Tom. I'd like you to go in, put your arms around his neck and sit on his knee"' - !! [NB: she declined.]

'I had a kind of fresh approach' - don't attempt to turn your failure to watch Who since the Hartnell era into something positive!

'Tom threw a very valuable antique fishing rod from the BBC props department into the lake on the first take. He cast the line and let it go, and the poor stuntman, Terry Walsh, had to get dressed up in a frogman's suit and wade in and fetch it' - bless!

'I really wouldn't go back and play Romana again. I think it was Katy Manning who said you don't boil cabbages twice, and I think I agree with her' - *raises eyebrows and glances towards large stack of Jo and Romana I CDs*

Saw the movie, The Odessa File, a few days ago. Mary Tamm played the girlfriend of the main protagonist.

This was made in 1974, a few years before she played Romana on Doctor Who.

Tamm would of been the best Queen of the Vic on EastEnders.

Romanadvoratrelundar = "romana divora tre lune" = "roman devours three moons". (Must be Earth's moon and the two moons of Gallifrey.)

Now, is there a Romanadivoratresoli?