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When the Doctor was sent by the White Guardian (posing as the President of the High Council) to help the Fourth Doctor on his quest to gather the six segments of the Key to Time, the Guardian decided that the Doctor would need some help in his quest. To this end, a young, (by Time Lord standards) 140-year old Gallifreyian Time Lady by the name of Romanadvoratrelundar, which the Doctor shortened to Romana, was assigned as a companion (5A).

Romana is an acolyte Time Lord who has been brought up to believe entirely in the Time Lords' principles of non-intervention and academic observation. She has been firmly placed in the Gallifreyan Groves of Academe and knows nothing of other worldly matters. She was, at first, be horrified at the Doctor's dismissal of the Codes of Practice which have been instilled into her education, however, she grew to appreciate the doctor's sense of commitment and his breadth of vision.

Romana was fresh out of Gallifreyian university, having achieved the highest grades possible. However, she soon learns that education is no

replacement for experience, and her attitude to the Doctor rapidly changes from haughty superiority (the Doctor, we learn, only just scraped through university) to respect and occasionally even admiration.

During her travels in her first incarnation she fought the Graff Vynda-K on Ribos (5A), the Captain of Zanak and Vivien Fay. On Tara, she was captured by Count Grendel because she was an exact double of Princess Strella (5D). On Delta Magna's moon, she was offered by the Swampies as a sacrifice to Kroll (5E). Finally, on Atrios, she fought the Shadow and helped assemble the Key to Time (5F).

Once the Doctor and Romana had reached a better understanding of each other - and completed their mission in search of the Key to Time - Romana decided to regenerate her body into a more gentle, less bossy companion and became Romana II.

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Mary Tamm was born on May 22, 1950, in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, to a family of Estonian refugees, Mary was raised in Bradford, then trained at RADA. She began her career with the Birmingham Repertory Company in 1971, then in 1972 came to Lodon to appear in a rock musical called "Mother Earth".

Her film credits include "The Odessa File" and "Three Kinds of Heat" (with Sylvester McCoy) and amongst her television credits included appearing on the popular "Coronation Street", as Stan Ogden's daughter-in-law.

Mary has made many other appearances on TV including: "Casualty" (1986) playing 'Virginia Wilson' in episode "A Grand In The Hand", "Poirot" (1989) playing 'Louise Farley'in episode "The Dream", "The Bill" (1983) playing 'Moira Sutherland'in episode"Lick of Paint", "Bergerac" (1981) playing 'Leslie West'in episode"Tug Of War", "The Likely Lads", "The Return of the Saint" (1978) in episode "The Debt Collectors", "Jonathan Creek" (1997) playing

'Vivian Brodie'in episode: "Satan's Chimney", "Only When I Laugh" (1979) playing 'Leonora'in episode "Postman's Knock", and a regular role in "Brookside" as 'Penny Crosbie'.from 1993-1995.

She has taught improvisation and direction to students at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. In 1978, she married businessman Marcus Ringrose. They have a daughter named Lauren.

A one-time opponent to "Doctor Who", she was originally reluctant to audition for the part of Romana. After being told that it would be a departure from the traditional Companion, she went ahead and was given the role. However, it was not as much of a departure as she had been led to believe, and she left after a single season.

After "Doctor Who" Mary returned to the theatre to play 'Helen' in "Action Replay" at the Birmingham Rep, and has gone on to appear in numerous productions including advertisments for Sugar Puffs - playing Miss Honeypenny in a James Bond spoof - and the play "Why Is Here, There, Everywhere Now", at the Riverside Studio.

In the mid-eighties, she appeared in John Nathan-Turner's pantomime production of "Cinderella" as Prince Charming, along with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, and Anthony Ainley.

Mary enjoys wearing men's clothing to illustrate that she doesn't believe that a woman needs to wear a short skirt or a low cut top to be sexy.

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