Romana

Regular followers are probably aware that we here are at Sound on Sight are more than a little fond of an obscure British science fiction program that celebrated an anniversary of some kind last weekend. Anniversaries are always an excellent time to reflect upon and celebrate a show’s history and the lead up to last Saturday’s “The Day of the Doctor” saw the entire Whoniverse coming together to share their thoughts on everything from their favourite episodes, most beloved eras, and of course, “their” Doctor. I just love that a top ten list can be the beginning of a good conversation or a great fight, and I find that the most heat, and some of the best light, is generated when Whovians start talking about their favourite Companions. A Companion is more than just our surrogate, they’re a gateway and guide to the series who helps us find our own way through the barking mad universe that is Doctor Who. It’s no wonder then that our attachments to them are passionate, personal, and gloriously partisan, especially when we try to educate normally well-informed Whovians who disagree with us on just how wrong they are.

Romana is a Time Lady first assigned to travel with the Doctor by the White Guardian* (*Spoilers!). After traveling with him for the Key to Time season, she chooses to regenerate, with fans distinguishing between these incarnations by calling her Romana I or Romana II. Just like the Doctor, she has a distinctly different personality in her new regeneration and she and the Doctor have a distinctly different rapport.

Romanadvoratrelundar (the Doctor dubs her Romana) is a Time Lady who is foisted upon the then-Companionless Fourth Doctor (and vice versa) by the White Guardian* to help him in his search for the Key to Time, a highly powerful item broken into six parts and scattered throughout the universe. She’s fresh from the Academy and incredibly intelligent, more so even than the Doctor. Romana is also much younger than the Doctor and, having just left Gallifrey for presumably the first time, he’s a far more experienced adventurer.