Roman Groom

Roman Groom BSc BA MSc (2034-2059) was an American member of the group on Bowie Base One. He was the designer and operator of the robot Gadget and gave it its "comedy" persona.

In 2059, he was infected by the Flood when a single drop of water fell on his cheek. Before he transformed, he warned the uninfected members to run.

Early life and career
Roman was born in the United States of America in 2034. A child genius, Roman attended Berkley University, from where he graduated by age seventeen with a bachelor of science in Physics, a bachelor of Arts in English and a master of science in Physics. He decided to sign up with NASA after reading about their search for astronauts in the university newspaper.

Colony on Mars
Roman was accepted as an astronaut in January 2051 and began a two year training and evaluation period, excelling in every field. He was the youngest member of the Bowie Base mission, noted for an instinctive talent for mechanics.

Roman and the other members of Bowie Base One met the Doctor on 21 November 2059, the same day the attack on the the Flood began. Being the operator of Gadget backfired on him when the Tenth Doctor modified the robot to move at a considerable speed, causing Roman significant pain in the process.

Infected by the Flood
In 2059, while escaping from Bowie Base One, he looked up at the ceiling and was infected by the Flood when a single drop of water fell on his cheek. Knowing he would soon be transformed, Roman stops running. Adelaide Brooke, unaware of what happened, tells Roman to come with them. Roman tells them to go, and informs them that he was infected by saying "I'm sorry, Captain. One drop". Mia screams and sobs as he is infected and begins jittering, but Yuri restrains her, and so they all make for the shuttle. After his transformation, Roman and the other infected personnel went to the glacier and screamed so they could crack the ice. Roman and the other infected personnel were killed when Adelaide blew up the entire base. (TV: The Waters of Mars)

Behind the scenes

 * The details of his pre-Bowie Base career can be briefly seen in his obituary.