Romana II

The introduction of Romana's second incarnation in Destiny of the Daleks, a script credited to Terry Nation, but with several additions and alterations by script editor Douglas Adams, treats the concept of regeneration humorously. At the beginning of the serial, Romana changes bodily forms several times, rather like someone casually trying on different outfits, before deciding to take the form of Princess Astra, who had been played by Lalla Ward in the final serial of Season 16, The Armageddon Factor. This regeneration scene has been controversial with some fans: see below.

Romana II enjoyed a more intimate relationship with The Doctor than her predecessor, to the point that fans have assumed a romantic relationship with the Doctor. Although a relationship was never explicitly shown or intended by the writers, many fans have found the signs of a romantic relationship particularly evident in the story City of Death, perhaps reflecting the real-life romance between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward which reportedly blossomed during the production of that story, leading to their brief marriage.

Her final television appearance was in Warriors' Gate, where she left the Doctor with the robot dog K-9 to forge her own path in the parallel universe of E-space. She also appeared briefly in the 20th Anniversary special The Five Doctors through the reuse of footage from the uncompleted story Shada and in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time.

In The End of the World the Doctor stated that his homeworld had been destroyed in a Time War and that he was the last of the Time Lords. An article by Russell T. Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 claims that Romana was President of the Time Lords during the Time War against the Daleks (see below). However, Gallifrey was destroyed again in the conflict and, if the Ninth Doctor is correct in his belief that there are no other Time Lords, Romana was destroyed with it.