Theory:Timeline - Romana

This page lists appearances of Romana in the order in which she experienced them. This timeline is based on observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events in each of these stories. From these observations we have attempted to build a concise timeline. There are also many gaps between stories.

The layout of this timeline is based in part on the observations on Doctor Who Reference Guide and Doctor Who - The Complete Adventures, Lance Parkin's AHistory and other sources that allow us to make observations, such as DocOhoReviews, The History of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, Clive Banks Database, the Big Finish forums, The Whoniverse and the Divergent Universe forums. None of these sources should be used solely as a source or considered a "true" timeline for stories.

On Gallifrey

 * AUDIO: Lies
 * Romana meets her future self in the Matrix.

The Key to Time

 * TV: The Ribos Operation
 * Romana is assigned by the White Guardian to accompany the Fourth Doctor in his quest to assemble the Key to Time before the Black Guardian can.


 * COMIC: The Seventh Segment
 * Romana is wearing her outfit from The Ribos Operation.


 * PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar
 * Set between The Ribos Operation and The Pirate Planet.


 * TV: The Pirate Planet
 * Set the morning after The Ribos Operation, with the Doctor sealing away the First Segment.


 * TV: The Stones of Blood
 * The Doctor takes Romana to Earth for the first time.


 * PROSE: The Shadow of Weng-Chiang
 * Romana refers to the events of The Stones of Blood.


 * PROSE: Prelude Falls the Shadow
 * The Doctor is taking a break from his quest.


 * PROSE: X-Rani and the Ugly Mutants
 * PROSE: Light Fantastic
 * COMIC: Terror on Xaboi
 * PROSE: Reluctant Warriors
 * COMIC: The Weapon
 * PROSE: Return of the Electrids
 * PROSE: The Sleeping Guardians
 * Throughout the Doctor Who Annual 1980, the Doctor is travelling with Romana I and K9, but is not trying to assemble the Key to Time, nor is he using the randomiser, setting these stories during the break from the quest that ended in Heart of TARDIS.


 * PROSE: Heart of TARDIS
 * The Doctor is forced to resume his quest for the Key to Time.


 * PROSE: Pericles


 * AUDIO: Ferril's Folly
 * The Doctor and Romana are searching for the Fourth Segment, setting this shortly before The Androids of Tara.


 * TV: The Androids of Tara


 * PROSE: The Glarn Strategy
 * The Doctor and Romana are looking for the Fifth Segment, setting this shortly before The Power of Kroll.


 * TV: The Power of Kroll


 * The Doctor and Romana investigated a mysterious painting. (AUDIO: Tales from the Vault)


 * AUDIO: Luna Romana
 * The Doctor and Romana are looking for the Sixth Segment, setting this shortly before The Armageddon Factor.


 * TV: The Armageddon Factor
 * The Doctor and Romana complete their quest to assemble the Key to Time, but the Doctor orders it to disperse itself to stop the Back Guardian claiming it. The Doctor installs a randomiser into the TARDIS to elude the vengeful Black Guardian.

Hiding from the Black Guardian

 * AUDIO: The Auntie Matter
 * The Doctor and Romana are hiding from the Black Guardian in 1929 Hampshire, while K9 pilots the TARDIS around the universe to throw the Black Guardian off the Doctor's trail.


 * AUDIO: The Stealers from Saiph
 * The Doctor and Romana are taking a holiday in 1929 Antibes without K9, setting this during The Auntie Matter.


 * PROSE: Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen
 * The Doctor has only recently installed the randomizer.


 * PROSE: Doing Time
 * The Doctor's companion is wearing "a neat designer dress straight from the pages of a magazine", a description matching the first incarnation of Romana.


 * AUDIO: The Sands of Life
 * Ending leads directly into War Against the Laan.


 * AUDIO: War Against the Laan
 * K9 is damaged after being affected by the time slippage.


 * AUDIO: The Justice of Jalxar
 * The Doctor gives his age as 760-years-old.


 * AUDIO: Phantoms of the Deep
 * Set one month after War Against the Laan, with K9 fully repaired from the damage caused by the time spillage.


 * AUDIO: The Dalek Contract
 * Romana encounters the Daleks for the first time. Ending leads directly into The Final Phase.


 * AUDIO: The Final Phase
 * Romana elects to continue travelling in the TARDIS instead of returning to Gallifrey.


 * PROSE: Life from Lifelessness
 * The Doctor arrived in Prague due to the randomiser, setting this after The Armageddon Factor.


 * COMIC: Death to the Doctor!


 * AUDIO: The Doctor's First XI


 * AUDIO: The Warren Legacy

A new body

 * TV: Destiny of the Daleks
 * Romana regenerates into a new body. The Doctor encounters Davros for the first time since Genesis of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe
 * According to this account, Romana was trapped in the wardrobe by the TARDIS, who took her form and accompanied the Doctor on Skaro. Afterwards, Romana was freed and she regenerated into her new body.


 * COMIC: Victims
 * Romana is still wearing her outfit from Destiny of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: Under Reykjavik
 * Romana is still wearing her outfit from Destiny of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: All Snug in Their Beds
 * Romana's recent regeneration is referenced, setting this shortly after Destiny of the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: The Old Rogue
 * The Doctor plans to take Romana to Paris, leading into City of Death.


 * TV: City of Death
 * The Doctor and Romana fight Scaroth in 1979 Paris with the help of Duggan. The Doctor hasn't used his sonic screwdriver since Destiny of the Daleks.


 * PROSE: Notre Dame du Temps
 * Set during City of Death: Part One.


 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 1. The Not-So-Sinister Sponge


 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 2. Do You Love Anyone Enough?


 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 3. Better Watch Out, Better Take Care
 * Romana has recently been to Paris, setting this shortly after City of Death.


 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 4. Playing with Toys
 * Set on the same day as The Not-So-Sinister Sponge, Do You Love Anyone Enough? and Better Watch Out, Better Take Care.


 * PROSE: The Dying Days
 * The Doctor, Romana and K-9 attend the Queen's re-coronation, and are spotted by the Brigadier.


 * PROSE: Beige Planet Mars
 * The Doctor, Romana and K-9 attend the Mars Conference, and have a run in with Bernice Summerfield.


 * COMIC: The Forgotten
 * Romana notes that she and the Doctor have been to Paris recently, setting this shortly after City of Death.


 * PROSE: The End of Now


 * PROSE: The Final Analysis


 * COMIC: The Lost Dimension
 * Romana encounters Ogrons with the Doctor for the first time, although she has already heard of them.


 * TV: The Creature from the Pit


 * PROSE: The Romance of Crime
 * Set between The Creature from the Pit and Nightmare of Eden.


 * PROSE: The English Way of Death
 * Set after The Romance of Crime.


 * AUDIO: Seven to One


 * TV: Nightmare of Eden


 * COMIC: Time & Time Again
 * Set during Nightmare of Eden.


 * AUDIO: The Beautiful People
 * The Doctor mentions recovering from the events of Nightmare of Eden.


 * AUDIO: The Pyralis Effect
 * Though the audio's blurb places this between Shada and The Leisure Hive, Romana does not yet have a sonic screwdriver, setting this before The Horns of Nimon.


 * PROSE: The Little Things
 * The Doctor acquires a chrono-historical stress gauge.


 * PROSE: The Clanging Chimes of Doom
 * The Doctor is still using the chrono-historical stress gauge from The Little Things.


 * PROSE: Present Tense
 * The Doctor's the chrono-historical stress gauge has been broken.


 * PROSE: Child's Play


 * TV: The Horns of Nimon
 * Romana reveals she has her own sonic screwdriver.


 * PROSE: Return of the Spiders


 * AUDIO: Babblesphere
 * The Doctor knows about Romana's sonic screwdriver, setting this after The Horns of Nimon.


 * AUDIO: Wave of Destruction
 * The Doctor and Romana are still worried about the Black Guardian's revenge, and Romana possess a sonic screwdriver, setting this after The Horns of Nimon.


 * AUDIO: The Labyrinth of Buda Castle


 * AUDIO: The Paradox Planet
 * Ending leads directly into Legacy of Death.


 * AUDIO: Legacy of Death


 * TV: Shada
 * The events of Shada are overwritten by The Five Doctors, and later experienced by the Eighth Doctor. Upon returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor decides to go to Brighton. In the novelisation, set without the interference of The Five Doctors, the Doctor claims to be 760 years old.


 * PROSE: Punting
 * Set during The Five Doctors.


 * PROSE: Glass
 * The Doctor and Romana encounter one of the escaped minds from Skagra's machine in 1976 Cambridge.

After Shada

 * AUDIO: Gallery of Ghouls
 * The Doctor is trying to get to Brighton, setting this shortly after Shada.


 * AUDIO: The Trouble with Drax
 * The Doctor is beginning to think that the Black Guardian has grown bored of revenge on him and Romana.


 * AUDIO: The Pursuit of History
 * Ending leads directly into Casualties of Time.


 * AUDIO: Casualties of Time


 * COMIC: Time Lady of Means
 * Romana has a sonic screwdriver, setting this after The Horns of Nimon.


 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen
 * The Doctor recalls the events of Shada.


 * PROSE: Festival of Death
 * Set between Shada and The Leisure Hive.


 * PROSE: Checkpoint


 * The Doctor and Romana visit Hellan. (AUDIO: Collision Course)


 * PROSE: Colony of Death


 * PROSE: Alien Mind Games


 * PROSE: A Midsummer's Nightmare


 * COMIC: Every Dog Has His Day


 * PROSE: The Voton Terror


 * PROSE: Sweet Flower of Uthe


 * PROSE: Suitors, Inc.


 * PROSE: The Monster in the Wardrobe


 * PROSE: Breadcrumbs


 * PROSE: The Well-Mannered War
 * Menlove Stokes remembers the Doctor from The Romance of Crime. The Black Guardian tracks the Doctor and Romana down, but is defeated and entrapped in the Time Vortex by the Doctor, but the Doctor and Romana also get trapped in the vortex in the ordeal.

Final voyages in the TARDIS

 * PROSE: Into the Silent Land
 * After switching his old clothes for a burgundy design, the Doctor decides to take Romana to Brighton.


 * PROSE: The Beast Inside
 * Romana is surprised that the Doctor now wears a burgundy coat, feeling it reflects a more morose and sombre mood.


 * PROSE: I Was a Monster!!!
 * The Doctor is wearing his burgundy costume.


 * PROSE: Insider Dealing
 * The Doctor is wearing his burgundy costume.


 * AUDIO: Luna Romana
 * The Doctor refers to the events of Doctor Who and the Iron Legion. The Doctor is wearing his burgundy costume.


 * AUDIO: The Beast of Kravenos
 * Authorial intent places this story, and most of the rest of the Season 6 audios, before The Leisure Hive, with the Doctor wearing his burgundy clothing, the Randomiser still effect and the Season 18 theme tune being used.


 * AUDIO: The Eternal Battle


 * AUDIO: The Silent Scream


 * AUDIO: Dethras
 * The Doctor is still trying to get to Brighton.


 * AUDIO: The Haunting of Malkin Place


 * AUDIO: Subterranea


 * AUDIO: The Movellan Grave


 * TV: The Leisure Hive
 * After a holiday in Brighton, the Doctor completely removes the randomiser to give it for the Tachyon Recreation Generator on Argolis. K9 is damaged after rolling into the sea without his sea water defences.


 * AUDIO: The Skin of the Sleek
 * K9 was recently damaged in Brighton, setting this shortly after The Leisure Hive. Ending leads directly into The Thief Who Stole Time.


 * AUDIO: The Thief Who Stole Time
 * K9 is still damaged.


 * TV: Meglos
 * Romana is still wearing her costume from Brighton and K9 is still in a damaged state. After repairing K9, the TARDIS is contacted by the Time Lords, who order Romana back to Gallifrey.

Journey into E-Space

 * TV: Full Circle
 * En route to Gallifrey, the TARDIS gets sucked into E-Space, where Adric stows away on the TARDIS.


 * TV: State of Decay


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * Set during State of Decay.


 * PROSE: Pathfinders
 * Set immediately after State of Decay.


 * AUDIO: The Invasion of E-Space
 * The Doctor and Romana have been in E-Space for two months. They encounter an artificially created CVE, but it closes before they are able to return to N-Space through it. Romana decides to stall returning to N-Space.


 * PROSE: O, Darkness
 * A Full Life implies that this is set after The Invasion of E-Space. Adric recalls the events of State of Decay.


 * AUDIO: A Full Life
 * Adric mentions the imprisonments he endured during The Invasion of E-Space and O, Darkness. The Doctor and Romana die, but, after some years, Adric is able to change time so that they live.


 * AUDIO: Purgatory 12
 * Set between State of Decay and Warrior's Gate. The Doctor has noticed that Romana is stalling their return to N-Space and questions her about it, setting this after The Invasion of E-Space. Ending leads directly into Chase the Night.


 * AUDIO: Chase the Night


 * AUDIO: The Planet of Witches
 * Romana's sonic screwdriver is destroyed, but she resolves to create a new one.


 * AUDIO: The Quest of the Engineer
 * The TARDIS crew have been searching for a CVE for months by now.


 * TV: Warriors' Gate
 * As the Doctor and Adric escape E-Space, Romana elects to remain and help the enslaved Tharils release themselves from captivity, with K9 staying with her due to damage from the time winds preventing him from crossings back into N-Space.

Alone in E-Space

 * AUDIO: The Invasion of E-Space
 * Romana is still helping the Tharils to liberate their kind, but plans to return to N-Space soon. Before one final battle, she recounts a story of her travels with the Doctor and Adric.


 * AUDIO: The Kairos Ring
 * Romana is still traveling with Lazlo. She has found a way to cross back and forth between E-Space and N-Space freely.


 * AUDIO: The Choice


 * AUDIO: The Search

Return to Gallifrey

 * PROSE: Blood Harvest
 * Romana returns from E-Space. Shortly after the Doctor leaves Gallifrey, she encounters Ruatha, leading directly into Goth Opera.


 * PROSE: Goth Opera
 * Romana is trapped in a Miniscope by Ruath, who deliberately asynchronously involves the Fifth Doctor.


 * AUDIO: The Chaos Pool
 * Romana has been working closely with the High Council, but is not yet president. She plans to bring Amy to the academy in attempt to convince them to open it to non-Gallifreyans.


 * PROSE: Happy Endings
 * Romana has recently become President of Gallifrey following a close election against Flavia.


 * PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet
 * Romana signs an executive order releasing three hundred prisoners from Shada, including Grandfather Paradox.


 * Romana is captured by the Daleks and held prisoner on Etra Prime. A previous president is called out of retirement to act as Lord President in Romana's absence. (AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element)


 * AUDIO: The Apocalypse Element
 * Vansell is Co-ordinator of the CIA. The Sixth Doctor is the wrong incarnation, and Romana comments on it. Gallifreyan security systems are changed to require a human retinal scan. Romana has been gone 20 years.


 * WC: Shada
 * Romana meets the Eighth Doctor for the first time. She accompanied him, along with K9 to Cambridge.


 * PROSE: The Time Lord's Story


 * AUDIO: Neverland
 * Vansell dies.


 * AUDIO: Zagreus
 * Romana and Leela meet for the first time, although they were aware of each other by reputation.


 * PROSE: Lungbarrow
 * Romana and Leela know each other, placing this after the events of Zagreus. Leela announces her pregnancy.


 * AUDIO: Weapon of Choice
 * Leela is no longer pregnant. Narvin is the new head of the CIA.


 * AUDIO: Square One


 * AUDIO: The Inquiry


 * AUDIO: A Blind Eye


 * AUDIO: Second Sight
 * Romana is president and calls Narvin a "CIA halfwit" behind his back, setting this before the two become good friends.


 * AUDIO: Lies


 * AUDIO: Spirit


 * AUDIO: Pandora


 * AUDIO: Insurgency


 * AUDIO: Imperiatrix


 * AUDIO: Fractures


 * AUDIO: Warfare


 * AUDIO: Appropriation


 * AUDIO: Mindbomb


 * AUDIO: Panacea


 * AUDIO: Reborn


 * AUDIO: Disassembled


 * AUDIO: Annihilation


 * AUDIO: Forever


 * AUDIO: Emancipation


 * AUDIO: Evolution


 * AUDIO: Arbitration


 * AUDIO: Arbitration


 * AUDIO: Renaissance


 * AUDIO: Ascension


 * AUDIO: Companion Piece
 * Romana is President of Gallifrey when she is kidnapped by the Nine.


 * AUDIO: Collision Course
 * Romana is President of Gallifrey.


 * Romana regenerates into her third incarnation aboard the Moros, and sends Leela to Legion. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines)

Romana III

 * PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon
 * Romana II has regenerated into a more ruthless incarnation to prepare for the War.


 * AUDIO: Intervention Earth
 * A Braxiatel saves Romana and Omega returns.


 * AUDIO: Luna Romana
 * Romana is preparing for what is presumably the War.


 * PROSE: The Ancestor Cell
 * Gallifrey is destroyed.


 * PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles
 * Set during The Ancestor Cell.


 * Romana sends Braxiatel back to prevent the regeneration of her previous self, thereby preventing the war from occurring. (AUDIO: Enemy Lines)

Co-ordinator of the CIA

 * AUDIO: Enemy Lines
 * Braxiatel changes the past so that Romana doesn't regenerate, thereby preventing the war and the destruction of Gallifrey. She steps down from the presidency and appoints Lady Livia Caralis as her successor.


 * AUDIO: Erasure
 * Romana and Narvin's respective ranks aren't mentioned, but certainly set after Panacea, as Narvin and Leela visit Heartshaven.


 * AUDIO: Celestial Intervention
 * Time Lords under Livia officially declare war on the Daleks, after they obliterate many other Temporal Powers. The War Council secretly operates a project in the Death Zone that could result in the resurrection of the dead Time Lords.


 * AUDIO: Soldier Obscura
 * Follows on from Celestial Intervention. Ace and Braxiatel on a mission for Romana. She mentions that the Doctor refuses to help. Braxiatel wipes out Ace's memory and leaves her on the 20th century Earth, while telling Romana that she was killed by the Daleks.


 * AUDIO: The Devil You Know
 * Follows on from Soldier Obscura. The Master allows himself to be summoned to Gallifrey. He and Leela participate in a mission to recover vital information about a potential weapon that could end the Time War. He then throws Leela into the Time Vortex and decides to head for Arcking.


 * AUDIO: Desperate Measures
 * Follows on from The Devil You Know. Ace and Leela are lost and Braxiatel escapes the war. Livia steps down as Lady President and Rassilon returns to lead Gallifrey, which was the Livia's plan all along. The Doctor still refuses to help


 * AUDIO: Havoc


 * AUDIO: Partisans


 * AUDIO: Collateral


 * AUDIO: Assassins
 * Romana and Narvin steal a TARDIS and escape from Gallifrey.

Exiled from Gallifrey

 * AUDIO: Hostiles


 * AUDIO: Nevernor


 * AUDIO: Unity
 * Romana is cornered by Daleks who open fire.


 * AUDIO: Dissolution
 * Romana is saved from Dalek gunfire by Braxiatel. Leads into Beyond.


 * AUDIO: Beyond
 * Romana escapes the Beyond in Braxiatel’s TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: Homecoming
 * Shortly after Beyond. Romana is imprisoned in a pocket dimension by Rassilon.

Currently unplaced

 * These entries are placed here due to being part of ongoing storylines that have yet to offer sufficient enough evidence to be placed in a specific part of this Doctor's timeline, unless further evidence arises in the stories to come.

Awaiting placement

 * These entries are placed here until a suitable position in the timeline can be determined based on the available evidence.

The Doctor Who Annuals Master

 * COMIC: The Choice
 * Romana II, wearing her pink coat, is kidnapped by Adam Mitchell among companions of the Doctor but is soon freed by Frobisher. Leads into Endgame.


 * COMIC: Endgame
 * The first eleven Doctors rescue their companions from Adam and.


 * COMIC: The Meeting


 * COMIC: The One