Mary Tamm

Mary Tamm (born 22nd March 1950 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire) was the first actress to play Romana in Doctor Who, opposite Tom Baker as the Doctor, from "The Ribos Operation" to "The Armageddon Factor." She is a graduate and an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

She began her acting career on the stage with the Birmingham Repertory Company in 1971, moving to London in 1972 and appearing in the musical Mother Earth. Before her association with Doctor Who, Tamm acted in several motion pictures, most notably The Odessa File (1974) and The Likely Lads (1976).

Tamm was not initially interested in playing a companion to the Doctor as she believed that the role was merely that of the "damsel in distress." However, she changed her mind when assured by the producers that Romana would be different. While Romana was supposed to be a Time Lady, a member of the Doctor's own people and therefore as capable as the Doctor, the character eventually took on the characteristics that Tamm was concerned about, and she left the programme after only one season (other reasons for her departure were reported in media and in fandom, however this is the only reason acknowledged in the recent Key to Time DVD box set). The role of Romana was subsequently assumed by Lalla Ward. On the 2007 Special Edition DVD release of the Key to Time, Tamm states that she was willing to film a regeneration sequence, but was not asked to do so.

Since then, Tamm has acted in both film and television, playing the characters of Penny Crosbie in the soap opera Brookside from 1993 to 1995, Yvonne Edwards in the BBC drama Paradise Heights (2002), as well as guest roles in many other television programmes. In one of her films, the 1987 release Three Kinds of Heat, her character has the dubious distinction of being killed off by a villain portrayed by future Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. Tamm returned to the role of Romana in the second series of Gallifrey audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. In 2007 she added "interviewer" to her resume when she hosted and conducted interviews for a brief documentary entitled "Stones Free" for the DVD release of The Key to Time, in which she talked to historians about one of the locations for the serial The Stones of Blood.

Most recently, she performed in the Big Finish production The Stealers from Saiph (released June 2009), once again playing Romana, as well as reading the voice of the Fourth Doctor.

Also in 2009 she read an audio book version of the Time Hunter novella The Tunnel at the End of the Light.

She is married with one daughter and a grandson. On 14th September 2009, Tamm will publish her autobiography, First Generation.