Mary Tamm RIP
There was a moment in The Ribos Operation part one when the Doctor and K9 enter the TARDIS to meet the new companion. And the camera pans down Mary Tamm’s gorgeous body in that lovely long white dress.
It was September 1984. I was 14 years old. I was in love.
Mary Tamm’s Romana was smart, haughty, witty and could hold her own in a conversation with Tom Baker’s Doctor at a time when Baker probably rewrote half the script while the show was being shot. She was also very beautiful. Her one season as the first incarnation of Doctor Who was one of my favourites.
It’s so sad to hear of her passing yesterday.
I only briefly met Mary Tamm—I saw her at a Gallifrey convention a few years ago, and she sounded like Patsy from AbFab. But she was unbelievably witty on stage. I’ve often been surprised that she didn’t do more American TV and film, given she was just the sort of British female actress they were casting in the early ‘80s.
I’m away travelling and I wish I could say more, but she’ll be missed.
Posted by Graeme on Friday, July 27 at 7:38 am
4 Comments...
Every single one of the folks we saw in the Classic series - the Brigadier, Sarah Jane, Liz Shaw, and now the first Romana - passing before our very eyes…
Would anybody of the surviving characters in the Classic series return for at least the last time in the New?
Posted by Tardis_Comandante on 07/31 at 08:07 PM
She was the noblest Romana of them all.
But this seriously depletes the number of 4th Doctor companions left to us who could potentially appear alongside Tom Baker in any 50th Anniversary special(s). We know that Lalla Ward (Romana II for you uninitiated) won’t do it given the personal differences between her and Baker, so that pretty much leaves only Louise Jameson’s Leela, K-9 or, gods forbid, Adric.
Posted by AndyBob on 08/02 at 02:34 PM
In an incredibly sad followup, British media are reporting now that Mary’s husband, Marcus, died only a few hours after the funeral on Tuesday. :(
Posted by Alex on 08/09 at 08:40 PM
Follow-up.
That is just so tragic.
Just absurdly so.
Posted by Ryan on 08/16 at 12:58 PM
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