Sometimes it just happens this way. In 2011 we lost Nichaolas Courtney and Elizabeth Sladen in close succession, who played two of the most enduring characters in Doctor Who's history. Now in 2012 we've lost the two single-seasoners, Caroline John at 72 and now Mary Tamm at 62, both from cancer and both not so long-lived in terms of air time but no less loved in fan circles.
Thankfully, although most of the obituaries I've seen have picked on Doctor Who as her headline 'big role' they've generally put it into context within a long and varied career in films, TV and theatre. I, then, don't feel quite so bad about focussing only on her time as Romana in Doctor Who.
Mary Tamm was simply gorgeous - she'd make a potato sack look glam (and sexy!)
I know it's a shallow point of view, but it's the truth. She was also clearly very intelligent, savvy, focussed and capable - and that's essentially why she only did the one season of Doctor Who.
I have vivid memories of her time on the show from when I was a small boy - mainly cliffhangers, it must be said, presumably because they're usually the dramatic highpoints that stay in the memory from one week to the next (as Mary Whitehouse used to complain). I don't remember Leela leaving and I don't remember Romana arriving - these details weren't important to four year old me. It didn't matter who was travelling with the Doctor, it just mattered that they were his friend and that they had to be saved from the monsters or baddies. In many respects I think my juvenile thoughts matched the philosophy of the show at the time too - it was very much caught up in a format that worked for the viewer but didn't necessarily allow the actors involved much scope or variation. Coupled with that you have Tom Baker as a dominant leading man, very conscious of his status, not necessarily open to sharing the limelight too evenly and there's a show which some could argue would just go through the motions year after year unless something radical changed.
I think the 'Key To Time' umbrella theme was an attempt around this, but it's doomed to failure by the format, so it's never going to be a race against time or a single-minded quest, it's a ramble with a purpose. The Trial of a Time Lord eight years later was twelve parts shorter but still suffered in the same way and was ultimately just as unsuccessful, such was the hold of the old series format.
If you watch the new series you'll find that often the companion / assistant (there's a whole semantic argument there!) will either do something that drives the story forward or do something key to bring about the resolution. It didn't happen that often in the Classic series, as Romana's first two stories show. It could be argued, I suppose, that she's 'learning the ropes' in The Ribos Operation and The Pirate Planet, because Romana really comes into her own in The Stones of Blood and particularly The Androids of Tara - easily the character's (and Mary Tamm's) best story, and probably the most polished piece of the season. The Power of Kroll has the Doctor and Romana playing the double-act most of the time so Romana doesn't get to build on her Taran progress and The Armageddon Factor leaves her for too long with too little to do when it could have been a major showpiece for to end the season.
Mary Tamm often said she left because the show was too formulaic and there was nothing else for the character to do other than go through the motions again for another year, so there was nothing else for her to do as an actor other than go through the motions again for another year - which she didn't want to do. It's a shame, but you can't fault her logic and she wasn't at a point in her career when she could look on it as 'at least it's work'. I respect her a lot for that. She left behind quite a legacy though: six stories, interlinked and adding to the progressive mythos of the world of Doctor Who without relying on established continuity from previous seasons.
The Ribos Operation is a story that's really grown on me in recent viewings. Robert Holmes paints a very rich picture, with some wonderful characters. Paul Seed as the Graff Vynda-K steals the show with a perfectly pitched performance and some great eye acting. There's some nice material at the beginning where the Doctor and Romana are getting the measure of each other but it's sadly hampered by some dreadful editing or dreadful direction, it's not clear which. I'd favour the latter, since George Spenton-Foster seemed to struggle with TARDIS interior scenes in Image of The Fendahl the previous year. He also didn't know how to effectively shoot the shrivenzale either, or it wouldn't be seen as clearly as it is considering how convincing it isn't. Since she's just been allocated to assist the Doctor as a kind of job it would have been nice, I think, for Romana to have had a skill or piece of knowledge that helped them succeed in this first story - to give her more of an impact and to remind the Doctor why he needs a companion.
The Pirate Planet is another wonderful, energetic and witty script - this time from newcomer Douglas Adams (better watch out for him, he shows promise!) If you're going on script quality alone you'd have to agree Mary Tamm made the right decision to join the programme at this point - two excellent stories to start the season. The visuals sometimes fail to live up to the promise, but we're Doctor Who fans and by the left earlobe of the Sky Demon, Mr Fibuli, we can forgive that! Apart from a few nice moments on her own with Mr Fibuli and the Captain and the damaged field integrator, Romana is still at best learning to be the Doctor's companion / assitant here though, and reducing what's going on to an academic commentary rather than driving the story forward. Again this makes it difficult for the character to have much of an impact. Visually she's gorgeous, and we care for her as we do all the Doctor's friends, but it's the Pirate Captian and Mr Fibuli who steal the show this time around.
The Stones of Blood is Romana's coming of age story - as well as being the programme's 100th story. It's from another newby, David Fisher, but he pulls a real plumb out of the pie. It's got a bit of everything this story, and Romana's knowledge and independance are finally put to good use on the quest. Susan Engel is very controlled and underplays her role a lot so as not to draw too much attention to herself as baddie in disguise. Consequently Mary Tamm and Beatrix Lehmann shine.
This is continued into David Fisher's other contribution, The Androids of Tara, where a petulant Doctor decides to take a break for fishing and Romana shoots off and finds the fourth segment straight away - only then to get caught up in the politics of the land because she so closely resembles the Princess Strella. This is Peter Jeffrey's show, as the villainous Count Grendel, but Mary Tamm makes a considerable impact and you can tell she's appreciating being more central to the story, not an external commentator or passive agent. Having found the segment so early there's no sense of her wanting to head off while others are in danger - she's taken on the Doctor's values and is happy to stay and fight for the underdog.
The Power Of Kroll is Robert Holmes' second contribution to this season and has often been much-maligned. This is a shame as I for one love it and think it shows some of his best work. After the colourful character excesses of The Ribos Operation this one is much straighter, much more contained and with a real sense of menace at times. It doesn't offer Romana much to do except adopt the standard companion role, but it does ask some pertinent questions about the treatment of aboriginal peoples and deities in the line of alleged capitalist progress. It has some great film work and also offers John Leeson a rare on-screen role since K9 doesn't feature and he was already contracted. Kroll steals the show in this one! Graham Williams was a bold man, knowing how difficult it was to make convincing gigantic monsters yet still requesting one anyway. He'd think again the following year after Creature From The Pit though, I'm sure..!
That's five decent stories on the trot. The final one must be a cracking season finale mustn't it? Enter Bob Baker and Dave Martin. Hmmm...
The Armageddon Factor promises much but delivers hardly anything. Romana and the Doctor are parted for much of it but it's almost as if the writers didn't know what to do with Mary Tamm's character so they ignored her to focus on the 'funny' stuff they liked with the Doctor, K9 and the wet characters they'd created themselves. The Shadow is an excellent villain and shows much promise. The emaciated guards look good too. The Black Guardian when he appears is also fab - hence I suppose his return some years later. But the whole thing lacks drama, atmosphere and intensity. It's like people have given up, or they're mistaking the filming for the end of season party. Barry Jackson and Davyd Harries are almost unforgiveable in their unnecessarily comedic performances. Lalla Ward gets some nice moments but Ian Saynor as Merak just gets wetter and wetter as the episodes continue to a point beyond comprehension.
The shame is that there's enough ideas and promise in the mix to make this an amazing six parter, but somehow it just drags. It's hardly surprising, I think, given material of this quality, that Mary Tamm opted to leave and that's the biggest shame, going out on a whimper that could and should so easily have been a massive dramatic highpoint.
The 'Key To Time' season is known for the first use of an umbrella theme or story arc in the classic series, for bringing in Douglas Adams and for Mary Tamm. Whatever her motives for leaving, the fact that she's intrinsically linked to this one season makes it a shrewd move and has assured her a prominent place in the history of the prgramme. Her character was loved and continues to be loved. Even if she'd done nothing else in her professional career Mary was loved and she will continue to be loved by us all now that she's been taken from us.
Mary Tamm - thank you for those Saturday teatimes in 1978. They will live with me forever x
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