Mary Tamm

Acting

Mary Tamm

Born 1950-03-22 · Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England, UK

Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials. She is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series Doctor Who, appearing opposite Tom Baker in the 1978–1979 story arc The Key to Time. Tamm was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, to an Estonian father and a half-Russian mother, who was an opera singer. Her parents had fled Estonia after four of her father's brothers had died in Stalin's gulag labour camps. Tamm spoke only Estonian at home and attended Estonian-language school on Saturdays. She did not begin learning English until she was enrolled in primary school. At age 11, she won a scholarship to attend Bradford Girls' Grammar School and joined the city's Civic Theatre. She was a graduate and an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she studied from 1969 to 1971.

Acting credits

Tales That Witness Madness poster
5.5

Enigmatic asylum owner Dr Tremayne houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each patient went mad, be they a ritualistic 'luau', a time-travelling bicycle, a toy tiger, and a tree stump.

Tales That Witness Madness

1973

The Odessa File poster
6.6

Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.

The Odessa File

1974

Doghouse poster
5.8

A group of men, heading to a remote village to help one of their friends get over his divorce, soon discover that all the women have been infected with a virus that makes them man-hating cannibals.

Doghouse

2009

Sorted poster
5.5

A young lawyer gets more than he bargains for while investigating his brother's mysterious death.

Sorted

2000

Who's Who poster
10.0

Produced for American Public Television, this documentary on the long-running Doctor Who television series features interviews with actors and actresses who played the traveling companions of the Time Lord hero and with three actors, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, and Colin Baker, who portrayed the title character, as well as footage of a U.S. fan convention where Tom Baker, appeared and answered questions. The fan backlash against the 1985-6 hiatus for the series and the finding of some previously lost Jon Pertwee era episodes are addressed, and this documentary closes with some on-the-street interviews with British viewers, who tell who their favorite Doctor is.

Who's Who

1986

A Matter of Time poster
NR

A retrospective documentary looking at Graham Williams' three-year tenure as Doctor Who producer.

A Matter of Time

2007

Amazons and Gladiators poster
3.2

During the Roman Empire, General Crassius ruled a small province with an Iron fist. Serena, a young girl in a village, watches Crassius kill her parents. Crassius and Serena's destiny would lead them to the Gladiator ring; the Amazons Warrior vs the Roman General.

Amazons and Gladiators

2001

Doctor Who: Logopolis poster
7.0

After an encounter with the Master, an airline stewardess named Tegan Jovanka becomes an unwitting stowaway aboard the TARDIS as it travels to the planet Logopolis. There, the Doctor discovers that the Master's interference with the Logopolitans' advanced mathematics has unleashed a wave of entropy which threatens to consume the entire universe.

Doctor Who: Logopolis

1981

Doctor Who: Meanwhile in the TARDIS: Part 2 poster
6.5

Amy tries to flirt with The Doctor but he tries to ignore her advances.

Doctor Who: Meanwhile in the TARDIS: Part 2

2010

Parrot Fashion poster
NR

A 30-minute documentary looking at the writing and production of The Pirate Planet.

Parrot Fashion

2007

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks poster
7.9

Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth, diverted by the Doctor's oldest enemy - the Daleks. It is here the true purpose of the time corridor becomes apparent: after ninety years of imprisonment, Davros, the ruthless creator of the Daleks, is to be liberated to assist in the resurrection of his army. Not even the Daleks foresee the poisonous threat of their creator. Indeed, who would suspect Davros of wanting to destroy his own Daleks - and why? Only the Doctor knows the truth. Will he descend to Davros' level of evil to stop him?

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

1984

The Likely Lads poster
6.3

With the destruction of their previous neighbourhood has inevitably come the destruction of the lads’ favoured watering hole The Fat Ox. Again, it’s Bob rather than Terry who is visibly distressed by this. Upset and much the worse for free alcohol, Bob then storms into the library to seek sympathy from Thelma - who is, predictably, unimpressed. So when Thelma finds out that Terry has been getting semi-serious with glamorous Finnish shop assistant Chris, she takes it upon herself to try and pair them off for good via planning first a dinner party and then that mainstay of 70s comedy, a camping expedition. Of course, things don’t go quite according to plan and before you can say ‘I can see the way this is going’ we are set up for japes, larks and embarrassing incidents aplenty, which culminate in the lads getting rather fed up with their partners’ attempts to inflict the rugged outdoor lifestyle upon them and trying to hitch up and drive off with the girls still asleep in the caravan.

The Likely Lads

1976

The Ties That Bind Us poster
NR

A look at the subtle (and not so subtle!) links to the show's past and future contained within the story of The Five Doctors.

The Ties That Bind Us

2008

Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor poster
5.5

The final segment of the Key to Time is at the heart of a devastating war between neighbouring planets Atrios and Zeos. The Fourth Doctor discovers that a sinister entity is manipulating events and the cost of obtaining the final segment may be more personal than he imagined.

Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor

1979

Doctor Who: Clara and the TARDIS poster
6.7

While sleeping over, the TARDIS decides to play a prank on Clara, much to her displeasure.

Doctor Who: Clara and the TARDIS

2013

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation poster
6.8

The Doctor is summoned by the mysterious and powerful White Guardian, and sent on a quest to find the six segments of the Key to Time, which, once assembled, will restore balance to the Universe. Joining the Doctor and K9 is the smart and sassy Romana, a Time Lord fresh from the Academy. Landing on the wintry planet of Ribos to locate the first segment, the TARDIS crew quickly find themselves embroiled in a little local trouble with a pair of conmen and an unstable warlord...

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation

1978

Three Kinds of Heat poster
5.4

Three friends persecute a gang of criminals from Harlem to the parties of the High Society of London.

Three Kinds of Heat

1987

Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet poster
7.0

The Doctor and Romana learn the second segment of the Key to Time is on the planet Calufrax. Yet they arrive on a planet called Zanak, which has been hollowed out and fitted with hyperspace engines, allowing its insane, half-robot Captain to materialise it around smaller planets and plunder their resources.

Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet

1978

Defining Shadows poster
NR

The cast and crew look back at the making of The Armageddon Factor.

Defining Shadows

2007

Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood poster
7.8

Searching for the third segment to the Key to Time brings the Doctor and Romana to present-day Earth, where the travellers have to contend with stone circles, Druidic rituals and a not-so-mythical goddess known as the Cailleach.

Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood

1978

The Story of Doctor Who poster
8.0

Documentary to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of this popular cult sci-fi television series.

The Story of Doctor Who

2003

Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara poster
7.2

Finding the fourth segment of the Key to Time was simple enough, but holding onto it may be another matter. The Doctor and Romana find themselves embroiled in the political games of the planet Tara, where doubles, android or otherwise, complicate the coronation of Prince Reynart.

Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara

1978

A Class Apart poster
NR

An outspoken single mum is determined her son will go to the school of her choice, and he ends up at a private school. Only then does she discover the headmaster offered a place merely to win a bet.

A Class Apart

2007

Doctor Who: The Power of Kroll poster
4.7

The Doctor and Romana arrive on the marsh moon of Delta Magna in search of the next segment of the Key to Time. They are caught in the conflict between the native Swampies and the crew of a chemical refinery. The presence of a gun runner complicates matters; to make things worse, the Swampies intend to awaken Kroll, the giant god that lives beneath the swamps.

Doctor Who: The Power of Kroll

1979