Tamm's a big time lady...
- Publication: Daily Express
- Date: 1978-09-02
- Author: Adella Lithman
- Page: 14
- Language: English
Who's she? Mary Tamm Joining the doctor
ADELLA LITHMAN TALKING TO THE NEW GIRL ABOARD TIMESHIP TARDIS
DR. WHO whizzing around in his Tardis is going to meet a Liberated Lady tonight—but he still doesn't get to kiss the girl.
Her name is Romana, going on 6ft tall in high heels, and 140 years old.
She's his new assistant, and unlike the others, Romans is not just a pretty face.
"I don't trail along behind him like his Previous helpers. I'll often take the initiative and help him out. We're going to be partners," promised Romana, alias 28-year-old actress Mary Tamm.
"I'm not the run-of-the-mill screaming, frightened, heroine. I am an intellectual, as brainy as the doctor."
The new B.B.C. sci-fi series opens tonight but Mary, who started her TV career as Stan Ogden's daughter-in-law in Coronation Street, has been recording Dr Who since March.
"It's exhausting," she said, "a six-day working week and endless running around. I do a lot of fighting, getting caught and a lot or escaping. I've lost a stone in weight."
For the Dr Who actor, eft 4in Tom Baker, Mary Tatum is a refreshing change. She's his third assistant, but. the only one tall enough to look him straight in the chin.
Said Mary who starred in the film "The Odessa File": "Romana's a newly-graduated female Time Lord."
And Time Lords on Dr Who do a nine-to-fivish sort of job. Which means Mary gets home ready to cook dinner-for husband Marcus Ringrose, a 25-year-old City business man.
They married seven months ago and the couple have already been warned by Dr. Who that their lives will change.
"Certainly not my fortune," said Mary, "because the B.B.C. don't pay their actors well. I have just enough to live on and pay off the money on my car, a secondhand Mini.
"But Tom Baker says that I'll be recognised. People will start talking to me in the street and even over dinner because they feel they know me.
"He takes it well but I don't 'now how I'll react. I usually wear glasses and tatty clothes when I'm not working so perhaps he's wrong and I won't even get a second glance."
For Mary, it will mean the largest audience she has ever had and her most critical. For the Dr Who Appreciation Society—some members have watched all 479 episodes-are always quick to point out when the show strays from the path of official doctrine.
"That's not a bad thing," said Mary. "At least we know what pleases the viewers. And that's what it is all about."
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Lithman, Adella (1978-09-02). Tamm's a big time lady.... Daily Express p. 14.
- MLA 7th ed.: Lithman, Adella. "Tamm's a big time lady...." Daily Express [add city] 1978-09-02, 14. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Lithman, Adella. "Tamm's a big time lady...." Daily Express, edition, sec., 1978-09-02
- Turabian: Lithman, Adella. "Tamm's a big time lady...." Daily Express, 1978-09-02, section, 14 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Tamm's a big time lady... | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Tamm%27s_a_big_time_lady... | work=Daily Express | pages=14 | date=1978-09-02 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=20 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Tamm's a big time lady... | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Tamm%27s_a_big_time_lady... | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=20 April 2025}}</ref>
