Mary Tamm

Mary Tamm was an English actress who worked largely in British television drama. She was born in Yorkshire, England, studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1969 to 1971, and joined the Birmingham Repertory Company in 1971 for her first stage work. After moving to London she appeared in the musical Mother Earth, and her earliest BBC television role came in 1973 in The Donati Conspiracy. Her films of that period included Tales That Witness Madness (1973), The Odessa File (1974) and The Likely Lads (1976). She became best known for playing Romana I in Doctor Who, a role she took opposite Tom Baker across the 1978 to 1979 arc The Key to Time, and she chose to leave the series after a single season. Later credits ranged from the drama The Treachery Game and its sequel The Assassination Run to a long stint as Penny Crosbie in Brookside between 1993 and 1996.