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| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
The Hon. Lalla Ward (born Sarah Jill Ward; 28 June 1951) is an English actress and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana in the BBC television series Doctor Who from 1979 to 1981.
Biography
Prior to Doctor Who
Ward's stage name, "Lalla", comes from her attempts as a toddler to pronounce her own name. She left school at age 14 because she "loathed every single minute of it", and took her O-levels on her own. Ward studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama from 1968 to 1971. After spending a few years painting, she auditioned at London drama schools "as a sort of dare" to herself:
Ward began her acting career in the Hammer horror film Vampire Circus (1972), and played Lottie, the teenage daughter of Louisa Trotter (Gemma Jones) in The Duchess of Duke Street, the BBC drama series of the mid-1970s. She appeared in the films England Made Me (1973), Matushka (1973), Rosebud (1975), and Crossed Swords (or The Prince and the Pauper) (1977). In 1974 she acted in a film called Got It Made, which was later recut with sex scenes featuring other actresses and released in 1978 as Sweet Virgin.Club International magazine ran nude pictures from the film, claiming they were of her, and Ward successfully sued the magazine.Her television work included The Upper Crusts (1973) as the daughter of Margaret Leighton and Charles Gray, Van der Valk (1973), The Protectors (1973), Quiller (1975), Who Pays the Ferryman? (1977), The Professionals (1978) and Hazell (1979). In 1980, she played Ophelia to Derek Jacobi's Hamlet in the BBC television production.
Work on Doctor Who
She was the second actress to play the Time Lord Romana in Doctor Who. After a guest appearance as Princess Astra in the Doctor Who story The Armageddon Factor in 1979, Ward was chosen to replace Mary Tamm, who had decided against continuing in the role. She appeared in all of Season 17's stories and then her character was written out in the third to last story of Season 18 in the story entitled Warriors' Gate.
Ward later reprised her role as Romana for the Season 28 story Lungbarrow, the Season 30 story The Reverent Peril and the 30th anniversary special The Lords of Time. In addition, she has appeared at a number of Doctor Who conventions and related special events.
After Doctor Who
After Doctor Who, she appeared in the TV movie Schoolgirl Chums (1982), and The Jeweller's Shop and The Rehearsal on stage. Ward decided to end her acting career after marrying Richard Dawkins.
Ward has recorded audio books, including Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct and Shada by Gareth Roberts and Douglas Adams. She co-narrates The Selfish Gene, The Ancestor's Tale, The God Delusion, The Blind Watchmaker and The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution with her husband. In the 1980s. She also wrote two books on knitting and one on embroidery. Ward is a keen chef, and she contributed a recipe to The Doctor Who Cookbook which was edited by Gary Downie.
She also provided illustrations for Climbing Mount Improbable and Astrology for dogs (and owners) by William Fairchild (1980).
Ward is a textile artist and ceramicist. Her subjects are rare and endangered animals. She refers to her technique of creating fabric pictures as thread drawing, considering this a more accurate term for her work than the commonly used thread painting.
In 2009, at the suggestion of the Gerald Durrell Foundation, she prepared an exhibition of textiles and ceramics on the theme of Galapagos wildlife. The auction raised £24,000 for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's campaign for the Floreana mockingbird and other wildlife of Galapagos.
She has shown three exhibitions at the National Theatre, London. Her 2010 textiles exhibition, Stranded, was inspired by the evolution of animals on islands. In 2011, Migration featured works which combined textiles and ceramics, the subjects seeming to move across both media. The theme of Vanishing Act, 2013, was camouflage. As with previous shows, Ward made available detailed instructions explaining her techniques. She also used one glass case to recreate her workspace, including such sources of inspiration as music, quotes, and a photo of her dog.
Ward has served for almost 20 years on the committee of the Actors' Charitable Trust (TACT) and 10 years as a trustee. Alongside Richard and Sheila Attenborough, she led a successful £7.5 million redevelopment of the actors' care home Denville Hall.
Personal Life
Ward was in a relationship with her co-star Tom Baker whilst working on Doctor Who, and they lived together in a flat in Deptford. The couple married in December 1980, but the marriage lasted only 16 months. Ward attributed the separation to work commitments, different lifestyles and conflicts of interest. Regarding her marriage to Baker, Ward is quoted as saying:
Ward said in 2004 that her long friendship with Douglas Adams, with whom she worked on Doctor Who, meant more to her and was "more valuable and more enduring" than her marriage to Baker.
In 1992, at his 40th birthday party, Adams introduced her to his friend Richard Dawkins (biologist and author of books including The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker and The God Delusion). Ward and Dawkins married later that year. In 2016, in a joint statement, the couple announced their amicable separation after 24 years of marriage.
Selected Credits
Doctor WhoAs Romana
As Princess Astra |