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James ("Jamie") Robert McCrimmon, son of Donald, piper like his father and his father's father, was one of the longest serving companions to travel with the the Doctor.
Biography
Travels
Jamie first met the Doctor as he was fighting the English in the Jacobite Rebellion, at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. (DW: The Highlanders)
Where possible, Jamie tried to understand his new experiences in terms of his life in 1746. When he encountered a Cyberman, whilst on his sick bed on the Moonbase, he believed that it was his clan's legend of the Phantom Piper and that he was dying. (DW: The Moonbase).
This natural acceptance, and attempt to rationalise things, helped Jamie to grasp the worlds he saw. Airplanes, which he saw at Gatwick, were "flying beasts" to Jamie. He was fascinated by them and by the airport and stole a ticket from Samantha Briggs so that he could take a flight, and find out more about them. Having never experienced anything like this, Jamie, quite naturally, was airsick. A Chameleon, who spoke with an English rather than Scots accent, assumed Jamie's form during this adventure, taking Jamie's place. (DW: The Faceless Ones).
(In a later adventure he was also space sick when travelling in a space cruiser. (source?))
Shortly after in an adventure concerning the Daleks and their quest for the Human Factor, the Doctor's manipulation of those around him caused Jamie to decide to have nothing more to do with him, though he would later change his mind. With her father dead and having no place to go, the Doctor and Jamie "adopted" Victoria Waterfield from the year 1867 (DW: The Evil of the Daleks).
Jamie evidenced strong, though unspoken feelings for "Vicky" which often showed itself in her teasing her, about her new, more revealing style of clothes. (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen) He also showed bursts of bravery and bravado at anyone who would harm her. When Vicky decided to leave and stay on 20th century Earth (DW: Fury From the Deep), Jamie felt incosolate, and temporarily lost interest in anything. (DW: The Wheel in Space]])
Shortly after, Zoe Heriot joined the Doctor and Jamie (DW: The Wheel in Space). Jamie got along very well with her even though Zoe came from a 21st century background very much unlike his own. In the Land of Fiction, Jamie temporarily changed into a different youth of the same age. (DW: The Mind Robber)
The return
Finally, Jamie was forced to return to his own people after the Doctor asked the Time Lords to intercede in a situation oustide of his control. A tribunal of Time Lords told the Doctor that they would return Zoe and Jamie to their homes. They would also alter Zoe and Jamie's memories, allowing them to remember their first adventure with the Doctor but have no recall of ever travelling with the Doctor in the TARDIS. The Doctor watched Jamie wake up from sleep, back in 1746, then spot a Redcoat and run after him. (DW: The War Games)
Travelling anew
The Doctor then underwent a mission for the Time Lords and requested that for his next assignment to have Jamie by this side. The Time Lords consented (PDA: World Game)
The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria travelled again for at least journey before Jamie went with the Doctor on a diplomatic mission to Space Station Chimera.
Here, Jamie believed he saw the Doctor killed in a massacre by Sontarans and hid in crawl spaces in the station and over the next few days, reverted to a feral condition. At this point, a future Doctor appeared in his TARDIS and Jamie, wielding a knife, made as to attack him. Subsequently, Jamie helped to rescue "his" Doctor who had not died at all, and left with him his TARDIS. (DW: The Two Doctors)
Characteristics
Appearance
Personality
Perhaps typical of his era, Jamie was simple and straightforward. He was also intelligent, and full of common sense. Although he didn't understand the TARDIS, he was enthusiastic about it. His journey was a voyage of discovery, and almost everything he experienced was new to him. He struggled to understand many things, yet he battled against this, and thoroughly enjoyed his adventures.
Jamie's rationalisation didn't mean he always had to find an analogy of the new thing he was seeing. If he couldn't find one, he simply accepted the thing with wonder. Amazingly, he never worried about his new experiences. The only time Jamie ever showed any worry, or concern, was when his companions were in danger - particularly Victoria Waterfield, who he was very fond of - and when he didn't understand that the Doctor was trying to infect the Daleks with the Human Factor. At this time he thought that the Doctor was working with the Daleks to save his own skin.
Jamie faced many surprises on his travels, such as discovering that, at that time, the Doctor was 450 years old. Many of these were nice surprises, like finding some bagpipes in the TARDIS - which he planned to mend. This natural link with his home allowed Jamie to be lured out of the TARDIS when he heard bagpipes and saw Scotland on the scanner (The Mind Robber).
Jamie was also practical, and it was this simplicity which often put him ahead of his companions. Rago assessed Jamie, and discovered that his brain showed signs of recent rapid learning,and it was his idea to dig through to a borehole and intercept the seed device which saved the travellers. Later in his travels, while the Doctor and Zoe Heriot were revelling in their rescue of Dulkis with only a minor volcanic eruption, it was Jamie who pointed out that they happened to be standing on the island that would erupt. (DW: The Dominators)
Brave and never one to shirk a fight, it was Jamie who captured a Yeti. Facing danger knowingly, and despite the teasing of Isobel and Zoe, he accompanied them into the sewers of London on their Cyberman hunt.
Jamie saw the Doctor as a friend, and mentor. He loved travelling, and enjoyed his adventures. He learnt a lot through his experiences, but also believed the Doctor needed his help. When Ben and Polly left the TARDIS, Jamie reassured them that he would look after the Doctor.
Quotes
"Can you not exactly make it go where you meant it to?"
"If I wanted to. It's just that I've never wanted to."
-- Jamie and the Doctor speaking of the TARDIS in The Underwater Menace
"Why do you call it the Highland Fling?"
"Because we finish the dance by flinging ourselves out the door."
-- Cheerleader and Jamie in The Macra Terror
"I'm sad to see them go."
-- Speaking of Ben & Polly in The Faceless Ones
"Me? Foreign? You're the one that's foreign - I'm Scottish."
"Anyone would think this was a little game... People have died. The Daleks are all over the place, fir to murder the lot of us, and all you can say is you've had a good night's work... Look, I'm telling you this. You and me — we're finished. You're just too callous for me. Anything goes by the board, anything at all... You don't give that much for a living soul except yourself."
"Aye, well, I've not had much exercise lately."
"I tell you, I'm a Highlander, the cold doesn't affect me."
"Let's get out of here. I feel as if something evil is lurking down there."
"It's just a flesh wound, but he's furious, because the army doctor won't let him walk on it."
-- Zoe speaking of Jamie in The Invasion
"I won't forget you, you know."