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James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon, son of Donald, piper like his father and his father's father, was one of the longest serving companions to travel with the Doctor and the longest serving male companion to date.
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. Aeroplanes, which he saw at Gatwick, were "flying beasties" 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, got 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)
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, at this time he thought that the Doctor was working with the Daleks to save his own skin. Humanised Daleks and regular Daleks having destroyed each other and with her father, a Dalek collaborator, dead, the Doctor and Jamie "adopted" the young Victoria Waterfield. (DW: The Evil of the Daleks)
Jamie evidenced strong, though unspoken feelings for Victoria, which often showed themselves in his 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 thinking something had happened to the unconscious Victoria, he worriedly exclaimed that he'd never forgive himself if anything had happened to her, getting angry when he thought she had tricked him and had heard his emotional outburst. Jamie was audibly upset when Victoria expressed her intention to stay with the Harrises and tried to get her to change her mind so that she would stay with him and the Doctor. When the Doctor and Jamie left in the TARDIS, he was visibly upset as he watched Victoria on the monitor and stated that he didn't care where they went. (DW: Fury from the Deep) Jamie felt inconsolate 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 when the Doctor failed to put together his facial features correctly in a test. (DW: The Mind Robber)
The return
Finally, Jamie was forced to return to his own time after the Doctor asked the Time Lords to intercede in a situation outside 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 only remember their first adventure with the Doctor, but have no recall of ever travelling with the Doctor in the TARDIS. The Doctor watched Jamie, now back in 1746, come to the realisation of where he was, where he was fired at by a Redcoat, whom he then ran after with a sword, proudly yelling "Creag an tuire!" for the Clan McCrimmon. (DW: The War Games)
Further travels
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, altering Jamie's memories to believe he was still travelling with the Doctor and Victoria, who had in fact left the TARDIS to live out her life on Earth. (PDA: World Game)
Immediately following the Doctor's recruitment into the CIA, Jamie accompanied 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 and Peri appeared and Jamie, wielding a knife, made as to attack him. Subsequently, Jamie helped to rescue "his" Doctor, who had not died at all, gotten captured himself and when this adventure had concluded, left with him his TARDIS. (DW: The Two Doctors)
After this adventure it is believed that Jamie experienced the events on Helicon Prime (CC: Helicon Prime) and possibly several other adventures before being deposited back in the Scotland highlands, his memories altered once more by the Time Lords. (DW: The War Games)
The death of Jamie
When the Sixth Doctor next met him, Jamie lived as an elderly pariah in his village. Jamie had managed (using tricks the Doctor had taught him and because the Time Lords had a less than perfect understanding of the Human mind) to retain memories of his travels. After he told others about them, the locals believed that his wartime experiences had driven him slightly mad. Jamie vindicated himself by vanishing in the TARDIS before the whole village and then helped the Doctor, Peri and Frobisher fight the Cybermen on Marinus. He saved the universe by using his sword to destroy the Worldshaper device, this let out a blast that aged him to death. (DWM: The World Shapers)
Differing accounts exist regarding Jamie's later years. See: The Companion Chronicles
Characteristics
Appearance
Shortly after he met the Doctor, Jamie changed out of his 18th century clothes. But then, after changing initially into a wet suit during the course of an adventure (DW: The Underwater Menace), he began to include more modern clothes in his dress — including a dark turtleneck sweater, a fur-lined, tan leather vest and a laced black shirt. Except when he absolutely needed to do it, as when wearing a space suit (DW: The Moonbase, The Seeds of Death) or sometimes a disguise (DW: The Enemy of the World), Jamie always wore a kilt with a red tartan.
Jamie was often chided for continuing to wear his kilt, even in situations where he'd be too cold in it. (DW: The Abominable Snowmen) And it was sometimes jokingly referred to as a dress or skirt, to which he would take offense. (DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen)
Later, he reverted to his 18th century dress, which included a white ruffled shirt, a black jacket and a tartan sash, when visiting Space Station Chimera. (DW: The Two Doctors). Much later, back in his old time, he let himself grow a long beard and carried a cutlass. (DWM: The World Shapers)
Personality
The Doctor and Zoe both often teased or insulted Jamie about his intelligence. Zoe expressed relief that Jamie hadn't thought of x-rays before her, which would have been "awful" (DW: The Wheel in Space), and the Doctor even suggested that they run away because of Jamie having an idea. (DW: The Abominable Snowmen)
Perhaps typical of his era, Jamie was simple and straightforward, but he was also intelligent and full of common sense. 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 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)
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 didn't always have to find an analogy of the new thing he was seeing, such as comparing Space Station Chimera to "twenty castles in the sky" or calling the Sontarans "knights in armour" or "potato heads". (DW: The Two Doctors). 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, of whom he was very fond.
He encountered many surprises on his travels. Many of these were nice surprises, like finding some bagpipes in the TARDIS, which he planned to mend. (DW: The Abominable Snowmen) 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. (DW: The Mind Robber)
Brave and never one to shirk a fight, it was Jamie who captured a Robot Yeti. (DW: The Abominable Snowmen) Facing danger knowingly, and despite the teasing of Isobel and Zoe, he accompanied them into the sewers of London on their Cyberman hunt. (DW: The Invasion)
Jamie saw the Doctor as a friend, and mentor. He loved to travel, 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. (DW: The Faceless Ones)
Jamie was initially very shy around girls and got awkward in situations where they were forward. In one case, he wanted the ladies, who were primping him, called off because he was afraid of what they might do to him. (DW: The Macra Terror) And when he was being flirted with by girls in a '60s coffee bar wearing plaid miniskirts — to which he exclaimed, "Oh, if only the Laird could see that!" — he hurried back to the Doctor, not comfortable with having been given the difficult task of questioning them, despite the Doctor stating that he was so much better at it than him. (DW: The Evil of the Daleks) However, he seemed intrigued with the short dresses that he had seen the lassies wearing and teased Victoria about whether she saw herself wearing something similar, for which she admonished him for thinking of something like that. (DW: The Ice Warriors) Despite his early shyness, Jamie would flirt with both Victoria and Peri (DW: The Two Doctors), but was always gentlemanly and chivalrous. Jamie apologised when he realised that it was Rapunzel's hair that he had climbed and assured her that he was quickly passing through when she expressed wariness of inviting him inside her castle. (DW: The Mind Robber) Jamie expressed old-fashioned values about the roles of men and women, often seeing it has his duty to protect the ladies, even when they rebuked him with modern concepts of feminism and women's suffrage. (DW: The Invasion, The War Games)
Habits and quirks
Jamie had a habit of pretending to understand technology beyond his ken with a shrug and a feigned nonchalant, "Oh, aye." As noted before, he also tended to invent his own names for things he had never seen before.
After Jamie made to clean himself up after living rough in the ducts of Space Station Chimera, the Doctor unkindly suggested to Jamie that perhaps he could use a bath a bit more often in general. (DW:The Two Doctors)
- This may well have to do with the standards of hygiene in 18th century Scotland rather than a failing of Jamie himself.
He carried a dirk, though he rarely ever used it, and then only in self-defense, as when he stabbed a Sontaran in the leg. (DW: The Mind Robber, The Two Doctors)
He enjoyed a high degree of familiar physical contact, such as friendly shoving, prodding, pulling, climbing on top of or being climbed upon and hugging. When stressed for any reason he would often grab on to his companions for reassurance, with a marked preference for grabbing the Doctor. When no one was available, he would attempt to hold onto himself.
Skills and abilities
Jamie had the ability to sense subconscious mental manipulation while asleep (DW: The Macra Terror) and danger (DW: Fury from the Deep). And of course, the young piper had musical ability, though he rarely displayed it. However, Jamie was seen carrying around his chanter early on and the Doctor wanted him to teach him how to play the bagpipes in return for being invited aboard the TARDIS. (DW: The Highlanders) At one point, he danced the Highland Fling in an attempt to dance out of the room and escape. (DW: The Macra Terror)
Mysteries and discrepancies
- How many other adventures did the Second Doctor and Jamie have after their reunion?
- Did Jamie ever eventually reveal his feelings to Victoria? Or the Doctor?
- Why didn't Jamie appear as one of the Doctor's companions whose death he had caused.
- The Doctor encountered these companions in his own mind. (NA: Timewyrm: Revelation)
Key Life Events
- Fighting the English at Culloden, Jamie meets the Doctor and decides to go travelling with him. (DW: The Highlanders)
- The Time Lords return Jamie to his own time. (DW: The War Games)
- Jamie reunites with the Doctor and has at least one more adventure onboard the TARDIS. (DW: The Two Doctors)
- Decades later, the Doctor asks for Jamie's help. Jamie dies on Marinus defeating the Cybermen. (DWM: The World Shapers)
Quotes
References and minor appearances
- Illusions of Jamie and Zoe appeared before the Second Doctor and the Brigadier in the Death Zone. (DW: The Five Doctors)
- When under the influence of a Dalek mind-draining device, the Fifth Doctor recalled Jamie among other companions. (DW: Resurrection of the Daleks)
- Before she had ever met him, Peri mentioned that the Sixth Doctor had absent-mindedly called her Jamie. (DW: Attack of the Cybermen)
- After this death, a shapeshifting Ganzalum took the form of the youthful Jamie to trick the Seventh Doctor. (DWM: Planet of the Dead)
- Izzy tried on one of Jamie's sweaters and kilts, which she had found in the TARDIS wardrobe. (DWM: Ophidius)
- When introducing himself to Queen Victoria, the Tenth Doctor used the alias Doctor James McCrimmon. (DW: Tooth and Claw)
Behind the scenes
- Jamie joined in the Second Doctor's second adventure and had one of the longest runs of any on-screen companion of the Doctor. Frazer Hines said he played the part as if he had fallen in love with Victoria, though no reference to this ever appeared on-screen.
- Jamie was the first (and for many years, only) television companion to appear in the comic strips.
- Jamie is the first established TV companion to be killed off in licensed spin-off media.
- When, during the making of The Mind Robber, Frazer Hines fell ill, Hamish Wilson, who looked very unlike him, filled in for him. The justification for this formed part of the plot of the story. A persistent myth describes the latter actor as Frazer Hines' cousin, however, according to the episode notes for The Mind Robber, this is a myth. However, Frazer's brother Ian Hines has a small background role in the story.
- Jamie would have also had had a cameo in The Three Doctors, except that Frazer Hines had prior work commitments.
- Jamie's supposed death occurred in The World Shapers comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine. Comic strips are of uncertain canoncity and as such may be contradicted by other productions. Since the Jamie depicted in The World Shapers is considerably older than the Jamie expected to be featured in the 2010 audio dramas, unless he's killed off in those productions the fate depicted in The World Shapers may still occur.
- It was confirmed in DWM Issue 412 that Frazer Hines would be joining Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor as Jamie as a companion in several upcoming Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Dramas.
External links