#james robert mccrimmon

[nileqt87]

Jamie McCrimmon in Tales of the TARDIS

The most special thing that's come out of Doctor Who in years. But the most important return for me will always be Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon. I want him back in a full episode. His story is so rich for a return that could only involve the Doctor (and/or the TARDIS), as well as not only having clear parallels to Donna Noble's mind wipe, but also being the Classic companion who most meant it that he'd never have left the Doctor willingly and would've followed him until the end.

For the record, this Jamie was the inspiration for Jamie Fraser (note the actor's first name being Frazer) in Outlander, as The War Games (my favorite Classic serial) was what Diana Gabaldon was watching when she came up with her idea, which is arguably Doctor Who fanfiction that 'ships time-traveling highlander Jamie McCrimmon with that serial's WWI nurse, Lady Jennifer. Frazer Hines is well aware of being the inspiration and even cameo'd.

Jamie was not only the longest-serving companion in Doctor Who history (yes, even more episodes than the Brigadier, though Sarah Jane beats him with her spinoff) with his 116 episodes (1966-1969, 1983 and 1985) and this short (2023), but he's also one of the greatest examples of the Doctor's closest and most-beloved companions not necessarily being chosen for being the most "equal" (the idea that companions from humble or easily-belittled beginnings like Jamie, Jo, Leela, Rose, Donna, etc…, who all struggled with insecurity over their worth due to their backgrounds, are his intellectual inferiors and thus not as worthy or appropriate as non-human companions like Romana or River, or even human genius Zoe here, for the Doctor to love--which is an insult to the Doctor and what he fell in love with humanity for), but for being the most human, genuine, loyal and loving as well as brave. This is one thing that Russell T Davies understood so well and Steven Moffat didn't quite get.

Jamie was hardly afraid to call the Doctor out when he disagreed or thought the Doctor had callously gone too far, by the way. Just watch/listen to The Evil of the Daleks for that, which is where the Doctor manipulates Jamie's very humanity to get him to rescue Victoria from the Daleks along with him being the source of the "human factor" used to create human-Dalek hybrids. Jamie's desperate, heartbroken, unrequited reaction (sadly, reduced to just audio, which captures the sound of a kiss) to Victoria's departure likewise puts to bed the idea that sentimental emotionalism and the Doctor dealing with companion reactions at their most human began in the Russell T Davies era.

Jamie certainly was more of a skirt chaser, albeit quite innocent, than you'd assume would be depicted in Classic Who! As much as Ian and Barbara, and then Ben and Polly, were depicted as couples in the TARDIS, they never got such an explicit declaration of feelings as Jamie's in Fury from the Deep.

Jo is the Classic companion who arguably admitted to having feelings for the Doctor himself, describing Cliff Jones as a younger version of the Doctor for why she's choosing him. These shorts allude to this moment as well, though frame it in retrospect as Jo having chosen Cliff over the Doctor, despite her arguably having more of a basis for feelings towards the Doctor than Sarah Jane in School Reunion and her inability to move on (highlighted beautifully when she walked down the aisle alone after her wedding day betrayal, only to be comforted by the Doctor, not to mention her adopting all the children she never had), which made her a mirror to Rose's future. Jo is thus a mirror to Sarah Jane as the companion arguably in love with the Doctor in a not-so-platonic way who moved on and found real love vs. one who didn't move on until it was too late, and who was likewise a mirror to Rose, who is famous for being the companion most explicitly in love with the Doctor to the extent that her moving on involved ending up with the Doctor's Metacrisis (but ultimately choosing him, their daughter Mia and a human life over the Eighth and Eleventh Doctors in Empire of the Wolf).

The Second Doctor's favoritism of Jamie extended so far as to go back for him (quite rare for the Doctor) when he was forced to work for the Time Lord Celestial Intervention Agency (season 6b, which isn't so much a theory anymore) and the reaction towards Jamie was probably the most cuddly and warm the Sixth Doctor (to the extent that the turbulent relationship with Peri got a little better for that one serial because of Jamie's presence) sadly ever got on screen before Big Finish salvaged the era. Jamie always brings out of the best in the Doctor and what the Doctor loves humanity the most for.

That Frazer Hines was so genuinely close to Patrick Troughton in real life (they were quite the mischievous pair, often sneaking gags in past the censors in addition to their pranks!) comes across so beautifully in every voice impression of his old friend and through his portrayal of Jamie whose love for and wish to have never left the Doctor is unquestionable.

Obviously, there was that fear of what he had left to return to, but also his belief that he needed to be there to protect the Doctor, which he always took it upon himself to do. Jamie would no doubt get along very well with the Brigadier (whose first story was with Jamie), Leela and Ace in their willingness towards protective violence, not to mention Ian and Rory often facing having to fill that role a little more reluctantly. And most of all, one of the deepest, most-loving friendships among Doctor and companion. Yes, there is exactly one iteration of the Doctor whose closest, most-favorite companion (that tendency towards favoritism was already there) was unambiguously not any of the female ones and was an even firmer break from the Doctor's old model of replacing his granddaughter with a relationship that felt far more like friends/partners in crime with a hint of fatherliness or mad uncle. And of course, this twin mop-topped Odd Couple fit in nowhere. Jamie was as out-of-place and "alien" as the Doctor wherever the TARDIS landed.

And given where he was sent back to by the Time Lords, his future without his memories looked pretty dire. His immediate return involved being being shot at, hanged, put on a slave ship by the Redcoats or fleeing to France--which was the context of his situation when the Doctor saved his life and he walked into the TARDIS when he was a piper from the Battle of Culloden in 1746 who could neither swim or read, and who was as likely to call an airplane a "flying beastie" as calling a Cyberman "the Phantom Piper", and then was returned to that sans all memories but for his first adventure before entering the TARDIS.

Obviously, Russell T Davies has given Jamie quite a happier ending than his tragic comic fate in The World Shapers in which old Jamie has finally gotten his memories back, but his family (he married Kirsty McLaren, daughter of the laird whom he was a humble, orphaned piper for, from The Highlanders) has abandoned him over it and he rapidly ages to death in sacrifice. The Tenth Doctor also had a comic companion named Heather McCrimmon (descended from those five daughters, but still retains the surname!) who still carried her ancestor's Artron radiation energy from the TARDIS. I would love to see Jamie meet Heather, who would be awesome to see realized on screen.

#doctor who #jamie mccrimmon #frazer hines #the doctor #second doctor #patrick troughton #tales of the tardis #james robert mccrimmon #zoe heriot #victoria waterfield #jamie x victoria #russell t davies #tenth doctor #rose tyler #donna noble #jo grant #jo jones #sarah jane smith #sixth doctor #peri brown #leela of the sevateem #ace mcshane #ian chesterton #barbara wright #ben jackson #polly wright #the brigadier #brigadier alistair gordon lethbridge stewart #rory williams #tardis

[yesjamieitisabigone]

Another practice using Jamie

#jamie mccrimmon #james Robert mccrimmon #Frazer Hines #classic dw #classic who #my art #doodle

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

There’s something about himbo from the past who’s at least a little bit in love with to doctor that makes such a good formula for a companion

#this is (of course) about Jamie and fitz #love those two #jamie mccrimmon #fitz kreiner #doctor who #james robert mccrimmon #dw #second doctor #eighth doctor #classic who

[mangyoasas]

men named 'james' are the most babygirl ever

#james robert mccrimmon #james evan wilson #with their big brown doe eyes #and fluffy brown hair #love them #my baby girls #house md #classic who #doctor who #2nd doctor

[holmes-ja]

#“...But I didn't realise it.” #JAMES ROBERT MCCRIMMON YOU CANNOT JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT AND EXPECT ME TO BE OKAY #doctor who #tales of the tardis #jamie maccrimmon #zoe heriot #2nd doctor #the mind robber #anyway go watch the mind robber it's good #though not my personal favourite 2nd doctor serial #though i'm not finished watching them all yet

[the--highlanders]

actually I am going to talk about jamie not being able to shoot the zombie in the age of ambition like. he's holding a gun. he's faced with something which is human-shaped but no longer a human, which is actively posing a threat to him and his friends. and he just freezes. he can't do anything.

and we never see jamie shying away from combat with non-human/non-humanoid enemies. he's happy enough to destroy the quarks, for instance. and he'll get into fights with humans/humanoid beings if it's non-lethal. but he actively turns down weapons when he gets into a fight with one of the gonds. the most we ever see him do is swordfight with trask at the end of the highlanders. and even there, he doesn't actively /kill/ - he pushes trask overboard. clearly that's not a death sentence, seeing as ben had already survived the same swim back to shore. and if trask does end up dying? jamie won't necessarily know about it. he's not directly responsible.

so I just think. jamie, who never killed anyone in the war. jamie, who's a piper, who's a musician rather than a soldier. he's not unable to fight, because he duels trask, and he's not afraid to threaten people, because he holds two and ben and polly at knifepoint. he's not naive, because he stands at the window and watches alexander die. but he's never killed anyone himself. jamie, who's consumed with survivor's guilt, always wondering if he should have done more, if his cowardice ever condemned someone else to death - but also always knowing that he could never have done it, being sickened by the part of him that feels guilty for having no blood on his hands.

jamie, who looks into the eyes of something that's not even human anymore, and can't look away, and can't pull the trigger.

and what does that do to him, then? months, maybe a year after he's left his war behind? he stands there with a weapon in his hands and he can't bring himself to defend two of the people he loves most in the world. victoria has to grab the gun out of his hands and do it for him. this young girl who he's fiercely protective of has to shoot someone, all because he can't. there's blood on her hands, now, and none on his. he wishes he could have been the one to take that shot, to carry that burden for her, and even then he can't help but hate himself for wishing. he's trapped there forever. the feeling goes round and round in circles and it never ever goes away.

#second doctor #hi i'm so normal about him <3 #you could definitely also swing it as jamie having killed people in the war & being unable to stomach doing it again! #this is just my interpretation #i'm also aware much of this is down to. this is a family show we can't kill humanoid characters ahfjshfjd #however. have you considered i love to overthink about james robert mccrimmon <3 #anyway i genuinely think jamie has a massive influence on the doctor's morality and desire to avoid killing #throughout all their lives really #because one and two are so much more. relaxed about that ig. than later doctors. #whereas jamie is. this. #like that whole bit in the novelisation of the abominable snowmen #where he talks the monks down from killing songsen by saying there's been enough bloodshed #that's something that the doctor could have done. will do so many times over. #i just think that every time a later doctor does something like that. there's a little bit of jamie in there. #a little bit of someone very traumatised who they loved very much #& like jamie's refusal to shoot in the age of ambition. the doctor's pacifism can sometimes veer into unhelpful extremes #especially later. maybe when their memory of jamie gets more warped and distant idk. #does this even make sense idk it's 1:30am and i don't have my glasses on

[ibroughtyoumybullets-ningy]

who is your favorite companion (other than rose or donna)

well. i mean.

it's hard to say. i love them all, really.

#ask #it's him. my emotional support scottish highlander. #james robert mccrimmon you'll always be famous to me

[pisshandkerchief]

my favorite thing is when actors who are part of a popular fandom ship know about it and are very opposed to it to the point of borderline homophobia. notable examples include robert sean leonard (wilson, house md), frazer hines (jamie mccrimmon, classic doctor who), and of course the king himself william shatner (james kirk, star trek: the original series). to all of these men I have this to say: girl you did not have to look at him like that. you did this to yourself

[witchofthemidlands]

JAMIE????? J A M I E!!!! JAMIE?!????? JAMIE MCRIMMON?!?! JAMES ROBERT MCCRIMMON JAMIE HOLDING HIS DOCTOR'S RECORDER I AM ON THE GROUND I AM GNAWING THROUGH THE POWER CABLES I AM EATING DRYWALL I AM SCREECHING OH MY GOD JAMIE!!! FRAZER HINES AS JAMIE & IT'S IN CHARACTER THEY ARE GOING TO BE IN CHARACTER

THEY'RE GOING TO REMEMBER HIM THEY HAVE TO 🥹

& ZOE!!!! ZOE <3 ZOE HERIOT!!! WENDY PADBURY AS ZOE HERIOT MY LOVE!! SHE LOOKS GORGEOUS!! LOOK AT HER SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL 🥹 THE SILVER BOB & THE GLITTERY TOP 😍

#jamie mccrimmon #zoe heriot #classic who #frazer hines #wendy padbury #doctor who #whoniverse

[girl-hwat]

wait wait—

you mean to tell me that ben, ben jackson, planned to name one of his kids after jamie?

james robert mccrimmon, jamie, who was born and lived and died two thousand years before, having had years of his life stolen from him, the memory of people he loved, the doctor, victoria, zoe, polly, and ben.

but they remember him. a version of him, that in a way, is dead.

ben remembers him, misses him, and evidence of their love and time together runs around as a son with jamie’s name, even if jamie would never know.

#there’s a special place in my heart for doctor + jamie + ben + polly #that makes my heart so totally sad #and happy in a way #and ben and polly won’t know what happened to him either #i wonder if they would go looking for his grave or something #i could cry #classic who #second doctor #jamie mccrimmon #ben jackson

[hollow-keys]

On one hand, I've found the writing for the Second Doctor Adventures in Beyond War Games and James Robert McCrimmon underwhelming. On the other, it has so much potential for me to chew on and obsess over that I'm along for the ride anyway.

#me 🤝 two: not sure if we like all aspects of these adventures but deciding it's better than the alternative #second doctor adventures #big finish #dweu #second doctor #jamie mccrimmon #📨

[cosmik-homo]

Listening to a companion xhronicles and (Confused, S4 Jamie) going "Rhe doctor owned a special window that showed what was happening outside". Jamie. Jamie. JamesLook into my eyes, James Robert McCrimmon. That's what every window is.

#It's not even out of character is the thing

[jam-the-hologram]

the way I know nothing about classic who and relying on you to tell me who to vote for.

I hope your fave wins!

Please, everyone, 11bountyhunters, vote for James Robert “Jamie” McCrimmon, piper for the McLaren Clan.

Jamie fought in the Battle of Culloden (1746). Aeroplanes and trains are as fantastical as the TARDIS to him. When he went to the moon, he almost immediately knocked himself out by jumping into a crater. He calls Cybermen and Daleks metal beasties. He refused to stop wearing a kilt, even when the TARDIS crew were in the snow. He was a piper, but never actually played bagpipes on the show. He clings to the Doctor whenever possible (and I mean CLING). Victoria, and then when she left the TARDIS, the Doctor, taught him to read. He was very brave and loyal to his friends. He was wise in his own way too. He is (still) the longest running companion with 113 episodes (though many are unfortunately lost).

He suffered a fate like Donna’s when the Time-Lord wiped his and Zoe’s memories and sent them back where they came from as a punishment to the Doctor for his interference. His last words to the Doctor were “I won’t forget you y’know?”. He did.

#Doctor Who #Classic Who #jamie mccrimmon #companion bracket #I literally named myself after him #like he means a lot to me #and he is BADLY losing to Martha currently #jamie actually speaks

[tard1sgays]

do you ever just . james robert mccrimmon.

[reachingforthevoid]

Dr Who: The Wheel in Space

On 15 January 2023, I watched the original episodes 3 and 6, and reconstructed versions of episodes 1, 2, 4 and 5 that involved existing clips from antipodean censors and telesnaps over off-air recordings.

We begin with Jamie in a snit because of Victoria’s departure. While the Doctor also misses her, he attempts to cheer the Highlander up. The rest of the first episode is a bit confusing because so little of it exists, and the audio involves considerable stretches of no speaking. It turns out that we are in a space ship controlled by a robot that is headed at speed towards an Earth-run international space station. The Doctor’s in serious danger, but both he and Jamie are rescued by people on the space station. The TARDIS remains on board the suspicious space ship, which Jamie strives to protect… That brings both he and the unconscious Doctor under suspicion, especially when Jamie destroys the only protection the station has against all sorts of threats. The space station is driven by bureaucracy and Jamie gives his full name as James Robert McCrimmon and gives the Doctor’s name as “John Smith”. Initially they are blamed for other mishaps until the proof becomes incontrovertible: the Cybermen are there, with their wee Cybermats. Interestingly, these humans haven’t heard of either the Cybermen or the Daleks.

Among the station crew, which is reasonably diverse for an international contingent, is Zoe Heriot. At the end of the serial she sneaks on board the TARDIS, and in what I think is a first for the series, is subject to a flashback from an earlier tale in an effort to ensure she understands the risks of travelling with the Doctor (The Evil of the Daleks). Zoe is a genius, specialising in astrophysics and mathematics, and also works in the parapsychology library. There is a lovely point made about the human drive for logic and rational knowledge at the expense of emotions… which is precisely what the Cybermen have done to themselves. Earlier on, Zoe makes a strange comment to Jamie about him wearing “female clothing” — his kilt — yet none of the crew of any gender on the space station wear anything other than trouser suits...

This serial brings us to the end of Dr Who’s fifth season. One curious theme that’s struck me now having watched the seven serials in order is that of the leader who becomes ineffective under pressure. That occurs to greater or lesser degrees, but their failure allows the Doctor to be taken seriously fairly quickly and solve the problems.

#doctor who #the wheel in space #cybermen #cybermats #zoe heriot #doctor john smith

[elendiliel]

“When I say run...”

A wee sketch of the Second Doctor and his most faithful, most awesome companion James Robert McCrimmon. A piper’s son from the eighteenth-century Scottish Highlands, Jamie gets mixed up with the Doctor, Ben and Polly in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden and remains part of the TARDIS crew as long as the Time Lords allow, displaying fierce loyalty, unquestionable courage and sharp wits along the way.

(I accidentally drew the Doctor with the dip-pen brush and decided to roll with it, but switched back to graphite pencil for Jamie; which works better?)

#doctor who #second doctor #jamie mccrimmon #fanart