The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Jamie McCrimmon (2 of 3)
From the beginning, I had decided that one of my posts for Jamie Day would be a list of reasons why he is such an amazing character. I quickly developed a quite considerable list, but nevertheless began to feel curious and decided to ask others why they are Jamie fans. pimpmytardis, jtree, yaseanne and lo0o0ony_lauren answered my request, beginning an interesting debate on the subject that helped enrich this post, which ranges from the shallow to the deep, and from the silly to the more serious. So, I dedicate this list to them, with all my thanks and appreciation.
1. He is one of the few historical companions.
I'll quote jtree's thoughts on the matter, since she's put it better than I ever could:
"That brings out so many refreshing points about his character: not only is it just glorious to have conceptually such an interesting and geeky reference to an actual real historical event; the bloody battle of Culloden, but the fact that Jamie originated from that dark and ideologically divided (if you can put it like that) point in time&space makes you respect him so much more for standing by the Doctor, following him, ever-curious, to all the other-worldly places, and most of all, Really Embracing such a completely different world that the Doctor brought him into. It was all so much more different to him than it was to the other companions. (For example, they'll naturally think it's so *weird* that 'it's bigger on the inside'; try being that surprised with absolutely Everything, starting from simple electricity to indoor toilets!) Compared to the earthy life of his home the existence of all that technology could have scared anyone witless or induced them to worship through fear and wonder. Jamie however retained his ever-practical and even almost sarcastic attitude; yet he was completely open-minded towards the strangeness he encountered."
2. He is smarter than people give him credit for.
Due to the fact that he is usually driven by his heart, people tend to dismiss Jamie as someone who is not very bright. Sometimes even his friends seem to regard him that way, I'm afraid:
Of course, knowing the Doctor, he was probably just taking the mickey. But anyway.
This could not be further from the truth. Jamie is actually exceptionally intelligent, and has a great ability to understand and assimilate information. Sure, he's not as intelligent as the Doctor or Zoe, but since he's a Time Lord and she's a genius they hardly count, do they?
Again, we should consider where he comes from and the life he had before his travels with the Doctor. It is impressive that a nearly illiterate 18th-century Scottish piper, raised in a world of religion and superstition, has managed to accept so easily the existence of other worlds and embrace a life of travelling in time and space. In fact, his upbringing is perhaps his greatest strength when it comes to such a life; being less academically-driven and more intuitive than the Doctor or Zoe, he has a different perspective and a different sort of wisdom than they have, providing a valuable aid when their methods fail.
Again, I quote jtree on this: "Clearly, he was an exceptional person; remarkably clever, though utterly lacking the benefit of higher education, and still, he criticized and advised the Doctor just as any other, and often with a good reason. And that truly wild leap in advancement and broadening of mind is certainly something that makes his character's journey with the Doctor all the more awesome and special."
By the way: that idea Jamie had? It worked. As always.
3. It doesn't matter who plays him, how old he is or if he's made of pixels or flesh and blood - he will always be a total hottie.
True, it feels weird to see Hamish Wilson playing Jamie, but that's because a) he's not Frazer and b) that was a really bizarre situation. Personally, I think Hamish did a great job under the circumstances. And you have to admit he IS cute.
4. He has cute knees.
5. He was rather fond of the ladies.
Okay, I put those caps as a joke. He actually is fond of them, even if he occasionally reacts with some awkwardness around them, and it's endearing to see him act like a regular, hormonal teenager. It becomes particularly interesting after the Faceless Ones/Evil of the Daleks serials, where he "discovers" miniskirts (true, Polly always wore them around him, but he never seemed to notice it; maybe he was just pretending not to for Ben's sake) and becomes fascinated with girls' legs.
Of course, that's not the only part of the female anatomy that seems to fascinate him:
*grins* Naughty Jamie...
6. He runs like a car with faulty breaks in a very... erm, unique way.
Really. Have you ever seen him run? Funniest. Thing. Ever.
7. He has the most disarming smile.
Actually, this is not really a good thing; someone other than him would take advantage of such a power with disastrous results.
For instance, there was that time when he told Zoe and Isobel that men are superior to women, and then did this:
Gah.
It should be noted that they were still mad at him. However, I'm sure that the smile stopped them from giving him a well-deserved slap.
8. He has the ability to sleep anywhere, at any time.
This might annoy Zoe, but you have to admit it's a really adorable thing to see.
9. He dreams about unicorns.
10. "Oh, aye."
Being intelligent doesn't mean you have to understand everything; it is not necessary to know how a TARDIS works to know it travels through time and space, or the way the mechanism in a ray gun operates to know how to use it. Jamie might love his friends, but he has little patience for their technobabble talk, and is aware that, if he shows his confusion when they get carried away, this will only make them talk more and complicate things even further. Therefore, he pretends to understand their explanations by dismissing it with an "Oh, aye,” nod politely and wait for them to stop. Overall, a much more pleasant way of shushing them that I would ever do.
11. He is a master of disguise.
The Doctor taught him this particular skill, by the way:
The telesnaps are not very clear, but it should be taken into consideration that Jamie's newspaper not only is in German, but it's upside-down.
12. He is a musician.
Because of where he was and what he was doing when the Doctor first met him, the general idea people have is that he is, first and foremost, a warrior. Nope. He is the last in a long dynasty of pipers, and got himself involved in the Jacobite rebellion due to his beliefs and to his loyalty to his Laird. Before anything else, he is a musician.
Sadly, we don't get to see him play the bagpipes onscreen, apart from a very short moment in The Highlanders, but it's not hard to imagine him jamming with the Doctor in between adventures - after all, he happens to be travelling with the most musical of all the Doctors so far (remember the recorder?). We do get to see occasional glimpses of his love for music, though, like when he invents the "Highland Fling" in The Macra Terror, when he dances with the girls in The Evil of the Daleks (though to be honest, I think he was more interested in staring at their legs) or when he fawns over his iPod little radio in The Invasion.
In fact, that last one can also be seen as the one time his normally infallible instincts did not show him something was wrong, as he got so excited with his shiny new toy that he refused to believe that a man nice enough to give him a radio could ever be evil. Luckily, this didn't last long.
13. The accent.
Rawr.
14. Evil!Jamie is absolutely adorkable.
The only thing he and evil!Zoe need is a top hat and a moustache, since they already have the manic grin and know just how to rub their hands the evil way.
15. Two/Jamie is love.
It's impossible not to love the relationship between Jamie and the Doctor. They bicker, argue, poke fun of each other... and totally adore and respect each other as well. Their mutual respect and affection is heartwarming, and their great chemistry is just amazing to watch.
To quote yaseanne: "He's the kind of companion the Doctor needs - someone who goes along with him, can help him out when he's confronted with his own weaknesses, and who makes fun of him when he's being existential."
Also, from lo0o0ony_lauren: "I find it pretty much impossible to imagine a situation in which they would have left one another. They're absolutely two halves of the same coin."
One of my favourite Two/Jamie moments comes from the elevator scene in The Invasion, in which Jamie calls the Doctor "a clever wee chappie." The way he says it, even more than the actual words, sums up all the affection he has for the Doctor.
Here's the scene, which yaseanne was kind enough to put on YouTube just for this post. The line is at the end of the clip.
Besides, they just can't seem to manage to keep their hands off each other.
If you want more, here's one of the best Two/Jamie vids I've ever seen: clarrisani's All About Us:
16. Even after all this time, the Doctor still mentions him.
Here are some examples:
While suffering from post-regeneration trauma, the Fifth Doctor mistakes Adric with Jamie. Later, the Sixth Doctor will do the same with Peri.
And let's not forget Six's famous line: "I seem to remember I was always rather fond of Jamie."
Also, there's the Tenth Doctor using the name "James McCrimmon" as an alias - which leads me to...
17. "Smith. Doctor John Smith."
It was Jamie who first came up with the Doctor's most famous alias, which he still uses to this day, possibly in memory of his lost friend.
18. Two and Jamie's seeming inability to age.
I am reminded of something Frazer once said: "I was enjoying myself so much, that I would say that if Patrick was still alive now, and haven’t had this... his wife telling him to leave, and my agent telling me to leave, we’d still be there now."
Seeing them together in The Two Doctors, I have the feeling this would indeed have been possible...
19. "Creag an Tuire!"
Every companion should have their own battle cry. Contrary to what Frazer tries to convince us in the Mind Robber audio commentaries, "Creag an Tuire" does NOT mean "Vodka & Tonic" - it's actually the McLaren clan's motto, and it stands for "The Boar's Rock."
And, last but definitely not least...
20. The kilt.
Yes, I have a kilt fetish. Why do you ask?
1. He is one of the few historical companions.
I'll quote jtree's thoughts on the matter, since she's put it better than I ever could:
"That brings out so many refreshing points about his character: not only is it just glorious to have conceptually such an interesting and geeky reference to an actual real historical event; the bloody battle of Culloden, but the fact that Jamie originated from that dark and ideologically divided (if you can put it like that) point in time&space makes you respect him so much more for standing by the Doctor, following him, ever-curious, to all the other-worldly places, and most of all, Really Embracing such a completely different world that the Doctor brought him into. It was all so much more different to him than it was to the other companions. (For example, they'll naturally think it's so *weird* that 'it's bigger on the inside'; try being that surprised with absolutely Everything, starting from simple electricity to indoor toilets!) Compared to the earthy life of his home the existence of all that technology could have scared anyone witless or induced them to worship through fear and wonder. Jamie however retained his ever-practical and even almost sarcastic attitude; yet he was completely open-minded towards the strangeness he encountered."
2. He is smarter than people give him credit for.
Due to the fact that he is usually driven by his heart, people tend to dismiss Jamie as someone who is not very bright. Sometimes even his friends seem to regard him that way, I'm afraid:
Click to viewOf course, knowing the Doctor, he was probably just taking the mickey. But anyway.
This could not be further from the truth. Jamie is actually exceptionally intelligent, and has a great ability to understand and assimilate information. Sure, he's not as intelligent as the Doctor or Zoe, but since he's a Time Lord and she's a genius they hardly count, do they?
Again, we should consider where he comes from and the life he had before his travels with the Doctor. It is impressive that a nearly illiterate 18th-century Scottish piper, raised in a world of religion and superstition, has managed to accept so easily the existence of other worlds and embrace a life of travelling in time and space. In fact, his upbringing is perhaps his greatest strength when it comes to such a life; being less academically-driven and more intuitive than the Doctor or Zoe, he has a different perspective and a different sort of wisdom than they have, providing a valuable aid when their methods fail.
Again, I quote jtree on this: "Clearly, he was an exceptional person; remarkably clever, though utterly lacking the benefit of higher education, and still, he criticized and advised the Doctor just as any other, and often with a good reason. And that truly wild leap in advancement and broadening of mind is certainly something that makes his character's journey with the Doctor all the more awesome and special."
By the way: that idea Jamie had? It worked. As always.
3. It doesn't matter who plays him, how old he is or if he's made of pixels or flesh and blood - he will always be a total hottie.
True, it feels weird to see Hamish Wilson playing Jamie, but that's because a) he's not Frazer and b) that was a really bizarre situation. Personally, I think Hamish did a great job under the circumstances. And you have to admit he IS cute.
4. He has cute knees.
5. He was rather fond of the ladies.
Okay, I put those caps as a joke. He actually is fond of them, even if he occasionally reacts with some awkwardness around them, and it's endearing to see him act like a regular, hormonal teenager. It becomes particularly interesting after the Faceless Ones/Evil of the Daleks serials, where he "discovers" miniskirts (true, Polly always wore them around him, but he never seemed to notice it; maybe he was just pretending not to for Ben's sake) and becomes fascinated with girls' legs.
Of course, that's not the only part of the female anatomy that seems to fascinate him:
*grins* Naughty Jamie...
6. He runs like a car with faulty breaks in a very... erm, unique way.
Really. Have you ever seen him run? Funniest. Thing. Ever.
7. He has the most disarming smile.
Actually, this is not really a good thing; someone other than him would take advantage of such a power with disastrous results.
For instance, there was that time when he told Zoe and Isobel that men are superior to women, and then did this:
Gah.
It should be noted that they were still mad at him. However, I'm sure that the smile stopped them from giving him a well-deserved slap.
8. He has the ability to sleep anywhere, at any time.
This might annoy Zoe, but you have to admit it's a really adorable thing to see.
9. He dreams about unicorns.
10. "Oh, aye."
Being intelligent doesn't mean you have to understand everything; it is not necessary to know how a TARDIS works to know it travels through time and space, or the way the mechanism in a ray gun operates to know how to use it. Jamie might love his friends, but he has little patience for their technobabble talk, and is aware that, if he shows his confusion when they get carried away, this will only make them talk more and complicate things even further. Therefore, he pretends to understand their explanations by dismissing it with an "Oh, aye,” nod politely and wait for them to stop. Overall, a much more pleasant way of shushing them that I would ever do.
11. He is a master of disguise.
The Doctor taught him this particular skill, by the way:
The telesnaps are not very clear, but it should be taken into consideration that Jamie's newspaper not only is in German, but it's upside-down.
12. He is a musician.
Because of where he was and what he was doing when the Doctor first met him, the general idea people have is that he is, first and foremost, a warrior. Nope. He is the last in a long dynasty of pipers, and got himself involved in the Jacobite rebellion due to his beliefs and to his loyalty to his Laird. Before anything else, he is a musician.
Sadly, we don't get to see him play the bagpipes onscreen, apart from a very short moment in The Highlanders, but it's not hard to imagine him jamming with the Doctor in between adventures - after all, he happens to be travelling with the most musical of all the Doctors so far (remember the recorder?). We do get to see occasional glimpses of his love for music, though, like when he invents the "Highland Fling" in The Macra Terror, when he dances with the girls in The Evil of the Daleks (though to be honest, I think he was more interested in staring at their legs) or when he fawns over his iPod little radio in The Invasion.
In fact, that last one can also be seen as the one time his normally infallible instincts did not show him something was wrong, as he got so excited with his shiny new toy that he refused to believe that a man nice enough to give him a radio could ever be evil. Luckily, this didn't last long.
13. The accent.
Rawr.
14. Evil!Jamie is absolutely adorkable.
The only thing he and evil!Zoe need is a top hat and a moustache, since they already have the manic grin and know just how to rub their hands the evil way.
15. Two/Jamie is love.
It's impossible not to love the relationship between Jamie and the Doctor. They bicker, argue, poke fun of each other... and totally adore and respect each other as well. Their mutual respect and affection is heartwarming, and their great chemistry is just amazing to watch.
To quote yaseanne: "He's the kind of companion the Doctor needs - someone who goes along with him, can help him out when he's confronted with his own weaknesses, and who makes fun of him when he's being existential."
Also, from lo0o0ony_lauren: "I find it pretty much impossible to imagine a situation in which they would have left one another. They're absolutely two halves of the same coin."
One of my favourite Two/Jamie moments comes from the elevator scene in The Invasion, in which Jamie calls the Doctor "a clever wee chappie." The way he says it, even more than the actual words, sums up all the affection he has for the Doctor.
Here's the scene, which yaseanne was kind enough to put on YouTube just for this post. The line is at the end of the clip.
Besides, they just can't seem to manage to keep their hands off each other.
If you want more, here's one of the best Two/Jamie vids I've ever seen: clarrisani's All About Us:
16. Even after all this time, the Doctor still mentions him.
Here are some examples:
While suffering from post-regeneration trauma, the Fifth Doctor mistakes Adric with Jamie. Later, the Sixth Doctor will do the same with Peri.
And let's not forget Six's famous line: "I seem to remember I was always rather fond of Jamie."
Also, there's the Tenth Doctor using the name "James McCrimmon" as an alias - which leads me to...
17. "Smith. Doctor John Smith."
It was Jamie who first came up with the Doctor's most famous alias, which he still uses to this day, possibly in memory of his lost friend.
18. Two and Jamie's seeming inability to age.
I am reminded of something Frazer once said: "I was enjoying myself so much, that I would say that if Patrick was still alive now, and haven’t had this... his wife telling him to leave, and my agent telling me to leave, we’d still be there now."
Seeing them together in The Two Doctors, I have the feeling this would indeed have been possible...
19. "Creag an Tuire!"
Every companion should have their own battle cry. Contrary to what Frazer tries to convince us in the Mind Robber audio commentaries, "Creag an Tuire" does NOT mean "Vodka & Tonic" - it's actually the McLaren clan's motto, and it stands for "The Boar's Rock."
And, last but definitely not least...
20. The kilt.
Yes, I have a kilt fetish. Why do you ask?