THE DOCTOR WHO RATINGS GUIDE: BY FANS, FOR FANS
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon
Frazier Hines

Reviews

Great Scots!: Why Jamie is my Favorite Companion by Christine Gravelle 24/4/99

I don't know about anyone else, but I really admire a guy who can run around in kilt while saving the world and still manage to show less skin than the female companions. Jamie McCrimmon is my favourite companion out of all the numerous companions to choose from in the Doctor Who universe. I've noticed that in the episode reviews, everyone has complimented Frazer Hines on his performance as Jamie, but no one has actually taken the time to say why he is so great.

I had grown up with the Third and Fourth Doctors as my representatives of the Doctor Who universe. Being between the ages of four and seven when I watched the show re-runs, I never truly realised the impact of the companions that accompanied my hero (actually, I don't think I aware of a lot at that time of my life). These characters are used as people the audience can actually relate to. When the sci-fi channel in Canada began to show "Doctor Who", I became absorbed in the First incarnation of the Doctor, and then the adventures of the Second Doctor. Out of all of the companions I've seen, there's not one that hits me in the same way. Maybe it's the accent. Maybe it's because I just have a thing for guys in kilts. I'm not sure.

Jamie is most memorable for me because he makes me laugh with his innocence. I admire him for the fact that he is plucked from 1770's Scotland and thrown into totally inconceivable situations, yet still manages to keep his sense of humour and his simple outlook on life. Can you image being from a time where there is no electricity or technology and then travelling through space and time only to go face to face with the Cybermen or the Daleks? The Second Doctor can always count on Jamie to perform a reconnaissance mission or to watch the Doctor's back in a fight. He is loyal, though he doesn't always trust the motives of the Doctor. His sense of humour in light of the situations never fails to bring a smile to my face.

I'm not as fond as the Patrick Troughton seasons as I am the Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker eras, but Jamie McCrimmon keeps me watching. I think it should be mandatory for every Doctor to bring along a Scottish piper from the Highlands on each and every one of the TARDIS Adventures.

A Review by Stuart Gutteridge 8/3/01

It can be argued that Jamie was good for The Doctor`s ego in that when he joined the TARDIS he was literally a boy. And by the time he left he was very definitely a man. The evidence that suggests this would include his relative lack of experience and intelligence, yet his very youthful approach to life. Jamie also kept an open mind, being keen to learn and The Doctor was all too happy to play teacher, which probably explains why they travelled together for so long.

Something else noteworthy of Jamie was also the way he looked out for both Victoria and Zoe in the vein of an older brother. Of course Frazer Hines' longevity in the role played a part in Jamie`s popularity, his relationship with Patrick Troughton as an actor and the fact that he made the part his own.

If Jamie were to have a
GREATEST MOMENT: then it would probably be in The Evil Of The Daleks, where he worked without The Doctor a great deal. With that said though Jamie was certainly more a man of action than a man of words.