Jamie

Second Doctor Adventures #2.1

Released: 25 July 2023

Listened: 9/2/23

Having established the Season 6B conceit, it’s time to get Jamie on board. This boxed set is devoted to, and named after, James Robert McCrimmon, making it a bit absurd to name the first story after him as well. The TARDIS lands in Edinburgh, 1776, once again at the direction of the enigmatic Time Lady named Raven. In the manner of CIA agents, she won’t tell him why he’s here. However, a much older Jamie is imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, having revealed his former Jacobite status in a bar fight. He’s not doing well, frequently feverish, and with dreams that are flashbacks, to the Battle of Culloden, to the planet Zeiton, to a time when he was Laird of Clan McCrimmon, and a time where he was mocked for claiming to know the future. It’s a little fuzzy whether those are memories, alternate timelines, or what, and the story doesn’t explain. Since Jamie isn’t supposed to have those memories, it’s clear something is going on, which is where the Doctor comes in. The story is only a two-parter, so there isn’t a ton of time for plot, not when there’s a reunion to arrange. There are also an unusual number of bystanders killed off, which is a bit unusual for this kind of story. Daisy Ashford appears as a medical student, but there doesn’t seem to be any greater significance to that. It’s clear that Frazer Hines bears no ill-will for being replaced as the Second Doctor, but I don’t know what his companion status will be now.