Read Online Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants by Andy Frankham-Allen - Free Book Online
Authors: Andy Frankham-Allen
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of protective big brother. Jamie seems to hold a torch for her, as most clearly seen in The Enemy of the World after Victoria makes a disparaging remark about the future fashion of women’s clothing, and Jamie suggests that she would look good in such garb herself with a solicitous smirk. This on its own could just be a case of Jamie’s typical playfulness with those he is close to, but when coupled with his sadness when Victoria elects to remain on Earth in the 1970s it suggests something a little more. He tries to convince her to remain, and has a difficult time expressing his sadness to the Doctor, instead appearing gruff, until the Doctor points out that he too will miss her.
After leaving Victoria behind, the Doctor and Jamie find themselves in the twenty-first century ( The Wheel in Space ). It is in this story that Jamie first attributes the name ‘John Smith’ to the Doctor, having read it on a piece of medical equipment. While the Doctor is rendered unconscious Jamie is introduced to astrophysicist Zoe Herriot. It takes Jamie a while to warm to Zoe. He finds her too intelligent for her own good; with her ‘big brain’ she often laughs at his lesser intelligence, calling his kilt a ‘skirt’ and making snide comments. Zoe and Jamie soon settle into a friendly bickering relationship characterised by Jamie’s usual protectiveness and Zoe’s bossiness. His more simple thinking often wins out over Zoe’s logic.
During his travels with the Doctor, Jamie grows a lot, both emotionally and intellectually. By the time of The War Games, Jamie is quite willing to work with a redcoat to escape the prisoners’ camp, the one-time sworn enemy of the highlanders. After some years travelling together, Jamie remains convinced that the Doctor hasn’t betrayed the rebels, even though he appears to have allied himself with the War Chief, an old Time Lord acquaintance in The War Games . At the end of this adventure, the Doctor is left with no choice but to call his own people, and is ready to part company with Jamie and Zoe, fearing for their safety if the Time Lords catch up with them. Jamie doesn’t care about the danger – he will not leave the Doctor’s side.
Such is his loyalty to the Doctor that Jamie insists they attempt an escape from the Time Lords. He is angered by the Time Lord’s insistence that he and Zoe must leave. It is only the Doctor’s sad certainty that convinces Jamie that his adventures truly must end. A sad farewell follows, in which Jamie states that he will never forget the Doctor – not knowing that his memory is soon to be wiped by the Time Lords.
Jamie appears to return in The Five Doctors in 1983, although he, like Zoe, is only a phantom, an illusion created by the force of Rassilon’s will. His appearance serves to help the Doctor solve a problem, since Jamie remembers the Brigadier, which is clearly impossible since his memory was wiped. How the Doctor could remember this wasn’t going to be explored for some time, although the 1986 adventure The Two Doctors would provide clues. Although Jamie is returned to his own time, with only the memory of his first adventure with the Doctor remaining, he does return – sixteen years later! In The Two Doctors , Jamie and the Doctor appear to still be travelling together, both having aged considerably. The Doctor is seen to be working for the Time Lords, a fact fully known to Jamie. The familiar loyalty is evident, but now they have become very firm friends, much more so than they ever were when they were originally travelling together. There is no indication of how long they have been travelling together or indeed why (such explanations are bountiful in the Expanded Universe material). It is, however, clear that the Sixth Doctor remembers his extra journeys with Jamie since he shows no surprise at his older appearance, or at the fact that his own second incarnation has grey hair. While stranded on Station Camera, believing the Doctor to be dead,
After leaving Victoria behind, the Doctor and Jamie find themselves in the twenty-first century ( The Wheel in Space ). It is in this story that Jamie first attributes the name ‘John Smith’ to the Doctor, having read it on a piece of medical equipment. While the Doctor is rendered unconscious Jamie is introduced to astrophysicist Zoe Herriot. It takes Jamie a while to warm to Zoe. He finds her too intelligent for her own good; with her ‘big brain’ she often laughs at his lesser intelligence, calling his kilt a ‘skirt’ and making snide comments. Zoe and Jamie soon settle into a friendly bickering relationship characterised by Jamie’s usual protectiveness and Zoe’s bossiness. His more simple thinking often wins out over Zoe’s logic.
During his travels with the Doctor, Jamie grows a lot, both emotionally and intellectually. By the time of The War Games, Jamie is quite willing to work with a redcoat to escape the prisoners’ camp, the one-time sworn enemy of the highlanders. After some years travelling together, Jamie remains convinced that the Doctor hasn’t betrayed the rebels, even though he appears to have allied himself with the War Chief, an old Time Lord acquaintance in The War Games . At the end of this adventure, the Doctor is left with no choice but to call his own people, and is ready to part company with Jamie and Zoe, fearing for their safety if the Time Lords catch up with them. Jamie doesn’t care about the danger – he will not leave the Doctor’s side.
Such is his loyalty to the Doctor that Jamie insists they attempt an escape from the Time Lords. He is angered by the Time Lord’s insistence that he and Zoe must leave. It is only the Doctor’s sad certainty that convinces Jamie that his adventures truly must end. A sad farewell follows, in which Jamie states that he will never forget the Doctor – not knowing that his memory is soon to be wiped by the Time Lords.
Jamie appears to return in The Five Doctors in 1983, although he, like Zoe, is only a phantom, an illusion created by the force of Rassilon’s will. His appearance serves to help the Doctor solve a problem, since Jamie remembers the Brigadier, which is clearly impossible since his memory was wiped. How the Doctor could remember this wasn’t going to be explored for some time, although the 1986 adventure The Two Doctors would provide clues. Although Jamie is returned to his own time, with only the memory of his first adventure with the Doctor remaining, he does return – sixteen years later! In The Two Doctors , Jamie and the Doctor appear to still be travelling together, both having aged considerably. The Doctor is seen to be working for the Time Lords, a fact fully known to Jamie. The familiar loyalty is evident, but now they have become very firm friends, much more so than they ever were when they were originally travelling together. There is no indication of how long they have been travelling together or indeed why (such explanations are bountiful in the Expanded Universe material). It is, however, clear that the Sixth Doctor remembers his extra journeys with Jamie since he shows no surprise at his older appearance, or at the fact that his own second incarnation has grey hair. While stranded on Station Camera, believing the Doctor to be dead,
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