City of Spires (Simon Bovey)

In August 2009 Big Finish Productions announced that Frazer Hines would be reprising the role of Jamie McCrimmon and that he would be joining the Colin Baker, as the Sixth Doctor, for four brand new adventures.

Jamie accompanied the Second Doctor in his travels on television between 1966 and 1969. He was forced to part company with the Second Doctor, and fellow companion Zoe Heriot, in the 1969 story "The War Games" with his memories of his time in the TARDIS wiped. He did, however, return briefly alongside the Second and Sixth Doctors in the 1985 story "The Two Doctors". As revealed by Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs ‘Naturally that presents some gargantuan continuity issues to consider, but never fear, we know what we’re doing!’

Three of these stories, comprising a season of full-cast plays, would be released between April and June 2010, while the fourth would be a tie-in Companion Chronicle story, "The Emperor of Eternity" which was released in March 2010, is performed by Frazer Hines, as Jamie, alongside Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield.

Sixth Doctor

This Sixth Doctor and Jamie Trilogy started in April 2010 with "City of Spires", in which the two travellers are reunited on the moors in Scotland, where all is not as it should be... This debut Doctor Who script by Simon Bovey guest stars Georgia Moffett (who played Jenny in "The Doctor's Daughter" and Cassie Rice in the animated adventure "Dreamland") as Alice. Also starring are: Richard Earl, James Albrecht, Russell Floyd, Sam Graham, Charlie Ross and John Banks. Directed by Nicholas Briggs this story was recorded on the 12th and 13th October 2009.

‘"City of Spires" brings us back to the highlands’, explains Frazer Hines. ‘That’s great, that was Jamie’s kind of era, much more so than a space-station or an alien planet’.

Jamie McCrimmon

And so in this story we find him in his element, fighting redcoats rather than Cybermen! But it is not long before he meets the Sixth Doctor who discovers that Jamie is now a rough, tough highlander called Black Donald - but The Doctor knows who he really is. They grudgingly bond together, and towards the end of this first story, Jamie accepts The Doctor as someone who can be trusted.

 ‘Although they say he’s older, he could be any age’, Frazer has revealed. ‘I’m sort of playing him as a slightly older version of the Jamie we know and love - there’s nothing in the script that suggests how much time has passed. And as soon as I read Jamie’s lines, I automatically switched back to 40 years ago, when I really was roaming round in the TARDIS!’

This story though is not the first time that Frazer Hines has reprised his famous role. He returned to the television series twice; "The Five Doctors" in 1983, playing a cameo role, and "The Two Doctors" in 1985, where he played the part of Jamie alongside both the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker). He has also narrated several Companion Chronicles plays as Jamie over the last few years – but this is his first full-cast audio play as Jamie, and it seems it was an experience enjoyed.

On the Back Cover:

Arriving in a hail of musket fire, The Doctor unexpectedly finds himself in the highlands of Scotland, where the ruthless Black Donald and his band of rebels are fighting the Redcoats. But the highland warriors no longer fight for the Jacobite cause and the English officers answer only to the mysterious Overlord. What has happened to Scotland and why are its moors littered with advanced, oil-pumping technology?

Reunited with his faithful companion Jamie McCrimmon, The Doctor must venture into the sinister City of Spires to find the answers. But standing in his way is the deadly Red Cap…

When I was first approached to write a new Doctor Who adventure, it seemed a tremendous honour. Then I realised all the history the show embodied over almost fifty years. Being a part of that suddenly seemed a daunting proposition.

But once I’d researched the Sixth Doctor I was pleasantly surprised to find he’s a truly stimulating character to write for. Clearly moral but with a sardonic edge. It was a fun challenge to reunite the Doctor with his old companion Jamie McCrimmon, a similarly beguiling personality. But that had to be done on the trot as the series demanded a corkscrewing plot with little time for bonding banter. Jamie is, I think, the perfect foil to the Doctor’s complexity.

The challenge grew as the writing went through hernia-inducing amounts of notes, rewrites, and three title changes. But given the lineage both these characters have, it was understandable. And, after all that, it still feels an honour.


Director’s Notes: Nicholas Briggs

Alan Barnes come up with the whole idea of the Sixth Doctor and Jamie crossing paths when.., oh, actually, I’ll keep that bit secret or I might give too much away.

I am a child of the 1960s, so the Troughton era was my era, when I was just starting to sit up and take notice of television on a regular basis.

As has been established by scientists and all sorts of clever people, time actually moves slower when you’re a child. So those three years when Jamie travelled with the Doctor seemed to go on for a lifetime. And what a lifetime that was. Joyous, exciting, terrifying. When it was all over, so unexpectedly for me, at the end of The War Games, I lust sat in front of the telly, stock still, in total shock, little tears forming in my young eyes. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe had gone. Nobody had warned me. It was like someone had snuck into my house and stolen my best friends.

So, sad old Doctor Who fan that I am, hearing Jamie back with the Doctor transported me back to that wonderful, innocent time. It was simply a joy to work on.