A Highland warrior in the Jacobean Rebellion, and piper for the McLaren clan, Jamie was rescued from the bloodshed of the Battle of Culloden by the second Doctor, Ben and Polly. As he hails from 1746, his knowledge of technology is limited in the extreme, but although he may be surprised by the wonders he sees, Jamie accepts them without question instead of trying to figure them out. Because of this, Jamie is surprisingly well-suited to time travel and finds his horizons broadening immensely.
This is not to say, however, that Jamie is uninquisitive. In fact, he is very curious about the things the Doctor shows him, and he likes to consult the Doctor for information. The Doctor, of course, is only too happy to oblige explaining things to him, and so gradually Jamie becomes familiar with futuristic concepts. And while some of his fellow companions may complain about the TARDIS' lack of reliability, Jamie finds the unpredictability of his adventures with the Doctor to be exciting - he likes never knowing where they're going to end up.
One of Jamie's most obvious qualities is his loyalty - to Scotland originally, then to the Doctor. Jamie would fight to the death for either of them. Jamie is a talented fighter, never to be found without a dirk concealed within his sock for defense, and he does not hesitate to leap into a fray, with his battle cry of "Creag an tuire!" The mere sight of a Redcoat is enough to make Jamie charge, no matter where in time and space he might be. But even without his dirk, Jamie can brawl with the best of them, and he seems to be quite strong. He can also ride a horse. Of course, nothing sets Jamie into action more quickly than a threat to the Doctor or his fellow companions.
Jamie is extremely protective of Zoe and particularly Victoria, who he regards as more fragile and susceptible to harm. Jamie gets along with both girls extremely well. He even seems to fancy Victoria a little, and is very disheartened when he is unable to talk her out of leaving the TARDIS crew. Fortunately, his friendship with Zoe is a great consolation, and soon the two of them are clinging to one another for support during their terrifying travels with the Doctor. But his female travelling companions do get frequently aggravated with Jamie's casual acceptance of the notion that chasing after monsters and villains is man's work, and too dangerous for mere girls!
When confronted with baddies trying to get the truth out of him, Jamie tries his very hardest to bluff and give false information...unfortunately, he isn't very good at it. Jamie is also liable to give the game away when he stumbles into one of the Doctor's elaborate bluffs without knowing what's going on, or he may blurt out information that, while true, is likely to undermine the Doctor's credibility with the authorities. Subtlety is, perhaps, not one of Jamie's strong points. "Oh, aye!" he exclaims upon realizing what's going on.
Jamie has dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and is a native speaker of Gaelic. He always wears his kilt with a lightweight shirt, sporran, thick socks and sturdy shoes. He is talented at playing the bagpipes, although none of his travelling companions seem terribly enthused by the prospect of his doing so. Jamie's father, Donald McCrimmon, and his grandfathers were pipers as well. He does not know how to swim. His first attempt at flying in an airplane resulted in his getting horribly airsick, but he adapts rather quickly to this means of transport.
Jamie would probably have continued on travelling with the Doctor for ages, had the Doctor not had to summon the help of the Time Lords to return armies of kidnapped humans to their proper times and places. When the Time Lords decided to punish the Doctor for his crimes, they sent Jamie and Zoe back to their own times as well, with the memories of all but their first encounter with the Doctor wiped. Back in his time, Jamie continued fighting the Redcoats just as he had done before.
However - there is evidence that Jamie was reunited with the Doctor at some point after this last meeting, when the second Doctor was made to do "errands" for the Time Lords. It was during this period when Jamie encountered the sixth Doctor and Peri, and he may have continued to travel with the Doctor until his regeneration was enforced.
