It should be noted from the very beginning that this author is not a fan of the pure historical episodes. For a show that started out as educational, one would expect so much more than these clichéd retellings. However, two of these stories still seemed more worthy of rediscovery than other poor attempts at science fiction. One of them is The Highlanders, a great achievement in historical entertainment. It runs for only four parts and has some strong cliffhangers so there really isnt much padding to be found. The episode is most memorable for being the debut of Jamie McCrimmon, one of the longest running and most popular companions of the Classic Series. Played by Frazer Hines, Jamie had plenty more personality than his action men predecessors Ian or Steven and one could already see he was more interesting than the same action man stereotype Ben. The Highlanders is only Patrick Troughtons second episode as the Doctor and one that underlines (maybe a bit too thickly) the great change that the actor had brought to the character. The Second Doctor is cunning, often playing the fool in order to obtain information or confuse his opponents. He also has a passion for disguises, one that fortunately wont last his whole run. Here fans see him both as a kitchen maid and as a German physician, calling himself 'Doktor von Were'. It was Troughtons idea to move on from the pure historical stories, thus making The Highlanders unique for his era.
Adrian Serban lives in Bucharest, Romania where he has studied screenwriting and film criticism. But it's not all about artsy European dramas for him, as he's also a fan of horrors, kung-fu flicks and sci-fi films of all eras. Monty Python and Doctor Who are two British institutions that changed his life for the better. Or so he thinks.
