Searching for McCrimmon

My wife loves the series of books by Diana Gabaldon called "Outlander". I dare say her level of fandom rises the same level as I have with Star Wars! A little know fact is that what inspired Gabaldon to write her famous series of historical novels to be set in Scotland was, of all things, a Doctor Who episode. Apparently she found the highlander, who was a companion to the Second Doctor, "quite fetching." So I thought it would be neat to get on DVD some of these episodes for her.

This is why my blog post is scheduled to be posted on Christmas Day rather than today, November 23rd!

Little did I know that many of the episodes from the early years of Doctor Who have been lost due to poor storage conditions! It's hard to believe that here we are 50 years later and the Doctor has such a dominant influence among us 'geeks' and yet so much of its history is lost.

So here are my notes of what currently exists during the era of the Second Doctor and his companion, Jaime McCrimmon. I know practically nothing about Doctor Who, so there a lot of notes that fans of the show may roll their eyes at. But to quote Dr, Tyrell, "Indulge me."

Apparently the Doctor Who seasons are subdivided into stories, usually consisting of 4-6 episodes. Each story has a number, which I suppose is done to help navigate the history of this long running series. The Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, makes his appearance in the fourth episode of Story 29 (the last of that arc). This was during the 4th season of the series, broadcast in 1966-67. The series is famous for making a casting change of the titular Doctor that was later dubbed in-world as 'regeneration'.

Jaime McCrimmon joins the Second Doctor in Story 31, a four episode arc dubbed 'The Highlanders'. This happens when the Doctor and his companions Ben and Polly arrive in Scotland just after the Battle of Culloden. The encounter and befriend some fleeing Jacobites. While Polly is away fetching water, the group is captured by the English and are about to be sold as slaves into the West Indies. Polly and a Laird's daughter helps to free them and a young piper named Jaime McCrimmon joins them in the TARDIS. This story marked the last time the series employed historical references until the Black Orchid in 1982.

Sadly, no complete episode from this entire season exists. How painful to know!

Here are the stories of the 4th Season. The number of episodes are in paranthesis and an significants notes follow after that:

• Smugglers (4)
• Tenth Planet (4) - Transition from the First to Second Doctor
• Power of the Daleks (6)
• Highlanders (4) - Jaime McCrimmon becomes a companion
• Underwater Menace (4)
• Moonbase (4)
• Macra Terror (4)
• Faceless Ones (6)
• Evil of the Daleks (7)

That is 43 episodes we don't have - incredible to believe.

The 5th Season has slightly better news from a preservation perspective. In the early 1990s the first complete story of the season, and thus the earliest for the Second Doctor, is "The Tomb of the Cybermen" (Story 37, first of Season 5). Additionally a second complete story was found this year (2013) in a relay station in Nigeria. No, I am not making this up! This story is called "The Enemy of the World" (Story 40). It came out on DVD on November 25, 2013.

Here are the stories of the 5th Season:

• The Tomb of the Cybermen (4)
• The Abominable Snowmen (6)
• The Ice Warriors (6)
• The Enemy of the World (6)
• The Web of Fear (6)
• Fury from the Deep (6)
• The Wheel in Space (6)

The 6th Season is even better in terms of availability. All but seven episodes have been preserved and there are at least audio recordings for those lost ones. The season ends with the final appearance of Jaime McCrimmon, as well as the other companion, Zoe, and even the Second Doctor himself! It marks the only time that the Doctor and all his companions were written out of the show in the same episode. Jaime is sent back to his own time by the Time Lords and has no recollection of his adventures with the Doctor. That's kind of sad.

Anyway, here are the stories of the 6th Season:

• The Dominators (5) - Story 44
• The Mind Robber (5)
• The Invasion (8) - considered to be one of the best for the Second Doctor
• The Krotons (4)
• The Seeds of Death (6)
• The Space Pirates (6)
• The War Games (10) - Story 50, the last episode with Jaime, Zoe, and Second Doctor

So what is available on DVD? Well, there is the Doctor Who - Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes - The William Hartnell Years and the Patrick Troughton Years (2004), which has the following episodes:

• Moonbase 2 & 4
• Faceless Ones 1 & 3
• Evil of Daleks 2
• Abominable Snowmen 2
• Enemy of the World 3
• Web of Fear 1
• Wheel in Space 3 & 6
• Space Pirates 2

This covers probably all of what is available in Season 4 and the incomplete episodes of Season 5. There are also episodes from Season 2 and Season 3 as well, but I am not listing them here since I am focused on episodes with Jaime.

Then there is the Doctor Who: The Tomb of the Cybermen - Special Edition (2012)

There is also the Enemy of the World (no link yet since I am writing this before it has been released)

For Season 6, you can get these ones:

Doctor Who: The Dominators (Story 44) (2011)

Doctor Who: The Mind Robber (Story 45) (2005)

Doctor Who: The Invasion (Story 46) (2007)

Doctor Who: The Krotons (Story 47) (2012)

Doctor Who: The Seeds Of Death (Story 48) - Special Edition (2012)

Doctor Who: The War Games (Story 50) (2009)

If you want to read more, here is a nice article on Nerdist called, Doctor Who for Newbies: The Second Doctor.

Altoid Tin Projects

One web site that I really enjoy reading on a regular basis is the Art of Manliness. There are great skills you can learn on a variety of topics. One article I found recently is on Altoid tin projects. 

Altoids are those "curiously strong" mints that come in an old fashioned lidded tin. Being about 2" x 3", it is a conveniently sized container for all sorts of stuff. The article lists  bunch of projects that some very creative people have come up with from survival kits to racecars to guitar amplifiers. 

I designed my own modest little kit for kid cryptography. Below is a listing of the contents in case you want to try it out yourself. 

The centerpiece and most expensive component of the kit is a secret decoder ring. I confess that I always wanted to have one of these myself. Although I grew up in the 80s, my father got me into the old time radio programs from the Age of Radio - programs like the Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, the Shadow, and Fanny Brice. One of the promotions back then was a secret decoder ring which you could use each week to decode a secret message. 

There is a small company called Retroworks (www.shopretroworks.com) where you can buy high quality decoder rings. I highly recommend them! Not only do they have code medallions but also code rings you wear on your fingers. There is also a full range of transliteration style rings. These rings show you what each letter of the English alphabet looks like in languages such as Klingon, Tolkien Elvish, and even Aurebesh!

Anyway, the ring I bought uses a simple code technique called the Cesear Cipher where you simply shift each letter a certain number of places. So an A could be coded as D, and so forth. 

I did a web search and found other transliteration pages like for Norse runes, Greek and Morse Code. I printed these out on card stock and made sure they could be folded up easily. I also made up some 2x3 inch cards with instructions on how to write in invisible ink and how to make paper look old. 

I also added a pencil stub and some q-tips for the invisible ink technique. There is still room for more things in my tin but I figured this was a good start. 

I made up three tins - one for me, one for my son, and one for one of my nephews. (they are about the same age). They will get them during Christmas as part of a treasure hunt activity. I will write secret codes on strips I paper and hide them around the house. One message will lead to the next message. When they get I the end I have a "treasure chest" with some small things like mini flashlights and stuff. Hopefully they will like it!