The Highlanders Is Doctor Who’s Most Historically Accurate Story
Although the Doctor isn't himself, Jamie's first story gives an excellent picture of 18th century Scotland after the Battle of Culloden.
Plot summary
The Doctor, Ben, and Polly get caught up in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland and are quickly thrust into a corrupt plot to turn soldiers into slaves.
Notable for:
First appearance of Jamie. They weren’t sure he was going to be a companion, so they shot 2 endings, one with him leaving with the crew, and one with him staying.
Last “historical” episode until Black Orchid.
Completely missing. Only photographs, telesnaps, and audio recordings exist.
Elwyn Jones was commissioned to write, but Gerry Davis had to step in and write the entire thing.
Solicitor Grey was apparently a real person.
Pete commentary:
The Highlanders is peculiar to watch after seeing the latter parts of Troughton’s run. They’re clearly trying some things out here, with the stovepipe hat and his many disguises and accents. Intentional or not, this is a similar historical template as adventures like The Reign of Terror and The Romans, where the Doctor impersonates someone to get through the adventure. Except in Troughton’s case, he adopts different personas rather than just claiming to be someone he’s not.
It mostly doesn’t work. The Doctor’s German accent is cringe, and him being an old woman feels so unconvincing it’s annoying.
Unbelievably, it’s the Doctor who wants to leave in the first few minutes! I’m not sure what Ben and Polly are thinking when they see a primitive cannonball and decide they’re “home.” Clearly not your time, plus there’s some kind of violence happening. “Sounds like the cup final,” isn’t cutting it.
I liked that the story is simple enough to follow, but with enough historical texture to make it interesting. Ben throwing the gun is a bit dumb, but it also emphasizes the primitive weaponry. They’re thrown into the Battle of Culloden, but only at the end. They’re captured, but not as POWs but as potential slaves. Etc.
Ben’s escape from the ducking is wildly risky, but I also like that he took the matter into his own hands. Clearly he’s had to get out of a few scrapes as a sailor.
This adventure largely succeeds on the drive and spirit of Ben and Polly. It might be the best adventure for them I’ve seen so far. Polly takes the initiative in going to rescue her friends, is charmingly confident when blackmailing Ffinch, and shows her sympathetic and vulnerable side when thanking him for not giving them away at the end. Polly is both adventurous and kind, making her the perfect companion template.
That said, sometimes the obstacles they encounter are manufactured. Polly shows she’s not great at negotiation when Kirsty denies her the ring at the end of episode 1. It’s really like the writer (Davis) wrote it with no cliffhanger and inserted this dumb conflict. At least it sets the stage for the ring.
Jamie is a subtler presence in his debut story. He doesn’t drive much of the action, but he does make an impression with the few lines he’s given. He’s clearly fiercely loyal—not just to his clan, but to his friends, and people he feels he’s indebted to.
It’s nice that Jamie’s first onscreen act is to give a wounded guy some water.
Fun to see the Second Doctor playing the recorder. Most of the references to this (in The Three Doctors, mainly) seem a little too self-referential, almost remembering something that never actually happened.
Has “fiddle” ever actually meant a trick or ruse, or is Ben from a parallel Earth?
“I’ve never seen a silent lawyer” is a pretty great line.
I’m glad the story makes reference to how bad the conditions were on ships at this time.
Kirsty and Polly get a good dynamic going, and Polly gets to show her “keeping it real” sincerity when she says it’s “obvious” Kirsty hasn’t had to do much fetching and carrying in her life. Later, Kirsty says she’s “bonnie enough,” with is almost a backhanded compliment.
The Doctor needs a nap!
A shame that the major action sequence in episode 4—the sword fight on the Annabelle—has been lost. It takes several minutes, and it looks like it’s a good establishing moment for Jamie.
Jamie gets to come on the TARDIS on the promise he shows the Doctor how to play the bagpipes. Did he ever deliver?
What did Pete’s family think?
Watched this one alone.
Four Questions to Doomsday - Pete
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Yet another reference to “Doctor who?” which is almost too tongue-in-cheek, considering the Doctor chooses “von Wer” as his German surname, which inspires the Sergeant to ask. Pretty clear throughline from Doctor Who and the Silurians as well as The War Machines.
What if the evil plot had succeeded? Assume it’s Jamie who’s knocked overboard, Trask’s men overpower the Highlanders, and they’re all made slaves in the West Indies. Assuming they’re not killed, the Doctor, Ben and Polly decide to make the best of their situation and get on board for a journey to the tropics. But the Doctor soon creates a means to return to England to get back to the TARDIS, while Ben does his best to protect Polly. They eventually get back, but more “wounded” than before, and sans Jamie. Their departure in The Faceless Ones is more bitter than bittersweet.
Where’s the Clara splinter? She dug the bear trap!
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Professor Hayter. They tried to do a historical and found it didn’t quite fit Troughton’s sensibilities. They learned a lot about what not to do with his Doctor (silly accents, headgear).
Chris commentary:
Rule 1: The Young Pretender lies. Cosplaying as a Scot. Never been there until this rebellion, age 25. Grew up in Rome, was more Polish (his mother’s side) than Scottish. Told his staff he was in touch with Jacobites in England – he wasn’t. Sulked when his finest military mind told him to retreat from Derby. Didn’t give him a free hand at Culloden. Refused to give an order until half an hour into the battle, when 500 of his men lay dead. Ruined everything and ran off while his men got slaughtered.
More Scots in the government army than in his. The lowlanders (whose officers led the shameful butchery after) hated the highlanders!
Highlanders had a horrible feudal clan system. Charlie marched them all night for this, his first ever battle, without food for 2 days, because he wanted to surprise the Duke of Cumberland on his birthday. Cumberland, also age 25, was a butcher. Ate his lunch while soldiers turned the field red, bayonetting wounded on his orders. Innocents were killed on the road to Inverness. No one comes out of Culloden looking good.
The 1961 book by John Prebble and the 1964 movie of Culloden, by Peter Watkins, were both groundbreaking and extraordinary. Gerry Davis used the former more than he used “Kidnapped.” There are sections of the book that seem to have been lifted almost directly … go listen to the Missing Episodes podcast for more details. Davis even lifted a “Solicitor Grey” who actually sold Scots into indentured servitude!
But by and large it means The Highlanders is accurate. Dismisses the cause as “romantic piffle” – he’s got Charlie’s number. Jamie tells us he fled from the field. The only real howler is the Scots talking about “English” troops. But that’s par for the course in the romanticized versions.
Let’s explain the Jacobite cause using Doctor Who characters/actors! The Doctor’s first wife (Elizabeth I) had no kids – because the Doctor didn’t or couldn’t do his duty? – so it passed to the guy who liked Ryan and hunting witches (James I, or in Latin, “Jacobus”). His son was Charles I (Alec Guinness in the Cromwell movie), executed, interregnum, Charles II (on the throne while the 5th Doctor helped start the fire of London in 1666), his Catholic brother James II, deposed and fled to France. His son, the cause of the deposition, styled himself James III, would have been longest serving monarch, lived in Rome at the pleasure of the Pope. His son was Charles Edward Stuart. Who tried to get the French to support his cause with an invasion and shows up at Versailles at the exact same time as … Madame de Pompadour.
60+ years after the battle, romantic tartan-wearing “lost cause” Scotland was in full effect – thanks largely to Sir Walter Scott – affecting even the “bad wolf” herself, Queen Victoria!
Worth mentioning the movie more, which did amazing things on a Doctor Who budget, no more than a dozen extras shown at once, through innovative use of close-up interviews to camera
Meanwhile … let’s talk about the Doctor’s drinking. Is he off the wagon here? A deleted scene suggests so.
Four Questions to Doomsday - Chris
Why did the Randomizer take us here? It’s 2026 – the 280th anniversary of Culloden! Seasonally appropriate programming – ep 2 broadcast on Xmas eve, ep 3 on Hogmany!
What if the evil plot had succeeded? It did … on many other ships.
Where’s the Clara splinter? As in Demons in the Punjab, Clara’s main job is preventing the Doctor from seeing the true horror out there. Especially in a regeneration crisis, he’d want to pursue Cumberland for his war crimes. There were crying children on the battlefield! Dying 13 year old Scots! Is the TARDIS designed to not land in the middle of battles because he’d be tempted to change them?
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Fixed Dalek in Time
The Prebble connection is fascinating and makes so much sense for why this episode feels different from other Who historicals. Using primary sources to ground sci-fi gives it weight that pure imagination cant match. I watched the Watkins film in a history class and the handheld documentary style made Culloden feel immediat in a way that's hard to achieve. Funny how Davis lifting material from research books made this more authentic than if he'd tried to invent it all himself.