Before I get to today's viewing of The Highlanders, I need to tell a weight loss story. So, last night my wife and I were getting ready to go out on a date to see a show. I had just put away a bunch of laundry, and I chose a nice gray button-down shirt to wear. As soon as I put it on, it felt a little snug. "That's weird," I thought, "lately I have been fitting into shirts I haven't worn in ages, this should fit me fine..."  I started to button it, and it really started feeling tight. I was beginning to panic, thinking my belly had suddenly bloated in size. It was really frustrating, especially since last week I had a definite road bump in my weight loss progress. I tried to adjust the shirt a little (as if that would make any difference), when my wife looked at me and said, "Are you trying to wear one Ben's shirts?" (Ben is our 23 year old autistic son.)  All of a sudden it made perfect sense. I wasn't suddenly fatter again, I was just stupid! I had mistaken the top shirt from his basket of laundry as my own. Lord, I am moron sometimes....

Anyway, about Doctor Who: today I started The Highlanders, which is notable for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is the last pure historical story every done in the series (unless you count 1982's Black Orchid, which is set in a historical time period and with no science fiction elements, but which is not based on any real historical event.)  Second of all, it is the story that introduces Jamie McCrimmon, who would go on to be the longest running Doctor Who companion of all time.

Let's talk about that.

The Highlanders - Episodes 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The entire thrust of The Highlanders is that the TARDIS materializes in 1746 Scotland right at the end of the Battle of Culloden. This was a horrific battle, the ending of the Jacobite rebellion and the last full military confrontation to ever occur on the island of Great Britain. There is an excellent documentary about it, which you can watch here, and which is considered one of the 100 greatest British television programs of all time. In any case, the plot of this story starts with the Doctor, along with Ben and Polly, befriending a group of Jacobites fleeing from the battle with their critically injured Laird. Polly gets separated from the group when she is sent off with the Laird's daughter Kirsty to fetch some clean water, and while the women are gone the rest of the group is captured by British Redcoats. After nearly being hanged, they are all sent off to the prison in nearby Inverness, and from there they will be sold into slavery overseas.

During the course of these two episodes, several times the Doctor pretends to be a German named "Doktor von Ver" (which is once met with the question "Doctor who?", to which he replies, "Yes, that's what I said..."). Patrick Troughton easily slips in and out of a German accent, and flummoxes anyone who deals with him. There is another scene where, as Doktor von Ver, he first convinces one British character that he has a throat condition, taunting him into saying "aah" before shoving a gag in his mouth and locking him in a cabinet, and then convinces a second character that he has eye problems along with audio hallucinations before tying him in a blindfold. And then, as if his Bugs Bunny vs Elmer Fudd antics couldn't get any more outrageous, he dresses up as an old beggar woman and talks his way past some guards while speaking in an old hag's voice and doddering along. It is truly glorious, and a real joy to watch Patrick Troughton having so much fun with the character. The waspish prick is well and truly gone, and the Cosmic Hobo has arrived.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Second Doctor?

STATS:

Doctor(s): Second
Companion(s): Ben Jackson, Polly Wright, Jamie McCrimmon
Episode(s): The Highlanders - Episodes 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 5,736 today, 486,977 total
Distance Walked:  2.90 miles today, 229.65 miles total
Weight: 284.38 lbs (five day moving average), net change -22.92 lbs