Doctor Who and Outlander have a crossover episode this week — sort of.
As we first reported back in August, Outlander and Doctor Who have something in common. First time novelist Diana Gabaldon decided to set Outlander in 18th century Scotland after watching a rerun of Doctor Who that featured a highlander. The name “Jamie Fraser” is a homage to the Doctor Who character and the actor who played him.
Diana Gabadon explains it all a bit more thoroughly on her website, “I happened to see a Doctor Who rerun in a weak-minded moment, and was taken by a minor character—a young Scotsman from 1745, who appeared in his kilt. ‘Well, that’s fetching,’ I said. ‘Yeah, why not? Scotland, eighteenth century.’ So that’s where I began, knowing nothing about Scotland or the eighteenth century, with no plot, no outline, no characters—nothing but the rather vague images conjured up by a man in a kilt (which is, of course, a very powerful and compelling image).”
As classic Doctor Who fans know, the character to which Gabaldon refers is Jamie MacCrimmon, played by Frazer Hines. Jamie was a companion of the second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton. He appeared in over 116 episodes, making him one of the longest serving companions.
In the episode that is to air this Saturday, Frazer Hines has a bit role. He will be portraying Sir Fletcher Gordon, governor of Wentworth Prison. Essentially he is the man in charge of the prison where Jamie Fraser is currently being held awaiting execution. Hines, if his Twitter account is any indication, is rather proud of it all.
Having a great time watching the hottest couple on TV, @caitrionambalfe and @SamHeughan in " Outlander"
— Frazer Hines (@WhoFrazer) May 4, 2015
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To @Writer_DG and all fans of " outlander", I'm in LA doing a Dr Who convention, but advertising the " other" show!! pic.twitter.com/DIOfxz0Zg7
— Frazer Hines (@WhoFrazer) February 13, 2015
Loving " outlander"great acting,sets,costumes.well done @Writer_DG @Heughan@caitrionabalfe and crew
— Frazer Hines (@WhoFrazer) September 11, 2014
Starz has just released a photo of Hines in costume along with Caitriona Balfe, who plays Claire.
Gabaldon has continued to drop in various Doctor Who references in her other books. In one novel, she mentions an officer named Lethbridge-Stewart in homage to the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. “The Brig,” as Doctor Who fans know, was a companion to many of the Doctors. He made his last appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Outlander season 1 airs its penultimate episode on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.
Join us on tonight at 10:00 p.m. for Hangoutlander, our weekly, live, post-show Google Hangout that we do with the crew from That’s Normal. Use the hashtag #Hangoutlander to respond during the show on Twitter, or to ask a question/give a comment ahead of time. We can guarantee that we will have a lot to talk about this episode. Come and join in the fun.
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