The Glorious Revolution

James Robert McCrimmon receives a visitor from the stars while on the moors. The visitor - man who calls himself a Time Lord - insists that Jamie travelled through time and space with a man known as the Doctor, and while Jamie remembers the Doctor he is sure that he never travelled with him. Sure, that is, until the strange visitor restores his memories, and it all comes flooding back: Victoria, Zoe, the TARDIS, the Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors... and a time when the TARDIS came to land on Earth in 1688. Jamie found himself wandering in his own past, and the crew were received into the court of King James II. But the visitor insists that something went wrong in that time, and soon they realize that Jamie himself was the cause of a massive disruption to the timelines.

First deal here is there's is an assertion that this is the first time Jamie went into his own past, conveniently forgetting The Roundheads, published some eight years earlier. Still, Roundheads in 1648, almost one hundred years before Jamie's time and one could argue that The Glorious Revolution is more legitimately Jamie's past as it is closer to his time and he knows who the historical players are. Not only that, but Jamie  has a more direct connection with these events as they shape his own life and when he realizes that he has the opportunity to do something about it and make things better, he takes it.

Yes, it's now Jamie's turn to fall into the "you can't rewrite history" trap; he realizes that the revolution that is to come from James's abdication of the throne creates untold suffering in Ireland and Scotland and indeed leads to the Jacobite uprisings of his own time. The Doctor warns Jamie that interfering in this could create massive damage to the future, but Jamie's retort is they have always fought against evil and rhymes off the list of baddies they have seen off, and in his mind this is no different. As far as he is concerned, the Doctor is wrong, and he is right - after all, it's his planet and his history.

Zoe gets pretty much hushed up for this one, getting trapped and locked up with the Doctor a great deal and not getting much to do at all. Her own logic tells her that the Doctor is right, leading Jamie to turn his back on her as well, although he does save them both from a hangman's noose despite the difference of opinion. The Doctor comes to life a bit more this time with even more of his dialogue performed uncannily by Fraser Hines, which ultimately leads to him playing the Doctor full on.

With this as the second time Jamie's memory has been restored one has to wonder how many more times this formula is going to seem entertaining or enjoyable; with Zoe there is the potential for a story arc to build but unless Jamie is going to keep his memories for good the whole concept of forgetting and sudden restoration is going to get tired eventually.

But for now, back to Zoe's future...

NEXT EPISODE: ECHOES OF GREY