Outlander: Other Star was inspiration for Jamie Fraser

Jamie Fraser from “Outlander” looks so iconic and unique. It’s hard to believe that his character has a role model. And then even from a TV series!

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That someone else could play the role of Jamie Fraser as well and convincingly as he can Sam Heughan should be unthinkable for the majority of “Outlander” fans. The actor and the character of the warrior from the Scottish Highlands are so closely linked, there doesn’t fit a sheet in between. So it’s hard to imagine that action star Liam Neeson was once even considered for the role.

Another star seems similarly unusual as a Jamie replacement: Frazer Hines. He didn’t just almost play the role. He was even that Inspiration for the Scottish nobleman and freedom fighter. Even Diana Gabaldon herself revealed this to the actor. She is the author of the Highland saga, the nine books of which serve as the basis for the Outlander series.

Outlander: “Doctor Who” star was a role model for Jamie

IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

This is what Frazer Hines looks like today.

Frazer Hines is relatively unknown in this country. In his native UK, however, the actor has appeared in several TV series and plays. His the best-known role is probably that of the Scotsman Jamie McCrimmon in the cult series “Doctor Who”, which the 78-year-old Brit embodied in 116 episodes from 1966 to 1985. And it was precisely this character that inspired Diana Gabaldon to develop the character of Jamie Fraser.

How did this happen? Frazer Hines said so loudly Daily Express once himself: “I met [Diana Gabaldon] and she told me she saw me in ‘Doctor Who’ as Jamie [McCrimmon] saw in the kilt. The next day she went to church and said to me: ‘All I could think about was your legs and Jamie’s composure, and I had to write a book.’ She later sent me ‘Fire and Stone’, that was the first volume.” With Gabaldon’s first encounters with Frazer Hines and Jamie McCrimmon, respectively, the character of Jamie Fraser was born at the same time. The common first name of the characters already gives it away.

Frazer Hines even wanted to play Jamie

IMAGO / Everett Collection

Frazer Hines in Outlander.

Frazer Hines was then so enthusiastic about the book that he went to Yorkshire TV and suggested it be made into a series – starring him. Hard to believe: But those responsible refused! The reason: It was “too far away”. It would be almost 30 years before the first volume of the Highland saga, published in 1995, became the first season of a TV series in 2014. And a very successful one too!

But there was a small consolation for Frazer Hines. The Brit was allowed to make a guest appearance in “Outlander”.. Hines played the character of Sir Flechter Gordon in the 15th episode of the first season. He is the head of the infamous Wentworth Prison, where Jamie is held and tortured at the end of Season 1 – before Claire can save her lover.