Frazer Hines


Frazer Hines is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who, appearing in 117 episodes of the series, more than any other companion. He was a regular in the series alongside Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor between 1966 and 1969, and made guest appearances in the 1980s stories The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors. He also had a long-running role as Joe Sugden in Emmerdale between 1972 and 1994.

Early life and career

Hines was born in Horsforth, a north-west suburb of Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His mother was Scottish and came from Port Glasgow. He attended Corona Theatre School in London while a young boy. By the age of 10, he had appeared in numerous feature films as minor characters. In 1957, he performed the role of a boy called Napoleon in a six-part television adaptation of John Buchan's 1922 novel Huntingtower. From 1957 and throughout the 1960s, he performed a steady stream of roles in various television series, such as Jan in The Silver Sword, Tim Birch in Emergency – Ward 10, and Roger Wain in Coronation Street. He appeared in a 1964 serial, Smugglers Bay, with Patrick Troughton. With a well-established career in television, Hines appeared in feature films less frequently. However, he did appear in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, providing his voice for the dub of Mr Osato's Secretary who also does the Mission Control tannoy in the famous volcano base in the film.

''Doctor Who''

Hines' Doctor Who debut came in 1966, when he was cast to play the part of Jamie McCrimmon, the companion of the Second Doctor. Originally intended as a one-off guest character, Jamie joined the regular cast and appeared in the series from 1966 to 1969. Hines reprised the role in a cameo in the 20th anniversary serial The Five Doctors and as a guest star in The Two Doctors. Hines would appear in 117 episodes of Doctor Who in all—more than any other "companion" actor in the history of the series. The only actors appearing in more episodes are those who played the first four Doctors. Many of the episodes featuring Jamie no longer exist in the BBC's collection.
In 1968, during his third year on the show, Hines released with Major Minor Records the novelty record "Who's Dr. Who?" Esteemed songwriters Barry Mason and Les Reed composed the music and lyrics, but the record was a commercial failure. Hines would later call it the only flop Mason and Reed ever wrote.
Frazer Hines and his fellow lead actors Patrick Troughton and Wendy Padbury decided collectively that the workload of Doctor Who was exhausting them. Frazer was the first of the three to announce his intention to leave. Troughton asked him to stay a few more months, to the end of the sixth series, as this was when Troughton planned to relinquish his role. The three actors remained with the show until the conclusion of the final Season 6 serial The War Games. In a documentary about Patrick Troughton, Hines reported that they all left with smiles on their faces, feeling that their job was done and that it was well done. Frazer attested that he remained in contact with Troughton afterward.
Author Diana Gabaldon credits watching Frazer Hines in the Doctor Who serial The War Games as the inspiration for her first novel, Outlander, a time travel story let in 18th century Scotland. Consequently, she named the novel's male protagonist Jamie. She says that the character's surname, Fraser, is a coincidence, as the PBS station on which she watched Doctor Who habitually cut off the episode's credits. She did not learn Hines' name until several years after Outlander was published.
Up until 2007, Hines was the only surviving Second Doctor companion actor not to have acted in a Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play. In November 2007, he starred as Jamie in Helicon Prime, the second instalment in Season 2 of Big Finish's Companion Chronicles. Since then he has appeared in many more Companion Chronicles, where his uncanny ability to mimic Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor has been welcomed by fans of the show. Hines has also recorded linking narration for many Second Doctor serials which no longer exist in video form; the soundtracks, along with Hines' narration, have been released on CD by BBC Audio. He also appeared in an audio trilogy with Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor as an older Jamie. In 2013, Hines portrayed both Jamie and the Second Doctor in the Big Finish audio play The Light at the End, produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

''Emmerdale''

After his tenure as Jamie in Doctor Who, Hines resumed the life of a jobbing actor until 1972, when he was cast in the soap opera Emmerdale Farm as Joe Sugden, a role he played until 1994. In between making episodes of Emmerdale, as it was renamed in 1989, he has continued a career in the theatre and made occasional appearances in other TV shows. He stated in a 2019 interview “I left Emmerdale because I got sick of going to work when it was dark and coming home when it was dark. I’d just got married and owned a stud farm, and so I said I would leave. He stated he was asked back to the show the following year but refused and was later killed off."

Other work

Hines appeared in Peter Kay's Comic Relief video of 2007, as one of the many guests dancing to Kay's Brian Potter and Matt Lucas' Andy Pipkin to the song I'm Gonna Be by the Proclaimers.
Hines was cast in a 2015 episode of the television adaptation of Outlander, which he had helped to inspire. In the May 2015 episode "Wentworth Prison", Hines portrayed Sir Fletcher Gordon, an English prison warden.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1992 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel.
He appeared as Daddy Warbucks in the stage musical Annie in 2014.

Personal life

Hines at one time dated Liza Goddard and Pamela Franklin. He has been twice married, first to Irish actress Gemma Craven from 1981 to 1984, and second to waterskiing champion Liz Hobbs from 1994 to 2003.
Boxtree, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, published Hines' autobiography in 1996. This work, titled Films, Farms and Fillies, first appeared in a paperback edition. 13 years later, in December 2009, Telos Publishing released a revised hardcover edition, titled Hines Sight.
In July 2010, Hines disclosed that he suffered from colorectal cancer for eleven years, explaining that he kept his illness a secret for fear of professional alienation. Since his recovery, Hines has openly promoted cancer awareness through Cancer Research and the Bobby Moore Cancer Foundation. His older brother Roy Hines was also an actor and died of cancer aged 40.
Hines later toured Northern England in a solo performance covering his career.
Hines is a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1955One Good TurnUncredited
1955John and JulieMinor roleUncredited
1955The Woman for JoeUncredited
1955WindfallBoyUncredited
1955Stock CarBoyUncredited
1955On the Twelfth Day...ChoirboyUncredited
1956The Long ArmUrchinUncredited
1956Peril for the GuyKim
1956The WeaponJimmyUncredited
1956X the UnknownIan OsbornCredited as Fraser Hines
1957The Smallest Show on EarthUncredited
1957Miracle in SohoUncredited
1957A King in New YorkChefCredited as Fraser Hines
1958The Salvage GangKim
1959A Woman's TemptationTommyUncredited
1959Witness in the DarkNewsboy
1960The Young JacobitesAngus
1960Tunes of GloryUncredited
1964Go Kart GoHarry Haggetty
1967You Only Live TwiceSpectre Number 4Uncredited, voice
1971The Last ValleyCorg
1971ZeppelinRadio Operator
2013A Voice to Die ForQuentin Lucasshort film
2014Two Days In The SmokeMr. Hemmings
2015ImpurityCarlson
2018SundownWilliamshort film
2018Blood CorralThomas
2020Perfect StrangersFrank
2022G.O.D. Tech''Dr. James Sheppard

Television

Music videos