Private James Frazer

Private James Frazer
Occupation	Series 1 + 2: Shop Keeper Series 3 - 9: Undertaker
Affiliations	Home Guard
Series information
First seen	The Man and the Hour
Last Seen	Never Too Old
Portrayed by	John Laurie
List of Characters

"We're doomed - doomed! "

―Frazer

James Frazer was born in 1882 and was a sailor, then shop-keeper (possibly of a shop that sold coffins), and later the undertaker of Walmington-On-Sea. He served at the Battle of Jutland, albeit as a cook, and later became a private of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard.

Personality

Frazer is a pessimistic, dour, trouble-stirring, exaggerating, wild-eyed Scottish undertaker (formerly the keeper of a philatelist's shop with a hobby of making coffins). He hails from the "wild and lonely" Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, an apparently desolate and bleak place that appears to have informed most of his pessimistic, dark tendencies. He was a Chief Petty Officer (and cook) in the Navy during World War One, he also mentions being one of the mine sweepers and is shown to be a crack shot due to that (although he has to wave the gun up and down, because as he says "It's the only way I can shoot sir, this is the motion of the sea"), but later retired to Walmington-On-Sea.

Frazer makes no secret of his desires for increased rank and power within the platoon. To that end, Frazer is frequently negative and hyper-critical of his superior officers and their decisions, and clearly considers Captain Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson and Lance-Corporal Jones barely fit for command. When given even a little bit of power, however (or even just the taste of it), it frequently goes straight to his head; notably, in the episode "If the Cap Fits...", Frazer is temporarily given command of the platoon for a few days as an exercise in the difficulties of leadership, which, far from educating him in the pressures that Mainwaring faced, merely result in him acting even more exceedingly arrogant and tyrannical than before. In Something Nasty in the Vault, after Jones assumes control of the platoon following Mainwaring and Wilson's incapacitation, Frazer declares that he is second in command; something which goes undisputed by the rest of the platoon. Furthermore, in the recently-discovered episode A Stripe for Frazer, Frazer is promoted to Lance-Corporal.

To reach his ends, Frazer is somewhat two-faced; he has a Machiavellian tendency to doubt people and their situations, and is usually responsible for gossiping and sowing the seeds of unease or insubordination amongst the other members of the platoon. His is usually the loudest voice of condemnation or criticism in any given situation - however, if and when his current target triumphs or is validated, he will instantly alter his position with a hasty "I never doubted you for a second", to ensure that he's never on the losing side. A prime example of this is his attitude in the episode "Branded", where his is the loudest voice of condemnation regarding Private Godfrey's conscientious objection and apparent 'cowardice' during the First World War, only for Frazer to immediately change his position when it transpires that Godfrey is nevertheless a decorated war hero. Another, less prominent, example is in "Sgt - Save My Boy!"; Frazer criticizes Godfrey for fleeing "at the first sign of trouble", only to dub him "a man of steel... just like I've always said" when he sees Godfrey bypass the mine-infested beach on his own.

A notoriously miserable and miserly soul, Frazer is known for his bleak, pessimistic outlook on life. In any situation where circumstances seem bleak for the platoon, he will never fail to find more reasons to feel doom. He will often find the time in the various predicaments that the platoon face to observe that their potential fate is "a terrible way to die", to note that "we're doomed" when peril is awaiting them or to regale the platoon with an anecdote of a much similar experience he is aware of that ended rather bleakly for all concerned. He also has quite a line in dark, atmospheric and rather long-winded tales which start promisingly with the lure of supernatural horrors and terrors, only to ultimately prove disappointing and end rather mundanely, such as the tales of 'The Auld Empty Barn' (there was nothing in it) and his friend Jethro, who apparently fell victim to a long-lasting curse that ensured that he lived to a ripe old age.

It was revealed in the episode "Operation Kilt" that he sports a tattoo on his arm which he claims "cost a fortune" and states "Scotland forever". It's also revealed in "When Did You Last See You Money?" that he knows hypnosis, as he says "When I was sailing the China seas, I studied the art of hypnosis" and successfully hypnotises Lance-Corporal Jones. His main rivalries are with the other ageing members in the platoon, notably Corporal Jones, who fights back, and Private Godfrey, who doesn't. He possesses a curious fascination with women who have large, thick thighs.

Frazer does show a more generous side to his character when he saves Private Godfrey's cottage from being demolished to make way for a runway. When all hope seems lost, Frazer saves the day by threatening to reveal a senior politician's past indiscretions, although in typical Frazer style he doesn't let on that he was the hero of the hour.

It is also reported that Frazer is President of the local Caledonian Society.

Private Walker often calls Frazer "Taffy".

Gallery

James Beck's sketch of Frazer