Jamie Hamilton

Jamie Hamilton
Hamilton (from 1980 CE) after a time warp to 1930s CE
[show/hide spoilers] Spoilers hidden in infobox by default only.
Name
Age
Colony	Earth
Birth place	{{{birthplace}}}
Birth Name	{{{birthname}}}
Birth Date	{{{birthdate}}}
Callsign	{{{callsign}}}
Nickname	{{{nickname}}}
Introduced	Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I
Last Known Appearance	[[{{{lastseen}}}]]
Death	{{{death}}}
Parents	{{{parents}}}
Siblings	{{{siblings}}}
Children	{{{children}}}
Marital Status	Single
Family Tree	View
Role	Aide to Troy and Dillon, UBC reporter
Rank
Serial Number	{{{serial}}}
Portrayed by	Robyn Douglass
Jamie Hamilton is a Cylon
Jamie Hamilton is a Final Five Cylon
Jamie Hamilton is a Human/Cylon Hybrid
Jamie Hamilton is an Original Series Cylon
Related Media
Additional Information
Jamie Hamilton in the separate continuity
[[File:|300px|Jamie Hamilton]]

Jamie Hamilton doubles as a on-camera reporter for United Broadcasting Company's news program and guide to Warriors Troy and Dillon in their mission on Earth.

Galactican Encounters

She first meets up with Troy and Dillon when she is headed to Los Angeles for a job interview as the on-camera reporter with UBC television news, having just come from the news station KENO in Reno, California. She assists them in locating Professor Donald Mortinson by dropping them off at the Pacific Institute of Technology. After the Warriors are arrested, she becomes embroiled with the competing interests of her new boss, Mr. Brooks, and the greater needs of both Earth and the Galacticans ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}.

Due to her tenacity, she involves herself directly in the affairs of the Warriors, who are forced to whisk her off Earth and to Galactica, much to Commander Adama's chagrin. Despite Adama's initial misgivings, Dr. Zee finds that she is useful as a student of Earth history (she boasts that she was the recipient of a "straight 'A' average" in history, although the Galacticans don't understand the significance). Zee convinces Adama and the reluctant Warriors that they will need her knowledge if they are to thwart Commander Xaviar's plans to alter Earth's history by helping the Nazis in 1944 ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II")}.

After the mission, when she comes aboard Galactica, Adama prevails upon her to assist Troy and Dillon in their joint missions to help prepare Earth for contact with the Colonials, and to locate and stop Xaviar. Hamilton agrees to the assignment, as well as accepting her new job as a reporter for UBC ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}.

She joins Troy and Dillon in heading back to Revolutionary America in an adventure which is not shown, but that takes place between "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III" and "The Super Scouts".

The Super Scouts

Troy and Dillon enlist Hamilton's aid to protect a group of kids, which she dubs the "Super Scouts," from the Galactican Fleet. She first finds out about them through Colonel Jack Sydell and, when three of the Scouts become ill, she helps them out with her basic medical knowledge ^{(1980: "The Super Scouts, Part I", "The Super Scouts, Part II")}. The children stay on Earth at the conclusion of the episode, and Hamilton becomes a sort of guardian for them.

When the renegade Xaviar returns, he attempts to kidnap Galactica children, whom Hamilton has taken to play at a baseball camp where she's doing a story ^{(1980: "Spaceball")}.

The rest of the time Hamilton appears to be occupied mostly with taking care of the Galactica children. She is left behind with the kids while Troy and Dillon head to New York ^{(1980: "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part I")}. She later brings the children to assist Troy and Dillon's efforts at Hector Alonzo's farm, ultimately utilizing her position as a reporter to gaslight John Steadman, who bore witness to the anti-gravity ship's generation of rain, and the Galacticans rapid sowing and planting of the fields ^{(1980: "Space Croppers")}.

Character Development

Conception

Jamie Hamilton was conceived by the show's creators as a bright, vivacious reporter whose knowledge of Earth's past would be essential to the Galactican Fleet's mission to save humanity from the pursuing Cylons. The show's time-travel premise required the Colonial Warriors to update Earth's technology covertly by traveling to the past and planting technological seeds with historical scientists, with Jamie serving as their historical guide.

Casting

Robyn Douglass was cast in the role at the last minute. In a January 1980 interview, she noted that she had been cast just the day before the interview took place, explaining: "I had no guarantee that it would be anything more than another TV movie." Despite the hasty casting process, Douglass was excited by the opportunity, though her boyfriend expressed concern about the demanding schedule, warning her: "You'll be working five days a week from Chicago, but it seems like I don't live there at all... since last year I've worked five months on location and only stayed in Chicago seven."

Portrayal

Robyn Douglass developed much of Jamie's character through her own creative input, working with the show's writers to build the character's personality over time. Douglass drew inspiration from action heroines like Jane Fonda's character in The Electric Horseman: "She grits her teeth, and goes after that story. Then, when all at get too much for her, she'll come on with her vulnerability."

Douglass was particularly conscious about avoiding stereotypical feminine portrayals, preferring to emphasize Jamie's intelligence and competence rather than relying on traditional feminine characteristics or sex appeal. She noted differences in how Jamie was written compared to her role in Tenspeed and Brownshoe: "I don't want to be like the 'eek!' female, and I don't want to be the real, real macho thing. Well, in Tenspeed and Brownshoe they have me acting a little more seductive, and I don't want to do that. I'm all buttoned up."

When comparing Galactica 1980 to other science fiction series, Douglass expressed her admiration for Star Trek, noting similarities in tone between the two shows while acknowledging their different approaches to storytelling.

Novelization depiction

Jamie Hamilton's appearance in the novelization by Michael Resnick is very much in line with her appearance and actions in the pilot episode. However, there are a few noteworthy differences, including the fact that she quits United Broadcasting Corporation and joins up with the Galacticans in their quest to stop Xaviar and help accelerate Earth's technological and social development.

Hamilton's experience also includes a major in history, in addition to 3 years of German in high school, with an additional 2 years in college.

Notes

• Jamie Hamilton was a recurring character in Galactica 1980. She appeared in all but the last episode of the series, although she was only in the segment of "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part II" that recounted the events of "Part I".

• In the scripted episode, "The Day They Kidnapped Cleopatra"—as Galactica 1980 was canceled before shooting—Hamilton again accompanied Troy and Dillon back in time as a history expert.

• Romance develops between Jamie and Dillon in the unproduced script "The Wheel of Fire." There is also a clear romance between Jamie and Dillon in the VHS release Conquest of the Earth which uses footage from several episodes of Galactica 1980. The scenes in which Jamie declares her love for Dillon are redubbed with the voice of a different actress.

• In "Space Croppers," there is some suggestion that the kids would have stayed at the Alonzo Farm, and Hamilton's role in the series would have moved away from being a sort of interstellar baby sitter, this inference being supported by two scripts: "The Day They Kidnapped Cleopatra" and "The Wheel of Fire".

• Her car's California license plate is "095 IGH" ^{(1980: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part I")}.

Photo Gallery

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References