Book Review: 'Doctor Who: Scratchman' by Tom Baker & James Goss

'Scratchman' co-written by Tom Baker and James Goss, was originally devised by Baker and Ian Marter (who played the companion Harry Sullivan at the time) in the 1970s, but for whatever reason (likely budgetary restraints), was never made. 

It starts off with the Doctor on trial on Gallifrey, summoned to the Convocation of Oblivion to account for his actions before his Time Lord peers, and there, he recounts the tale of his encounter with Scratchman. We revisit the court sporadically throughout the book as interludes, as the Doctor tries to win over the court. 

In the first part of the book, the Doctor arrives on an isolated Scottish village with his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, where they soon discover that there are strange things going on with living scarecrows terrorising the village. And so the Doctor just has to get involved and to try to save the villagers.

In the second part, the Doctor discovers that these scarecrows are only part of a test with Scratchman behind it all, part of a bigger scheme in which the mysterious Scratchman has plans to takeover the Earth. So the Doctor travels to Scratchman's realm of the dead to thwart his evil plan.

It's an interesting book, that clearly reflects the personality of Tom Baker's incarnation of the Doctor with his chirpy, eccentric personality definitely shining through, as do those of the energetic Sarah Jane and the stiff-upper-lip Harry.

It's a solid Doctor Who story that is well paced, and especially in the first part, really feels like an episode of the show from the Fourth Doctor's era, drinking deep from the well of nostalgia, especially with some of the nods and winks to references from the series, and I also enjoyed a certain cameo appearance as well. The second part gets a bit surreal at times, but still feels very much a part of the story.

Recommended for fans of Doctor Who, especially ones who remember the Fourth Doctor fondly.

Available from Waterstones, Kobo ebooks: (UK) / (USA) / (Canada), Audible Audiobooks and all good bookstores.