'Doctor Who: Scratchman' – Tom Baker (BBC Books)


Sometimes a book comes along that elbows its way through your TBR pile and says, 'the hell with that lot, you're reading ME first..' We've all been there, don't tell me that you haven't (next thing you know, you'll be telling me that you're not buying any more books until you finish the ones that you have first)... But anyway ;o)

I was pretty much set on reading Moorcock's 'The Jewel in the Skull' until I was walking past the British Heart Foundation shop, in Bromley, and saw 'Scratchman' in the window. I went straight in and grabbed it, and then got a bit of telling off from the volunteer lady for taking books off the display. Yep, shouldn't have done it but also nope, didn't care as I had the book in my hand and it was mine now :o)

As you can probably tell from the rest of the blog, I'm better at keeping up with 'Doctor Who' on the small screen than I am with the books, all the best intentions but you know... 'Scratchman' was one of those books that originally caught my eye, when it came out, only for something else to catch my eye (probably work) and for it to be completely forgotten about. Until a couple of days ago that is, then I was off into the best kind of Doctor Who book, one written by Tom Baker...

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane Smith arrive at a remote Scottish island, when their holiday is cut short by the appearance of strange creatures – hideous scarecrows, who are preying on the local population. The islanders are living in fear, and the Doctor vows to save them all. But it doesn’t go to plan – the time travellers have fallen into a trap, and Scratchman is coming for them.

With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, the Doctor must battle an ancient force from another dimension, one who claims to be the Devil. Scratchman wants to know what the Doctor is most afraid of. And the Doctor’s worst nightmares are coming out to play…

I did plan to do other stuff, over the Bank Holiday Weekend, and while I did get some of it done, most of my time was spent reading 'Scratchman'. It's very easy to pick up (it would be, intriguing blurb and it says it's written by TOM BAKER... you walk past it and try not picking it up) and really difficult to put down again. So I didn't put it down, just got really comfortable and kept on reading until it was done. I think it goes without saying (so watch me say it anyway) that 'Doctor Who' fans will get the most out of it, and that's where I am, but even if you're not it's still a fun read.

The book may have been ghost written (thank goodness I Googled before I posted...) but Tom Baker worked on it as a consultant and it shows, the man who not only played the Doctor but played the Doctor in some pretty dark slices of the TV show with stories that verged on outright horror. Baker not only has the voice of the Doctor nailed but he also knows what makes a 'Doctor Who' story scary and what makes you follow it anyway. Some might see it as an unfair advantage but I see it as just making the most of what you have ;o) And he does it really well (it would be a shock if he didn't) in a tale that switches effortlessly between a little bit creepy and going on full on sci-fi extravaganza with a sly streak of humour running through it. You can't help but laugh once you find out what a Cyberman's idea of hell is... And perhaps the biggest monster of all... The bigger the monster, the more the Doctor has to fall back on his own resources and be absolutely brilliant. And seeing as it's the Fourth Doctor written by the 'Fourth Doctor'... Yep, he's pretty damn brilliant.

There's also a poignant note to the tale as not only do we get to spend time with Sarah-Jane but we also see the Doctor not only spend time with his past and future selfs (one moment of which was absolutely glorious) but we get to see a more human side of him as he is forced to confront the thing which he fears the most. Which is kind of the point really (as he tells the Timelords afterwards) but it's still a little unsettling to see someone who you think is invulnerable prove to be anything but. I get it though, that's the point.

'Scratchman' is a little bit of everything and something so chaotic shouldn't hang together so well but Baker has done all this before so of course it does. As ever, I'm hopelessly behind with my reading (with no hope of ever catching up) but if you're a 'Doctor Who' fan who hasn't read 'Scratchman' (What? There might be one left...) then that's something you need to remedy. Not with my copy though, it's a keeper :o)

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