natekwando 's review for:

Doctor Who: Scratchman by Tom Baker, James Goss

5.0

---

So I am probably biased since I am a huge doctor who fan, especially classic who. That being said I loved this book! This book is proof that Tom Baker was just being himself when “playing” the fourth doctor. The story is basically broken down into 2 parts. I personally enjoyed the first half better because it felt more like what a 1970s episode would be like. If you are trying to figure out where this story takes place in the story arc of the tv series, I would say that logically, it would have to be between Revenge of the Cyberman and Terror of the Zygons. That’s because in the show all the episodes that featured Harry Sullivan, who is a companion in this book, all the episodes with him pick up right where the last episode ended. And the only time where the characters catch a breather, is between those 2 episodes. The book does make reference to Sarah remembering the Loch Ness Monster, which means it would have to had taken place after the events of Terror of the Zygons. So chronologically, it’s kinda difficult to place. Since this was written by Tom Baker, I think that this book is cannon in the Whoniverse. Tom baker also reads this book in the audio format. All in all it’s an exciting adventure with the fourth doctors charm. One last thing. This is kind of a spoiler but not really. Towards the end of the book, the doctor meets a scarecrow that looks like the third doctor, and the fourth doctor says he looks good as a scarecrow. That’s a reference to Jon Pertwee play a scarecrow named Worzel Gummidge. It was a really low key and clever joke. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of doctor who. Classic or new.