''Spiral Scratch'' is a

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadca ...

original novel written by

Gary Russell Gary Russell (born 18 September 1963) is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series '' Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs in other media. As an ...

and based on the long-running British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series '' Doctor Who''. It features the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time ...

and

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (includin ...

. The debut adventure of the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy ...

, ''

Time and the Rani ''Time and the Rani'' is the first serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature Sylvester McCo ...

'', begins with the Doctor regenerating with little explanation given; Russell's novel attempts to provide a "final story" for the Sixth Doctor and effectively serves as a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to ''Time and the Rani''.

Continuity

*The end of the novel suggests another explanation for the Doctor's regeneration into his seventh incarnation rather than the crash landing seen at the start of ''

'', with the Doctor being forced to sacrifice much of his energy to stop a pan-dimensional being from destroying creation, thus leaving him in a weakened condition prior to the Rani's attack; rather than injuries sustained by the Rani's attack causing the regeneration, he was already dying and the Rani's attack simply finished the job. There is also a reference to the Sixth Doctor meeting a future version of himself in the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ...

, although which incarnation is not specified. Russell also includes further suggestions that the BBC books range and the

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

audio range take place in

parallel universe Parallel universe often refers to parallel universes in fiction, a self-contained separate world, universe or reality coexisting with the real world, which is used as a recurring plot point or setting used in fantasy and science fiction. Parallel ...

s, and even has brief appearances from

Peri In Persian mythology, peris (singular: peri; from fa, پَری, translit=parī, , plural , ; borrowed in European languages through ota, پَری, translit=peri) are exquisite, winged spirits renowned for their beauty. Peris were later ad ...

, Evelyn Smythe, the Cyber-enhanced Evelyn from '' Real Time'' and Frobisher, as well as an alternate version of Mel who is a half-

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoi ...

hybrid. *The unofficial novel '' Time's Champion'', written by

Chris McKeon Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

based on notes by the late

Craig Hinton Craig Paul Alexander Hinton (7 May 1964 – 3 December 2006) was a British writer best known for his work on various spin-offs from the BBC Television series '' Doctor Who''. He also wrote articles for various science fiction magazines, an ...

, implies that the Doctor's endeavour there is a new timeline created by the Sixth Doctor in his first act as "Time's Champion" as he attempts to save Mel from the clutches of

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, who would become a frequent nemesis to the Seventh Doctor in the

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from th ...

novels.

Notes

* The novel was originally titled ''Future Nostalgia''. * The title of the book is taken from the record of the same name by

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independe ...

. * On the cover, the Doctor is wearing his blue cravat, but at the time of his regeneration he wore a red cravat.

References

External links

The Cloister Library - ''Spiral Scratch''
* {{Sixth Doctor stories, selected=Books 2005 British novels 2005 science fiction novels Past Doctor Adventures Sixth Doctor novels Novels by Gary Russell