The Scruffy Piper

"It's all a question of finding the right frequency."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2026

Printed in: Time Lord Fairy Tales 10

Featuring: Second Doctor

Synopsis

We are all stories in the end...

Sixteen tales of ancient wonder and mystery, passed down through generations of Time Lords. 

Dark, beautiful and twisted, these stories are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs from across all of time and space.

Verdict

The Scruffy Piper was an excellent short story to continue my way through the Time Lord Fairy Tales collection! I think this might just have taken first place as the best adventure in the book so far because this was just marvellous. I think it helps having the Doctor feature and I find it quite amusing to think that this might be a Time Lord fairytale without them ever realising that one of their own features. I mean, the Doctor is never mentioned by name but the fact he used the word 'TARDIS' at the conclusion of the story would indicate his planet of origin. I think that's fun and it almost works better for that to come at the end. It has a storyline beat as a reader who would be a young Time Lord as they find out that this mysterious and comical man is actually one of their own! I thought it was clever to not address the Doctor by his title and that just enhanced the quality of the description. From the clothes alone it was clear that the incarnation here was the Second Doctor but the noticeability didn't end there. I thought the writing of his actions was absolutely marvellous. It's no secret that Justin Richards is a fantastic writer but the way he captured the essence of the Second Doctor here was honestly sublime. From the jumping on the spot and hand clapping to his babbling and "oh my giddy aunt!", this was just superb. I loved how authentic that felt. I also really enjoyed that this story featured the Cybermen as they're the quintessential enemy of this incarnation in my opinion. They show up time and time again to do battle with him after causing the First Doctor to regenerate into him in The Tenth Planet, so I like that we get another battle here. Although, this one was more focused on the Cybermats which was great as they're a very underrated element of the Cybermen. I liked how this had similarities to The Wheel in Space and The Moonbase with the Cybermats infiltrating and just the outer space station setting. It just felt like a Second Doctor era story and that's important. I am unsure which pairing of companions were inside the TARDIS upon arrival but I struggle to believe Jamie would have accepted being told to stay put! But then if it was Polly and Ben they hadn't yet encountered the Cybermats. So where does this fit? It's fun to ponder and it's really not that important. It's just a fun quirk to think about. I thought the Doctor utilising his recorder when it came to finding the right frequency to draw the Cybermats to them was terrific in its predictable simplicity. I also must say that the illustration accompany this short story was absolutely glorious. Easily the best printed in the entire book so far. It looked reminiscent of The Tomb of the Cybermen which must have been the inspiration and having the Doctor imprinted there with almost a decorative line of Cybermen and Cybermats was just marvellous. It really added a lot to the tale which I appreciated. The Chief still not being trusting of the Doctor after thwarting the Cybermen felt a tad harsh but it was good humour to have him go into the police box and escape without being questioned and causing any further trouble. Overall, a superb little short story! A terrific little read. 

Rating: 9/10