Tom is New Zealand's leading satirical cartoonist who tells it the way he sees it. He is an award winning author, film director and playwright who has written a documentary film on Sir Edmund Hillary. And a new film "Separation City"

Tom on TVNZ

Tom Scott, after being conceived on the banks of the Blackwater River in Ireland, was in due course born in London, a fact he does not want widely disseminated. In 1949, along with his mother and twin sister he was transported aboard the Tamoroa to New Zealand aged 18 months. He remembers little of the voyage apart from the mutiny and a loud bump when crossing the International Dateline.

He was educated at Feilding High School and Massey University where, much to his relief, he was expelled from Vet School. Because his mother was Catholic he wasn’t allowed to wear rubber gloves when performing rectal examinations on cattle.

Tom Scott, one of New Zealand's greatest characters, commenced his academic career studying to be a vet and ended up with a degree in anatomy and philosophy.

While studying at Massey University however he worked on the university's capping magazine, where his drawings were even then a quantum leap ahead of anything seen before. It wasn't long before he decided to pursue his love of journalism and current event commentary and develop his unique cartooning talents.

In the early 70's Tom turned cartooning and political journalism on it's ear with his cartoons depicting political figures and events. Tom's run ins with the late PM Sir Robert Muldoon took much of centre stage during Sir Robert's political career however there is no doubt that both respected each others talents albeit from different perspectives.

After a distinguished career with The Listener and The Auckland Star, Tom joined the Evening Post in Wellington where he is now their political cartoonist.In addition to his cartoons, Tom co-scripted the very successful film version of Footrot Flats with Murray Ball, has written several television plays, a television series and several books.

A very talented New Zealander who is passionate about New Zealand and what it stands for, his passion has brought him in touch with Sir Edmund Hillary and in 1996 Tom wrote a biography on Sir Edmund. In 2004 based on a four-part documentary series shown on TVNZ, Everest - View from the Top has been adapted for Channel 4 and Channel 4 International by Peter Williams Television and Tom Scott Productions. Tom Scott is the Producer/Director. Ian McKellen recorded a new narration in Wellington, New Zealand on 21 June 2002.

To make the original documentary of Sir Ed's May 29th, 1953 conquering of Everest, Tom travelled across the US with Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary as he spoke at fund-raising dinners, accompanied them to old haunts in Delhi, Darjeeling and Varanasi in India, and visited aid projects in the Solu Khumbu district below Everest in Eastern Nepal. They also took Hillary back to the South Pole.

Tom also has writen a play based on his father's life called The Daylight Atheist this, the first play by Tom, received critical acclaim in New Zealand and in June 2004 opened in Australia to great reviews.