| Review:- A tale of the ancients, and a new friend for Peri... One great positive for BF is their ability to use the audio format for historical narratives. They make the most of that here with the origin of a new companion from such a background, not tried on screen since probably Katarina (and that experiment didn't last long). So much of this story can be taken as a virtual audition for Erimem as a regular. It would be unfair to make a judgement on the success of it based just on this story, though. The story itself is a pretty standard runaround where an embattled leader finds her position threatened, and unable to establish her authority. Using the position of Pharoah gives the interesting setting, but the more visual elements associated with Egyptology are sadly lost with the medium. The problem, though, with historicals, is that sometimes the so-called 'pure' ones (with no SF elements save the Doctor et al) get a bad press and are not considered interesting enough. This is where the pseudo-historical comes in, giving an added alien dimension. Also, it prevents the worrying argument that history is invalid unless the Doctor helps things along. And it's the alien elements which hamper this story. Yanis makes for a memorably nasty villain, and the silky tones of Stephen Perring as Horemshep would later be reused by BF for a regular villain. The whole subplot of the real Pharoah makes for a decent little mystery. Sadly, that all gets wiped away when the Doctor finds that Yanis' secret weapon is a piece of alien tech that's been found by mistake. It has the less than enticing property of being passed on by touch, allowing for Peri to become imperilled, and conveniently allowing Erimem more face time alongside the Doctor in the last episode. Quite why a trip to the Sphinx is in order is still unexplained, and the Doctor's peculiar use of the TARDIS to block out the sun and bolster Erimem at a crucial moment seems frankly out of character. And I still don't quite see where the title fits in, unless it's something to do with said alien device. Otherwise, the only scorpions are those which conveniently menace Peri and Erimem in part 2. So, with the ticking clock of Erimem not becoming Pharoah because she dies, the author instead finds the unsatisfying resolution to bung her aboard the TARDIS, a move designed to improve Peri's character, during an unfeasibly long gap between on-screen adventures. Perhaps it's decisions like that which make it easy to dismiss BF altogether. This is a promising audio with a lot going for it, that sadly wastes most of its potential. |
| THE EYE OF THE SCORPION by Iain McLaughlin |
| Story 24 Synopsis: The TARDIS is knocked off course, apparently by the Doctor. Unaware why, he takes Peri to the source, Ancient Thebes, where they save Erimem from death in a runaway chariot. They then learn she is to become Pharoah. An attempt to kill her with a poisoned knife fails when the Doctor takes the blow. Peri and Erimem try to investigate, and are nearly killed by scorpions. The Doctor has recovered, and travelled into the enemy camp, where he finds an alien device that Erimem's enemies are using. When he returns to Thebes, he speaks up for Erimem against the counter-claims for another Pharoah candidate. He organises a plan to prevent attack, heading for the Sphinx. He then reveals to Erimem that Peri has been taken over by the enemy. In a chamber beneath the Sphinx, the Doctor confronts the alien, which collates itself inside Peri. By inducing schizophrenia, he weakens it enough to trap it inside a cat. The Doctor has stated he has never heard of a Pharoah Erimem, and she asks to join he and Peri in the TARDIS. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy. |