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It's been a long time since the last Fifth Doctor and Peri audio, but THE EYE OF THE SCORPION was definitely worth the wait. In his sleeve notes, writer Iain McLaughlin notes that the television series never gave us a proper Egyptian adventure - all right, we had PYRAMIDS OF MARS but that was mostly set in England and in the 20th century. Although, as it turns out, THE EYE OF THE SCORPION is more of a pseudo-historical than a true historical, but who cares? In THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI we saw a great Doctor/companion team, and thanks to Big Finish we're getting a reminder of just how good that relationship was. Nicola Bryant might take a while to get into her accent here, but otherwise both she and Peter Davison are on fine form. Arriving in Ancient Egypt, the pair rescue Pharaoh-to-be Erimem, and not for the first time in a WHO historical, this allows the Doctor and companion access to the ruler's court, complete with topless dancers (shame it's audio really!) However, the Doctor's encyclopaedic knowledge of Egyptian rulers means that he knows there never was a Pharaoh Erimem, so it looks like at least one character is set to die before the end of part four. The feel of the TV historicals is maintained with the virtual absence of the Doctor from Part Two, allowing Peri and Erimem - who is excellently portrayed by Caroline Morris - to take centre stage, although the title isn't really justified by the generally low profile the scorpions play in proceedings. The rest of the cast are all up to the usual standard, although I did find it a little difficult working out who was who early on. Fortunately as the story progressed and on subsequent listenings, this was less of a problem. The final episode is definitely worth waiting for. If you haven't read any spoilers then Erimem's fate is a bit of a surprise, and Peri gets to reveal exactly whose face was on the Sphinx. All in all, another strong outing for the Fifth Doctor and Peri, and it'll be interesting to see how things develop in their subsequent audio adventures. BACK TO THE TOP |
THE EYE OF THE
SCORPION |
