🙏🏼(6.4) = OKAY!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

The Eye of the Scorpion takes place in the fascinating era of Ancient Egypt, where Five and Peri become embroiled in pharaohs, political intrigues, and warring generals. The adventure bears a resemblance to The Aztecs. This is a pseudo-historical, though, with clear The Mummy vibes, as the villains use alien interference in their evil schemes.

This story is, of course, notable for introducing the third original Big Finish companion, the Egyptian princess Erimem, who joins Five and Peri on several adventures.

The opening minutes introduce Erimem in an exciting action scene, and the rest of the story follows her enemies' various attempts to prevent her from ascending the throne following the Pharaoh's death. The story gives Caroline Morris ample space to develop the character, nearly assuming the lead role from the Doctor as she guides Nicola Bryant through the middle parts of the story.

Erimem proves to be a strong-willed woman with a powerful influence, which makes her somewhat special among Doctor Who companions. She works very well alongside Peri, who is much more bearable here. Peter Davison falls to the wayside again.

Part 1 ends with a very classic cliffhanger.

The bulk of this story is fairly typical political scheming, with Erimem and Peri trying to figure things out while their enemies wait in the shadows. While it does a fine job of capturing the era and the characters, it takes a decent while to get going properly. There are a couple of intriguing action scenes and a handful of effective moments, though.

Part 3 effectively halts the momentum, primarily because of a protracted trial sequence that culminates in a conflict between Erimem's allies and enemies. The problem is that it hints at alien interference a couple of times but doesn't do anything about it until Part 4 (and after the very random cliffhanger in Part 3).

Part 4 gets on track again and finds a way to incorporate the Sphinx into the plot. The story effectively captures the intensity of battle and the sense of exploration as the Doctor confronts the alien adversaries.

I appreciate the detailed explanation of the era's culture and customs, particularly during the banquet in Part 1, which serves as a bit of a cultural shock for Peri.

Yanis makes for a power-hungry villain with a terrific performance from Harry Myers, better known as Adrian Wall in the Bernice Summerfield audios. He’s a scheming snake in a similar vein to Tlotoxl from The Aztecs. Horemshep (played by Kro’ka voice actor Stephen Perring), in contrast, is more soft-spoken and doesn’t stand out quite as much.

The mind-controlling aliens don't hold much interest or receive the attention they merit.

Although Erimem joining the TARDIS isn't a particularly exciting moment, it has received good attention.