The Eye of the Scorpion is a cracking good adventure by Iain McLaughlin, one that starts well and gets even better with each episode. I love the classic pure historicals and the later alien-rich pseudo-historicals - and this very successfully manages to be both at the same time and to introduce an excellent new Companion. (Not that we are supposed to know that until the end of course.)
(One of the very best things about DU is that sometimes we're privileged to hear directly from the people behind these great stories. Thanks to
iainmclaughlin for this one and for giving us interesting notes on it. And I'm looking forward to 'The Churchill Years Volume 02' in February, including 'Human Conflict'.)
The alien presence is made clear from the beginning but for most of the first half it's in the background of what might well be a pure historical and a very good one indeed. Erimem is her father's legitimate heir, but there are many who see a female Pharaoh (as yet uncrowned) simply as a chance to grab power for themselves. Yanis (a gangster warlord apparently from the East End of the desert) and Horemshep (the smoothly treacherous High Priest) may be motivated by the alien influence, but I don't think they needed very much convincing...
Episode One throws the Doctor and Peri straight into the classic historical - the Doctor shows his charioteering skills (move over, Ben-Hur!) and fights assassins, and he and Peri enter Thebes in style and are honoured guests at a sumptuous banquet, all because they've met (and rescued) the Important Historical Figure in the traditional way. And who more important than the young Pharaoh Erimem - except for one thing - the Doctor knows Earth history and he's never heard of her...
It's a great start to the story; Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant play the historical perfectly (Peri's culture shocks at the banquet are fun!) and the Doctor and Peri's relationship with Erimem seems solid and natural within minutes - as they enter Thebes in a chariot, Peri (discovering who they have rescued) asks should she be bowing or curtseying? And Erimem replies, yes she
should but please don't because Peri would probably fall off the chariot and that would be so undignified! Caroline Morris is excellent and, listening with the benefit of hindsight, Erimem has 'Companion' written all over her because she is clearly
different, an independent spirit greater than the society she has grown up in.
I enjoyed all this very much and also the nod to the old historicals by having the Doctor missing from episode Two, just as they did when William Hartnell and co. were due a week off from their hectic filming schedules. Here, his absence does far more than pay tribute to 'Doctor Who' history, by bringing Peri and Erimem to the fore - and quite right too in this story which is centred on a young woman trying to assert herself in a very male-dominated society. Loyal army commander Antranak may advise against it, but he obeys and helps Erimem and her new friend Peri to boldly go investigating where no man but Pharaoh has legally gone before - the Palace of Concubines - for a gripping 'Indiana Jones' segment of secret passages, flickering torches, hidden altars and horrible hordes of creepy-crawlies! And scorpions behaving as none should do - some strange influence is at work in Egypt...
With the Doctor back in action, episode Three is the best yet as he discovers the alien presence in the enemy camp and then turns up in Thebes just in the nick of time to engage in a brilliant showdown with Horemshep and his new ally, the previously loyal priest Fayum - but the Doctor now knows how that loyalty has been so easily swayed... It's a great scene between Peter Davison and Stephen Perring and for me one of the highlights of the story.
Then, with the alien influence growing, there's time for one more tribute to the historicals like' Marco Polo', with a journey section taking the action north to the pyramids at Giza to join up with Erimem's garrison there. And the journey gives time for a reflective scene and my favourite moment. Travelling on a chariot with the Doctor, Erimem rejects her gods (including her own supposed divinity) and tells the Doctor what she really believes in - science, experimentation, discovery! It's practically a 'religious' conversion scene; even though Erimem has made her decision before he arrives, it's the Doctor's presence that encourages her to declare it openly and align with his ideals and with
him. A ready-made Companion if ever there was one!
Then we're back to action for an exciting final section of battles on the plains of Giza and in a secret world far below. Where a 'mummy' film would have had spirits, chanting and possessed cults, this Egyptian-themed 'Doctor Who' has mind parasites, telepathy and group minds for the Doctor to fight - which he does, typically, not by any special 'power' but by helping the human victims of the alien parasite to re-discover the power of their own independent minds.
And there's just time for a very funny joke about the face of the Sphinx (given a bit of a makeover on Peri's instructions!) before the surprise ending... Like Leela (or even Adric) Erimem doesn't accept her 'place' in her own world. A life as the all-powerful Pharaoh and a living god? What does that have to offer compared with the attractions of education, travel and discovery? It's a great idea - Erimem feels her destiny lies elsewhere and the Doctor knows she will never be crowned Pharaoh - and they end by fulfilling that 'prophecy' of history between them.
It's remarkable that Erimem joining the TARDIS crew wasn't always planned, because to me the story seemed to lead there from the start. Destiny must work at BF too!
(That was rather too long, sorry, I got a bit carried away!)