The Eye of the Scorpion (audio story)

 was the twenty-fourth release in Big Finish's main Doctor Who line. A so-called "pseudo-historical" story, it mixed a bit of science fiction with an ancient Egyptian royal succession to form the backdrop for the introduction of a new companion for the Fifth Doctor: the uncrowned Pharaoh Erimemushinteperem.

The story launched a TARDIS team that had never existed on television — that of the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem — and in so doing massively widened the gap between Planet of Fire, Peri's introduction, and The Caves of Androzani, the Fifth Doctor's swan song. The team would continue on for scores of stories which covered several years of Peri's life.

Many of the character traits established for Erimem in this story would go on to be running themes explored throughout her run. The story was thus a bit unusual for a companion introduction in that it featured character beats that were typical of that companion, rather than things that were mentioned in her introduction and then mostly forgotten. It's not really possible to understand her actions in later stories like The Church and the Crown, The Council of Nicaea, Son of the Dragon, and her eventual departure in The Bride of Peladon without getting a good grasp on her motivations in this tale.

Scorpion was Iain McLaughlin's initial effort in the DWU, most of whose work in the DWU went on to feature Erimem. He gave the audio a novel-sized prequel called The Coming of the Queen — meaning that Scorpion is merely Erimem's first story, not her origin story.

Publisher's summary
1400 BC

Egypt is in mourning. Pharaoh, the great God-King, is dead. The future of the Two Kingdoms of Egypt is shrouded in uncertainty as the Council of Priests debates the claim to the throne of Pharaoh's only heir.

Out in the deserts around Thebes, Egypt's capital, a warlord chief is assembling an army of mercenaries, waiting for just the right moment to strike at Egypt's heart.

But not all of Egypt's enemies are outside the city. What is the secret of the strange box discovered in the desert?

When the TARDIS arrives nearby, it has apparently been hi-jacked... by the Doctor?

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
 * Erimem - Caroline Morris
 * Yanis - Harry Myers
 * Fayum - Jack Galagher
 * Antranak - Jonathan Owen
 * Kishik - Daniel Brennan
 * Horemshep - Stephen Perring
 * Slave - Mark Wright
 * Priest - Alistair Lock

Culture

 * Peri's mother Janine Foster used to worship Paul McCartney.

Individuals

 * Erimem's full name is Erimemushinteperem, which means "Daughter of Light". She is the daughter of the late Pharaoh Amenhotep II and Rubak, one of his sixty concubines. She is seventeen and had three elder half-brothers, all of whom have died in suspicious circumstances over the course of the previous year. She does not believe in the Egyptian gods.
 * Peri is a vegetarian and therefore balks at the thought of eating roast boar at a banquet thrown in her and the Doctor's honour by Erimem. The Doctor advises her to pretend to have eaten it by moving it around her plate.

Locations

 * Peri refers to Lanzarote as where she went to school and how Americans choose their leaders through elections.
 * Though the Doctor appears to be telling the truth when he says that "refugees from Atlantis" built the Great Sphinx partially as a way to house a great library of their civilisation — after all, he shows Peri several Atlantean historical artefacts when they're in the underground "Hall of Records" — he may well have been lying when he told Erimem that the Sphinx held a secret weapon.

Politics

 * Peri mentions Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi, two prominent female leaders from her own time. She considers the latter but not the former to be a good leader.
 * The Doctor can name every Pharaoh that Egypt ever had.

Continuity

 * The story appears to be set relatively soon after Planet of Fire, since the Doctor gives Peri a tour of the TARDIS at the beginning of the story. Given that the Doctor gives a similar tour to Erimem when she joins the crew, this tour seems to be something the Fifth Doctor does to initiate his new companions. Although The Caves of Androzani creates an impression of a fresh relationship between the Doctor and Peri (she wears the same outfit in both stories), Mission of the Viyrans will later address this discrepancy.
 * Peri refers to Lanzarote, where she first met the Doctor and Turlough on 8 May 1984. (TV: Planet of Fire)
 * Peri mentions her mother Janine Foster. (AUDIO: The Reaping)
 * The Doctor tells Peri that he "was at a bash they threw for Nero once." (TV: The Romans)
 * Erimem would later regret not saying goodbye to her mother before leaving with the Doctor and Peri. (AUDIO: No Place Like Home)
 * Almost every detail about the Great Sphinx given in this story is in fundamental conflict with that given in The Sands of Time, which chronicles another Fifth Doctor trip to Giza. The principal difference between the two is over the origin of the structure.  There, the Sphinx forms the locus of Osiran power.  Here, the Sphinx is said to come from Atlanteans, and was actually meant as the library of the civilisation of Atlantis.