• A Review by Stephen Maslin

A Review by Stephen Maslin 22/8/17

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ERIMEM

1. She sounds very English, but actually...
2. She's from ancient Egypt.
3. She travelled with the Fifth Doctor and Peri between Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani.
4. She was a bit of a wasted opportunity.
5. She sounds very, very English.

CHARACTER AS FIRST DESIGNED

Big Finish, consciously or not, decided to address this anomaly as follows:

a) by giving the Fifth Doctor and Peri plenty more time together; and

b) underlining the platonic nature of their bond by providing a chaperone. Erimem, daughter of the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt (it says here).

CHARACTER AS IT DEVELOPED

Yet, by virtue of superior acting chops and a well-balanced 'on-screen' chemistry with Peri, Erimem quickly became something else: not regal chaperone but sister/daughter. It was when the producers concentrated on this aspect of her character, without diminishing her ability to take command, that we had something really special. Sadly, as so often elsewhere, her time was bedeviled by generic scripts for a generic companion.

Nevertheless, from late 2001 until the start of 2008, she was one of Big Finish three 'new' companions (alongside Evelyn Smythe and Charley Pollard), appearing in a dozen or so stories. Let's see how she got on...

2001-04

Eye of the Scorpion by Ian McLaughlin.

In one sense, this is a highly authentic piece of Doctor Who, in that its representation of foreign lands in the distant past is very much "home counties". It's not only a matter of the TARDIS translating all speech into English but the characterizations prove once again that, as well as Outer Space, the Earth's past is also twinned with Surrey. (Harry Myers as Yanis, for example, is little more than a Brixton gangland thug.) Caroline Morris acts so well that one can just about ignore the English Rose quality that shines through her every syllable, but the story is weighed down by too many wacky foreign names and a nothing-to-write-home-about plot. Shame also that Erimem's very first introduction involves her being rescued. 6/10.

No Place Like Home by Ian McLaughlin.

A DWM freebie. Charming but inconsequential. 6/10.

Nothing as yet to set the pulse racing but then. . . oh my!

The Church and the Crown by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright.

This is how to do it! Are you planning on introducing a new companion? Don't emphasize the vulnerability (Polly in need of rescue, Victoria in need of rescue) or the vacuity (Jo in Terror of the Autons) or the eye-candiness (Romana in The Ribos Operation, Peri in Planet of Fire). Don't over-emphasize the 'clever-girl' either (Zoe in The Wheel in Space). No, give the companion something that is: (a) pertinent to the story and (b) proactive, not reactive. Thus we don't just have Erimem asking why anyone would put "glass where a window should be" but also winning sword fights and stirring the troops with brilliant oratory. Oh and, while you're at it, assemble a scintillating cast with which your still-new companion can truly shine. And isn't she (Erimem, the character AND Caroline Morris, the actress) suddenly magnificent. 10/10.

Nekromanteia by Austen Atkinson.

Having so brilliantly established the new companion, Nekromanteia sets up a pattern of 'what-kind-of-story-IS-this?'. Simon Williams is superb, as is Gilly Cohen (though get some headphones - you wouldn't want anyone to know that you listened to that kind of necessary over-acting). Unfortunately, most of the rest of the cast are very dull indeed and the script is all over the place. Erimem has plenty to do (getting shot, saying that a particular nasty punishment is in fact justified, losing her cat) and the character is more fully developed. However, of the attempts to elaborate on the 'different' companion, some of them are a little hard to swallow. 5/10.

The Axis of Insanity by Simon Furman.

As a story, this was generally well-received by fans, though I have to admit that I just don't get it. It should have been really good, but nothing quite seems to work. Erimem is given a properly central role once more, and the relationship between her and Peri is highlighted by the 'learning to read' bit at the beginning. Yet one can't help feeling that, in spite of the efforts of all concerned (particularly Garrick Hagon and Peter Davison), this is so often about shock tactics, not story-telling. 5/10.

The Roof of the World by Adrian Rigelsford.

Four and a half stories in and, with Erimem thus firmly established in the Who Companion fraternity, Big Finish gave Caroline Morris the honour of casting a name actor as her on-screen father. Tragic then that William Franklyn doesn't step up to the plate. I've never heard a more obvious example of someone just turning up and reading, without the remotest idea of what they are saying. What makes that even more glaringly obvious is that the rest of the cast is first class, and when the plot stays on home turf (trains, cricket, the British Raj, etc.), it has a charm all its own. Sadly, in its attempts to be a four-part epic rather a two-part charm-fest (Time Flight, as opposed to Black Orchid), it goes somewhat off the rails. 7/10.

MILESTONE: Erimem overtakes the number of episodes featuring Dodo Chaplet!

Three's a Crowd by Colin Brake.

Okay, so we get more depth to the Peri-Erimem sisterly relationship here, but that's just about it. The story is generic at best. In fairness, this seems a deliberate attempt to recreate a familiar kind of tale, but it merely succeeds in being rather ordinary. 3/10.

MILESTONE: Erimem overtakes the number of episodes featuring Harry Sullivan!

The Council of Nicaea by Caroline Symcox.

One has to hand it to Big Finish: a Doctor Who story centering on the theological controversies of the early Christian church? Worthy of commendation, certainly. Yet one can't help feeling that the writer would rather be talking about doctrinal minutiae than telling a story. By now, it comes as no surprise that Erimem assertively stands up for her convictions (and that Caroline Morris portrays this effortlessly) but some of the dialogue she has to wield in the process is more than a little wooden. 6/10.

MILESTONE: Erimem overtakes the number of episodes featuring Liz Shaw!

The Veiled Leopard by Ian McLaughlin and Clare Bartlett.

Another freebie and a great idea for a story, but utterly wrecked by unceasing music. Such are its powers of suffocation that one wonders why they even bothered with a sound design at all (or actors). 3/10.

The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain.

One of Big Finish's finest achievements (certainly its funniest) and the one where the Peri-Erimem sister act reaches a whole new level. By the end of it, one can hardly imagine the one without the other. "We're fine!" 10/10.

Son of the Dragon by Steve Lyons.

There seems to be a theory that runs as follows: as 'Classic' Doctor Who fans have grown up with the show, the show should grow up with them. Sorry, no. It is not the horror of 'classic' Doctor Who that has endured but its atmosphere. Son of the Dragon is an atmospheric piece of writing and has a very odd take on the rebellious companion (Erimem falling in love with a mass-murderer and attempting to justify said murderer's actions - streets ahead of Adric merely sulking). But are the grim implications of horror we get really what you want as monthly audio escapism? Son of the Dragon wouldn't be out of place as part of a spin-off dedicated to Hammer horror films, but Doctor Who it ain't. 5/10.

MILESTONE: Erimem equals the number of episodes featuring Ben and Polly!

The Mind's Eye by Colin Brake.

A fair attempt at something a little different, with each of the three leads having their own unusual little maze through which to run. But a cast is rather under-powered, and the sound design is pretty poor. 5/10.

MILESTONE: Erimem equals the number of episodes featuring Vicky and those featuring Adric!

The Bride of Peladon by Barnaby Edwards.

A new broom at Big Finish meant that it was time for a clear out. Like so many other companions from Doctor Who's history, it seemed the producers had lost interest in giving Erimem anything distinctive to do. Even in a really good story like The Kingmaker, the character was lovely but generic. The Bride of Peladon tries its best to address this, with the help of another excellent cast and the fan-pleasing pedal pressed firmly to the floor (Osirans, Ice Warriors, Mrs Aggedor). Yet it is, like Charley Pollard's final Eighth Doctor story The Girl Who Never Was, not the companion send-off it should have been. 5/10.

ACTOR

It sounds as patronizing as hell to say that Caroline Morris comes across as a "proper actor" but in Doctor Who of times past, there were frequently regulars who weren't. For every Stanislavsky-wielding Maureen O'Brien, there was a Matthew Waterhouse. I have no idea how Ms Morris was to work with (and it really doesn't matter), but in character she was never less than totally convincing, however ropey the material which she was occasionally given.

* * *

If only for The Church and the Crown and The Kingmaker, I shall always remember Erimem with fondness. Yet compare her two outstanding stories with the far greater number of successes featuring Charley Pollard (at least a dozen). This is not a question of any inferiority in terms of Caroline Morris' acting ability but rather a character definition with far too little wiggle room (not only an ancient Egyptian but royalty to boot) and far too few quality scripts.

GREATEST MOMENT

Bluffing her way into the court of Louis XIII in The Church and the Crown. Hell, no, ALL of The Church and the Crown.