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The Fifth Doctor companion Erimem – created by Iain McLaughlin for Big Finish’s adventure The Eye of the Scorpion – is now returning to audio with the release by BBV of three tales from the Thebes Publishing canon.

McLaughlin told Sci-Fi Bulletin: “I’m really pleased Erimem’s adventures are on audio. Surprised but delighted. The approach from BBV came out of the blue but taking Erimem back to audio was something I’d been thinking about for a while so I was really happy to give this a go. Erimem was born on audio so it feels right for her adventures to be heading back there.

“The three stories are adaptations of three of the early novellas we did at Thebes but they’re not just readings of the books. They’re all told by Andy (Andrea) Hansen, Erimem’s friend in the new life she has in the 21st Century. A lot of work went into adapting and retelling them from Andy’s perspective but I’m pretty pleased with the result. I think there’s a lot more immediacy by having the story told by somebody who was there rather than just doing it third person. It’s much more engaging when somebody tells you what they experience and what they lived through.

“We picked three very different stories. The Beast of Stalingrad is the kind of fusion of history and sci-fi that works really well in the Doctor Who universe. Prime Imperative is very Quatermassy and Churchill’s Castle is a space opera set in the future and I think it’s got a really nice sci-fi central conceit. They’re all different but that means we get to see different aspects of the characters, which makes them more interesting. Makes it more interesting to write too. I’ve been listening to the first performance today. I really do think the stories work well in this format.

“This Erimem is a year or two older, but she’s still inquisitive, fun, daft, and on the flick of a switch she’s a warrior and a general who will charge into battle because she thinks or feels it’s the right thing to do.”