The Claws of Axos
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| 57 - The Claws of Axos | |
|---|---|
| Doctor | Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) |
| Writer | Bob Baker Dave Martin |
| Director | Michael Ferguson |
| Script editor | Terrance Dicks |
| Producer | Barry Letts |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | GGG |
| Series | Season 8 |
| Length | 4 episodes, 25 mins each |
| Transmission date | March 13–April 3, 1971 |
| Preceded by | The Mind of Evil |
| Followed by | Colony in Space |
The Claws of Axos is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from March 13 to April 3, 1971.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The arrival of a strange meteorite near a nuclear power station in England brings the gold-skinned Axons into contact with mankind: but is their gift of Axonite as generous as it seems?
[edit] Plot
The Axons land on Earth, desperately in need of fuel. They propose to exchange the miracle substance they call Axonite for some much needed energy. Axonite is a "thinking" molecule that can replicate any substance... or so they claim. As it turns out, the ship is a single organism called Axos whose purpose is to feed itself by draining all energy through the Axonite (which is just a part of itself), including the energy of every life form on Earth. The deception about the Axonite's beneficial properties was to facilitate the distribution of Axonite across the globe.
Meanwhile, the Master, who was captured by Axos and used his knowledge of Earth as a bargaining chip for his life and freedom, escapes Axos and makes his way to the Doctor's TARDIS — his own having been seized by Axos. He plans to repair it to effect his escape from Earth.
Axos itself becomes interested in the Doctor's knowledge of time travel. It now plans to broaden its feeding base by travelling through time as well as space. The Doctor, realising this, plans to trick Axos into linking up its drive unit to his TARDIS so that he can send Axos into a perpetual time loop. After tricking the Master into completing the repairs on his TARDIS, the Doctor does just that. This results in every part of Axos dematerialising from Earth, including the Axon automatons and the Axonite.
At the end, with the Master having escaped in his own TARDIS during the confusion aboard Axos, the Doctor returns to Earth, but not of his own volition. Apparently, the Time Lords have programmed the TARDIS to always return to Earth, like some "galactic yo-yo".
[edit] Cast
- Doctor Who — Jon Pertwee
- Jo Grant — Katy Manning
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart — Nicholas Courtney
- Captain Mike Yates — Richard Franklin
- Sergeant Benton — John Levene
- The Master — Roger Delgado
- Corporal Bell — Fernanda Marlowe
- Chinn — Peter Bathurst
- Bill Filer — Paul Grist
- George Hardiman — Donald Hewlett
- Winser — David Savile
- Captain Harker — Tim Pigott-Smith
- The Minister — Kenneth Benda
- Pigbin Josh — Derek Ware
- Radar Operators — Michael Walker, David G. March
- Technician — Royston Farrell
- Elderly Jo Grant — Mildred Brown
- Axons — Bernard Holley, Patricia Gordino, John Hicks, Debbie Lee London
[edit] Continuity
The serial features a famous shot of Jo Grant's purple knickers. [1]
[edit] Production
- Working titles for this story included Doctor Who and the Gift, The Friendly Invasion, The Axons and The Vampire from Space. The last title was used through the production of the first two episodes, and was only changed by the time filming began on the third. The DVD release contains unused footage and cuts from the story that are packaged with the original title sequence – naming the story as The Vampire from Space.
- During the location shooting of the scenes with the tramp, a freak overnight snow storm necessitated the creation of a line in the programme to explain that the freak weather conditions in these scenes are as a result of Axos' arrival.
- A common myth about this story is that the colour-separation overlay (CSO) background was accidentally placed in some of the car interior scenes, meaning a blank blue void is seen behind the characters. In reality, the scenes were shot on location (and on 16 mm film, making CSO extremely tricky), and clouds can be seen. The differing shades of blue compared to the exterior shots is due to the scenes being filmed at different parts of the day,
- For reasons unexplained, the opening titles for this serial use the Second Doctor's version of the Doctor Who theme music as opposed to the Third Doctor's, as do The Mind of Evil and Terror of the Autons. After this serial however, the theme reverts to the Jon Pertwee standard.
[edit] Outside references
- The Lovely Invasion, an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series Nebulous, parodies this story: the world falls in love with the Lovely, a naked alien trio offering to "Lovelify" the Earth until they are nuked by Professor Nebulous.
- In David Tennant's video diaries included on the 2006 series boxset, during the filming of Rise of the Cybermen, Nicholas Briggs says to the viewer that a "Claws Of Axos" style rewrite may have to be done on the episode due to the unexpected snowstorm that is happening.
[edit] In print
| Doctor Who book | |
 |
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| Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos | |
|---|---|
| Series | Target novelisations |
| Release number | 10 |
| Writer | Terrance Dicks |
| Cover artist | Chris Achilleos |
| ISBN | 0 426 11703 4 |
| Release date | 21 April 1977 |
| Preceded by | Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth |
| Followed by | Doctor Who and the Ark in Space |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in April 1977.
[edit] Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases
- Episodes two and three required restoration to PAL colour from 2" NTSC quad videotapes returned to the BBC from Ontario, Canada, in 1983, the original recordings of half the story having been wiped. See Doctor Who Restoration Team.
- The story was released on VHS in May 1990.
- This story was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2005 and was released in North America on November 8, 2005. , the picture quality of the central two episodes had been markedly enhanced through the use of the 'Reverse Standards Conversion' procedure (see also Inferno).
[edit] External links
- The Claws of Axos episode guide on the BBC website
- The Claws of Axos at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- The Claws of Axos at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Restoration of The Claws of Axos
[edit] Reviews
- The Claws of Axos reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- The Claws of Axos reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
[edit] Target novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
- On Target — Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos
| The Master television stories | |
|---|---|
| Third Doctor: | Terror of the Autons • The Mind of Evil • The Claws of Axos • Colony in Space • The Dæmons • The Sea Devils • The Time Monster • Frontier in Space |
| Fourth Doctor: | The Deadly Assassin • The Keeper of Traken • Logopolis |
| Fifth Doctor: | Castrovalva • Time-Flight • The King's Demons • The Five Doctors • Planet of Fire |
| Sixth Doctor: | The Mark of the Rani • The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe |
| Seventh Doctor: | Survival |
| Eighth Doctor: | Doctor Who |
| Minor appearances: | The Caves of Androzani |
| See also: | The Curse of Fatal Death |
| UNIT television stories | |
|---|---|
| Second Doctor: | (The Web of Fear) • The Invasion |
| Third Doctor: | Spearhead from Space • Doctor Who and the Silurians • The Ambassadors of Death • Inferno • Terror of the Autons • The Mind of Evil • The Claws of Axos • The Dæmons • Day of the Daleks • The Time Monster • The Three Doctors • The Green Death • Invasion of the Dinosaurs • Planet of the Spiders |
| Fourth Doctor: | Robot • Terror of the Zygons • The Android Invasion |
| Seventh Doctor: | Battlefield |
| Tenth Doctor: | The Christmas Invasion |
| Minor appearances: | The Time Warrior • The Seeds of Doom • The Five Doctors • Aliens of London/World War Three |
| See also: | UNIT dating controversy |
