Classic Doctor Who - Season 8 - The Claws Of Axos (1971) - Review

Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney & Roger Delgado

Written By: Bob Baker & Dave Martin

Directed By: Michael Ferguson

'The Claws Of Axos' marks the midway point of 'Doctor Who's eighth season, and by now the basic formulas for this era of the show had been firmly established. Coming off the back of Season 7, arguably the show's most mature and straight-faced run even to this day, there had been a noticeable attempt to lighten things up and return to the more family-based appeal come Season 8. After the last gasp of the grown-up thriller in 'The Mind Of Evil', 'The Claws Of Axos' operates in the same kind of vein as the season's debut story 'Terror Of The Autons', giving us big ugly monsters and a whole lot of colour... 

Amidst an inquiry into U.N.I.T personnel and the arrival of an American agent to discuss the ongoing threat presented by the Master, an unusual object is detected on course for Earth. Landing on the South East coast near the Nuton Power Complex, the alien Axons arrive with their ship's fuel severely depleted. Making contact, in exchange for energy to power their ship, the Axons offer the human race a substance known as Axonite - a thinking molecule capable of replicating any substance. Although Axonite offers a solution to many of humanity's problems, it may also be immensely powerful in the wrong hands, making the Doctor suspicious. With hideous monsters being seen on the Axons' ship, as well as the Master being imprisoned onboard, the Doctor may be right to be wary...

Reading the liner notes of 'The Claws Of Axos' DVD, there was a lot of crossover between what it had to say and my own thoughts on the story, not least about the use of colour. There is something beautiful in 'Spearhead From Space' about seeing the title sequence in colour for the very first time, and the introduction of colour did undoubtedly help distinguish the 3rd Doctor's run from that of his predecessors. But as the DVD notes point out, this is definitely one of the most colourful stories of the Pertwee era. The Axons and their spaceship are a gorgeous kaleidoscope of colour, fully capitalizing on the shift to even bolder colours that we started to see with the new Auton designs in the season premiere. I also love the general atmosphere whenever we're inside the Axons' ship - it FEELS alien, a feeling that's only enhanced during some of more trippy visual sequences. 

The Axons themselves make for an interesting adversary, both as an idea and from a design perspective. The fact that the Axons, their ship and the Axonite they give to the humans are all one interconnected organism - it isn't an idea that's unheard of in sci-fi, but I'm fairly sure that at the time it was new ground by 'Doctor Who' standards. From a thematic standpoint, their appearance as angelic golden humanoids is great, and for the Axons it's just good PR. After all, you'd be much more likely to accept a gift of some miracle element if it came from this regal, benevolent looking species. That the Axons can morph into these big, grotesque monsters could've been a good reveal, and when Jo sees one at the end of Part 1, it could've sowed the seeds of doubt as to whether they're all that they appear. Unfortunately that idea gets shot in the foot since the Axons appear in their monstrous form on screen right at the start as their ship crashes to Earth. Seriously, why do that? I do like the simplicity of their "spaghetti monster" look though, and I can imagine that its grotesqueness must've been appealing to a younger audience.

One of the things I tend to hear whenever 'The Claws Of Axos' is discussed, is the idea that it's a story you have to be in the right mood to sit and enjoy. I must admit, I have to agree. As again acknowledged by the DVD notes, this is a very typical story for the 3rd Doctor era. It bears practically all the hallmarks - you've got Jo, the U.N.I.T family, another alien race arriving on Earth, an abundance of political theming, the Master shows up etc. When it comes to the U.N.I.T family, while Benton, Yates and the Brigadier are all here... this is a pretty unremarkable story for them. For the Brigadier in particular, this is a very bread and butter time - he's here to fulfil a function and while Nicholas Courtney is always up to that task, this is just a standard Brigadier appearance. As for poor Jo, she doesn't even get that as this is possibly one of the character's weakest outings. Aside from one pretty nasty scene where the Doctor is forced to watch Jo being aged to death, Jo is placed firmly on the sidelines, only being here to scream and have the occasional conversation with Bill Filer. Perhaps her worst moment comes when she and the Doctor attempt to escape the Axon ship, and she's reduced to screaming "I can't, I can't!" over and over. Rather horrifyingly, she even gets a slap off the Doctor during this... yikes! The 3rd Doctor has been described as the most establishment Doctor, a viewpoint I can understand even if I don't necessarily agree. But in this story, it can be hard to defend him. I get that it's still their early days, but the way he dismissively speaks to Jo, and his anti-hero moments in Part 4 do leave me feeling cold towards him, which is an odd thing to be saying about my favourite Doctor. 

Of course being Season 8, we have the Master back again for his third story in a row. There is something very funny about the Master having only just escaped in his TARDIS at the end of the last story, being so quickly captured and brought back to Earth again by the Axons. I get that watching Season 8 in succession may quickly become tiring having the Master feature in each and every story. Although approached individually, as I did when I first dived into the majority of Classic Who, it makes for a significantly better experience. You could make a pretty good case that the Master doesn't need to be in this story, but I do personally like having him here. The interplay between Pertwee and Delgado is just brilliant, especially when they end up working together in Part 4, so it doesn't bother me all that much.

If there's any character here that's surplus to requirements, that dubious honour goes to U.N.I.T's American agent, Bill Filer. Here to work with U.N.I.T in the UK to apprehend the Master, Filer is... just kind of here. I really don't understand what he's supposed to add to the story, and while I never take joy in criticizing an actor's performance, Paul Grist feels miscast in this role. He just doesn't convince as the tough badass agent that the story seems to want you to view him as. That said, there is one addition to the supporting cast that I unambiguously welcome, and that's Mr Chinn. As a nationalist civil servant, Chinn works wonders in a story like this as it grapples with themes of human greed and selfishness. He's a great foil to the Doctor, with the two frequently coming to blows. In fact the story arguably peaks very early on with that famous "'I have a duty to my country' 'Not to the world!?'" exchange - it's such a direct and wonderful example of the Doctor's moral code. 

So there we have 'The Claws Of Axos', perhaps the most routine 3rd Doctor story put to cameras. I say that as both a compliment and a criticism, for while it may not offer as much as the many other stories that surround it, the fact that it's still this robust is a testament to the strength of the Pertwee years as a whole. Obviously I'm biased being a big fan of the 3rd Doctor, but to me this run of the show has little in the way of out and out duds. 'The Claws Of Axos' might be on the weaker end of the spectrum here, but that might just be because so much else on the spectrum is that strong.

The Claws Of Axos

7/10