Ewan Moore is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.
I must admit, I had actually only watched The Claws of Axos once before. I was around seven years old, so my memory of this particular serial was hazy at best, but I remember thinking the golden faced, angelic Axons were pretty cool, and… well that’s pretty much all I could recall. As such, I was excited to go back and revisit a classic Pertwee romp over Easter. I was aware that this particular tale comes under a fair bit of criticism (another writer on our team cunningly referred to it as Snores of Axos when we were deciding who would take which story) but I was ready to channel my inner seven year old, giddy on a mix of chocolate and a love for Doctor Who.
Well, you know what? It has some real flaws, certainly… but if you can put those to one side, you’ll find a nonsensical and completely daft, yet ultimately fun tale of mistrust, deception, and shiny aliens with silly eyes.
Events begin in an intriguing enough manner: The Axons land on Earth, claiming to be in desperate need of fuel, despite being in possession of Macguffinite (sorry, Axonite), a “thinking molecule” which can reproduce any substance. They then offer this wondrous rock to the humans as a sign of friendship. Naturally, the humans accept, though they remain slightly wary of their shiny new chums. Personally, I feel it may have worked better if the viewers were also kept in the dark regarding the Axons’ true nature at this stage… but it wouldn’t be a Pertwee story if the aliens didn’t establish their credentials early on by killing a West Country bumpkin (RIP, Pigbin Josh).
A nonsensical and completely daft, yet ultimately fun tale of mistrust, deception, and shiny aliens with silly eyes…
Soon enough, everyone is wise to the Axons and their slippery ways, and we’re treated to an action packed (if a little confusing) battle royale between good and evil.
The “angelic” Axons are actually a pretty good creation, very unsettling and eerie. There’s a reason they were the only thing from this serial that I could remember, and it’s another example of the ingenuity of the Doctor Who team, that they can make gold paint and spotty leotards into a convincing race of psychic aliens. The Axons’ “true form” creates an interesting parallel to their golden, bug eyed disguises. They are hulking monstrosities, lashing out with their tendrils to disintegrate UNIT soldiers who you can only hope have prepared some kind of life insurance package for the wife and kids. If anything, the “real” Axons are more of a design triumph than the disguised Axons. Hey, you could even spray paint them green and use them again in a few years… that’s how great they are.
The Master also joins the fray for good measure, and in an uncharacteristic move, he’s making shady deals with aliens to kill the Doctor. Yes, this is very much a Pertwee by Numbers kind of story, but when you think about it, that really isn’t a bad thing at all.
If I’m being kind, I’ll call the editing… experimental. Obviously, there were lots of new toys out at the time for the crew to play with, and this is evident in Claws of Axos. There are a number of bizarre sequences in which the Axons do some weird psychic stuff to people which involves lots of flashing lights and headache inducing effects. Yes, it’s weird and unsettling, but since this is an alien race I would argue that it’s supposed to be uncomfortable to watch. The Doctor and Jo clearly aren’t having a good time during these scenes, so it shouldn’t be a picnic for us to watch either.
We have a Proto-Farage civil servant whose thinly veiled xenophobia extends to wanting the Doctor gone, and an American secret agent whose been sent in to arrest the Master and keeps glancing at Jo’s boobs.
It’s common knowledge to a lot of Doctor Who fans that this story suffered from the over ambition of Bob Baker and Dave Martin (their first script for the show). One of the first incarnations of the script involved a giant skull landing in Hyde Park, but you can’t blame them for thinking they could go a little crazy with their imaginations. It is Doctor Who after all. At any rate, the script forced the production team to think outside the box, and in places it’s certainly one of the most visually unique Doctor Who stories of the classic era.
The performances from the series regulars are reliably great. Katy Manning makes a few odd choices here and there, but she’s since said herself that both she and Pertwee were having a hard time with reacting to things that wouldn’t be there until post production. Jo has always been a favourite companion of mine, so it’s a shame that she doesn’t really get to bring anything to this story, particularly since the last serial I reviewed (Seeds of Death) had some fantastic female characters going for it. Similarly, the Brig doesn’t make much of a mark on proceedings, but it’s always nice to have him around, even if it’s just to raise the occasional eyebrow.
The supporting cast are certainly interesting. We have a Proto-Farage civil servant whose thinly veiled xenophobia extends to wanting the Doctor gone, and an American secret agent whose been sent in to arrest the Master and keeps glancing at Jo’s boobs. Much like they probably would during a real alien incursion, this civil servant just walks about eating sandwiches while most of the action is going on. He doesn’t add much to the story, apart from being the Axons’ liaison to the government, but with all the action going on it was a wise choice not to cram in any more civil servant excitement than was already needed.
In terms of the overall plot, the Master might not have been necessary, but he ends up being one of the best things about Claws of Axos.
The American agent is an exciting concept, certainly. A proto Captain Jack, perhaps? Well… no. But still, it’s a great deal of fun to see this American swagger in, claiming he’s going to bring in the Master. Of course everyone at home knows that’s not about to happen any time soon, and the smallest sliver of support for the Master will well up inside you, all in the name of patriotism.
Speaking of, Delgado’s Master is once again brilliant and charming in his own evil, slimy way. Despite his lack of clear motivation throughout the story, he gets to do a lot of great stuff throughout. We get to see him jumping onto a moving van so he can hypnotise the guards, which is surely the coolest thing any incarnation of the Master has ever done. When he’s not being a badass, he’s tutting over the state of the Doctor’s TARDIS (which we see in colour for the first time ever here), and generally bitching at the Doctor for being useless. In terms of the overall plot, the Master might not have been necessary, but he ends up being one of the best things about Claws of Axos.
Then we have the Doctor himself, who gets to be righteous with the civil servant, cunning with the Axons, and exasperated with the Master. He also gets a great moment towards the story’s climax, when it seems like he’s abandoning UNIT and Jo to leave Earth with the Master. It’s obviously a trick, but given the Doctor’s clear disdain for having been exiled to Earth, there’s a moment where you absolutely believe he might be capable of that (it reminded me a lot of the most recent series, when the Doctor apparently abandons Clara to the clockwork droids). Personally, I love it when the Doctor is unpredictably nasty and selfish, because let’s be honest… there’s probably a part of him that really means it.
Claws of Axos is an over ambitious story, certainly. It’s also quite a confusing story in terms of editing, but if you can close your mind to the plot holes and problems, there’s some genuine fun to be had here. There are some great ideas, and the Axons have real potential as an interesting and scary alien threat… There’s a great Axon/Capaldi/UNIT showdown just waiting to be told, surely? I like to think that Pertwee era Doctor Who is very much like your favourite meal… even when it’s not done terribly well, it’s still comforting, and familiar, and most of all, enjoyable.
But then again, I love Time and the Rani, so what the hell do I know?
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