Doctor Who The Claws of Axos: Episode Two (1963–1989) Online

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos: Episode Two starts as the Doctor (Jon Pertwee), the Birigadier (Nicholas Courtney), Jo (Katy Manning) & Chinn (Peter Bathurst) leave the Axon ship with the Axonite presented to them as a gift. Chinn wants the Axonite for Britian's own use & orders the arrest of UNIT & the Doctor to preserve it's secrecy, the evil Axons need the Axonite to have spread throughout the entire world within 72 hours so release the Master (Roger Delgado) who lead them to Earth in an attempt to have the presence & power of Axonite become widely known & distributed worldwide. Meanwhile Filer (Paul Grist) has escaped the Axon ship & has told the Doctor of their evil intentions to drain the entire world of it's energy, a plan the Axons must keep secret if it is to succeed...

Episode 12 from season 8 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during March 1971, directed by Michael Ferguson I have to say that I'm not really enjoying The Claws of Axos at all. The script by Bob Baker & Dave Martin seems to take itself very seriously & is alright but rather bland in my opinion. This episode features a lot of scientific talk which means absolutely nothing & I must admit it lost me, it is definitely more science fiction rather than science fact. It is revealed that the Master is in fact in cahoots with the Axons which comes as no surprise since pretty much the same plot device is used in every story during season 8 & like every other story he bites off more than he can chew & ends up teaming with the Doctor to put right what he started. At 25 minutes in length it moves along at a fair pace but I just can't help not liking it, it's strange because I usually like Pertwee stories & although I can't quite put my finger on it so far I'm really disappointed with The Claws of Axos & think it's the worst Pertwee story I've seen.

We get a few fleeting glimpses of the Axons in their true forms, they are humanoid type creatures with bodies covered in long roots. When seen they actually look rather good, certainly more effective than the stupid looking gold Axons. The problem is over two episode we've seen them for about a minute of screen time which isn't really enough. I still hate the Axon ship set but there's a cool looking large eyeball on a stalk type thing which talks. The cliffhanger ending to this episode is basically exactly the same as the one to Epidose One except the Doctor is menaced by a Axon rather than Jo, this scene also features an Axon monster which is just a guy in a huge cloth bag which looks about as threatening & scary as, well, a guy sewed into a large cloth bag. There's an obvious goof in this episode, when the Brigadier & Jo overpower the guards to escape you can clearly see the 'brick' wall with the two fire buckets on it wobble!

The Claws of Axos: Episode Two is perhaps even worse than Episode One, I really want to like this but I just don't for various little reasons. Maybe Episode Three will be better, we'll see...

I must admit, before watching this, I didn't particularly have fond memories of the story, I was wrong. This second episode is terrific, it's beautifully written, well produced, fast paced, and clever. Clever because it's the whole concept of greed and manipulation, with the Axons taking advantage of one of Man's greatest weaknesses, greed. I think Pertwee and the regulars have been terrific as ways, but some of the guest appearances have just been brilliant, Peter Bathurst in particular, plus a great role for a young Tim Piggot Smith.

It's so imaginative and creative, I am thoroughly enjoying it. Wish they'd kept the working title, The Vampire from Space, suits it so much better. 9/10

Review of all 4 episodes:

The Claws of Axos is well produced in most aspects with some nice sets and nice, different aliens. They disguise themselves as attractive and friendly humanoid beings but are actually hideous non-humanoid monsters. The design of them is very good with the spaghetti like appearance and their organic ship. Some of the scenes with people in baggy creature costumes are less well done but there are other scenes which work well with their attacking tendrils etc.

It is another example of The Master getting in over his head trying to work with an alien race to bring death and destruction to The Doctor and humanity. There is very good stuff in each episode but also less impressive stuff. It starts really strongly with intelligent script, believable political game playing and very good acting by the whole cast. The tramp 'Pigbin Josh' is not a great addition but otherwise the first episode is really good. UNIT and the Brigadier are good, Pertwee is in great form and scientists and politicians are convincing. Roger Delgado is entertaining as usual as The Master and the golden humanoid version of the Axons is decent. It never really maintains excellence overall though as the story trails off a bit and gets muddled as it goes along becoming a decent but unexceptional (for Doctor Who) story.

Part 1 - 8.5/10, Part 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 7/10, Part 4 - 7/10. Overall 7.5/10.