| THE CLAWS OF AXOS by Bob Baker & Dave Martin |
| Story 57 Synopsis: A UFO is heading toward Earth, and UNIT, under investigation by Mr Chinn, order a missile attack on it. The missiles miss their target, which has already landed. It invites a delegation inside. The ship is Axos, the creatures living in it are Axons, and they bring in a new element, Axonite, which they wish to share with the people of Earth. Chinn negotiates sole rights to Axonite, but the Doctor is suspicious. The Brigadier tries to stop Chinn, but he uses Special Ministry Powers to have UNIT arrested. The Doctor is allowed to help Winser, a scientist at the nearby Nuton Power Complex. He starts an experiment with a particle accelerator which starts Axonite's nutrition cycle. Winser is electrocuted, and the Doctor realises that Axos is a single entity, with the Axons and Axonite being different facets of one whole. He is captured, and Axos tries to get him to give the equations that allow time travel. They need a huge source of power, which they will get from Nuton. The Brigadier makes some calls, and reverses Chinn's lock on the situation. The Master arrives, having helped bring Axos to Earth. He helps rig a device linking the particle acclerator to the Doctor's TARDIS, to give Axos a huge power surge. In the confusion, the Doctor escapes Axos. At Nuton, he suggests to the Master that they cut and run, and the Master agrees. But the Doctor brings his TARDIS into Axos, creates a time loop to trap Axos, and then escapes himself. But the TARDIS returns to Earth, however he tries to escape. |
| Review:- So, smack in the centre of Season 8, we find the Master once again trying to kill the Doctor and attack the people of Earth. This time, he has his work cut out with Axos. This story has taken a bit of a kicking over the years, but having just re-watched it, I find the vitriol to be somewhat unfair. Admittedly there are lapses in production quality and the script could be improved, but as a pretty starightforward tale of alien invasion, it's heart is in the right place. In fact, for those who claim this is just a show for kids, this story is a good example. Axos is a three-faced monster. We have the ship, the Axons who vary from smooth humanesque creatures to tentacled terrors, and there's Axonite, the so-called chameleon of the elements (surely Axonium for an element - Axon-ite for a meteor-ite). Quite simple for a child to follow, maybe. The Doctor is played true, never taking the Axons at their word, but able to go along with Chinn for the scientific value. He doesn't concede his knowledge even though his freedom from Earth is promised, but doesn't hesitate to save Jo. His apparent abandonment of Earth is convincing enough to fool the Master, and he never compromises to save his friends' conscience. Jo and co don't really get a lot to do. The subplots of Bill Filer's one-story attempt to capture the Master and Chinn's attempts to expose UNIT manage to keep the story ticking, and I personally would have welcomed Bill becoming a regular at the expense of some of the less colourful UNIT cast. Alas, for a story with doubles and Chinn, a joke goes begging... The Master is more of a rogue than a mindless galactic conqueror. At this stage, his battles with the Doctor are still just a game, really. Roger Delgado manages to make it seem like a concerted advert for his character. When the Doctor admits why he needs him, he doesn't snub his fellow Time Lord, but pitches in. Oddly moving, really. The CSO screens making appearances are regrettable, the diminution of the Axons in part 4 is laughable, and the Doctor's inability to describe a time loop are tragic. Still, I like it. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book and seen the video. |