Stories Television Doctor Who Season 8 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 The Claws of Axos 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 12 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 4 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, March 13, 1971 Production Code GGG Written by Bob Baker, Dave Martin Directed by Michael Ferguson Runtime 100 minutes Time Travel Present Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Earth Invasion, Mind Control, Spaceship, Stranded on Earth, The Doctor Falls Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!) Exile on Earth, Working for UNIT Location (Potential Spoilers!) Axos, Earth, England, UNIT HQ Synopsis A group of gold-skinned aliens land on Earth and offer wondrous technology in exchange for fuel. The Third Doctor, however, isn't fooled, uncovering the Axons' true nature and once again facing his arch enemy, the Master... Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 4 Episodes Episode One First aired Saturday, March 13, 1971 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Michael Ferguson UK Viewers 7.3 million Synopsis When a mysterious object lands near the Nuton power complex, UNIT investigate and encounter the Axons, a group of aliens who offer the mineral axonite, which can duplicate matter, as a gift. Episode Two First aired Saturday, March 20, 1971 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Michael Ferguson UK Viewers 8 million Synopsis The Doctor and Winser begin to analyse axonite while Chinn plots to secure its use exclusively for Britain. Episode Three First aired Saturday, March 27, 1971 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Michael Ferguson UK Viewers 6.4 million Synopsis The Doctor and Jo are being held prisoner by Axos while Chinn is forced to organise the worldwide distribution of axonite and the Master returns to the power complex to try and steal the TARDIS. Episode Four First aired Saturday, April 3, 1971 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Michael Ferguson UK Viewers 7.8 million Synopsis The Doctor and Jo escape from Axos but then the Doctor offers the Master a deal; if he helps him repair the TARDIS, they can flee Earth together. Show All Episodes Characters Third Doctor Jon Pertwee Jo Grant Katy Manning Axos First Appearance The Master [UNIT Era] Roger Delgado The Brigadier Nicholas Courtney John Benton John Levene Mike Yates Richard Franklin Carol Bell First Appearance UNIT Bill Filer Show All Characters (10) How to watch The Claws of Axos: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 8 DVD The Third Doctor Collection DVD The Claws of Axos VHS The Claws of Axos (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 12 reviews 12 April 2025 · 279 words Review by Newt5996 The Claws of Axos is another of those serials that when not watching it you kind of forget just how good the entire thing is. It’s the third time this current production team is doing an alien invasion story, bringing in a new writing team of Bob Baker and Dave Martin who had the fantastic idea to do aliens that seem benign and just want our help as stealth for a proper invasion. Making them gold parodies of humanity gives this otherworldly quality before devolving into spaghetti monsters which is just fantastic. It also provides a near perfect switch up to have the Master become an unlikely ally of UNIT and later the Doctor, all a trick to defeat him and the Axons. Plus this one gives a direct middle finger to the Conservative bureaucracy of government from the very beginning with Jon Pertwee getting some great rants about a duty to the world. Michael Ferguson directs what would be his final serial and while it’s not as technically complex as his other three, he still has that flair for the surreal. It doesn’t help that Katy Manning while giving a great performance has little to do in the script, Baker and Martin went through several rewrites and I have a feeling they didn’t have a companion in mind during much of the drafting. Jo gets a pseudo romance with American Bill Filer who is there for the international aspect of UNIT. That and the third epsiode has always been a bit oddly paced, somehow slightly stretched and compressed to fit into four in this weirdness. Still this is just a great and creative time. Newt5996 View profile Like Liked 0 10 April 2025 · 58 words Review by Scottybguud We get to see the most alien villains yet for the third Doctor. The interior of the Tardis for the first time in a long time. However, for me, this is the weakest story of the era so far, but it still gets three stars, because it's enjoyable enough with the regular cast including, once again, the Master. Scottybguud View profile Like Liked 0 27 March 2025 · 41 words Review by Azurillkirby I feel like a lot of Classic Who serials drop off towards the end and fail to stick the landing, but this one had a pretty cool climax that worked well with the story. Chinn wasn't a great human antagonist. A. Azurillkirby View profile Like Liked 0 22 March 2025 · 13 words Review by joeymapes21 Enjoyable, and brimming with great ideas never quite fully realised to their potential joeymapes21 View profile Like Liked 0 18 February 2025 · 58 words Review by WhoTheoryYT Spoilers This review contains spoilers! I thought this was a pretty average story overall, but I thought the interactions between the Doctor and The Master in the last two parts were great, both in that we got to see hints of their past friendship, and in the way it shows Three's more manipulative side for the first time in a really engaging way. WhoTheoryYT View profile Like Liked 0 Show All Reviews (12) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating480 members 3.37 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating427 votes 3.80 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 881 Favourited 46 Reviewed 12 Saved 6 Skipped 1 Related Stories Main Range • Episode 144 The Feast of Axos Rating: 3.37 Story Skipped Audio Drama Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Big Finish Main Range 101-150 Set of Stories: Big Finish Main Range Set of Stories: Main Range: Sixth Doctor Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos Rating: 3.54 Story Skipped Book Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite AXON MAN [on monitor]: All things must die, Doctor. Mankind, this planet, Axos merely hastens the process. DOCTOR: Oh? How? AXON MAN [on monitor]: Axonite is simply bait for human greed. Because of this greed, Axonite will soon spread across the entire planet and then the nutrition cycle will begin. DOCTOR: Indeed, and what then? AXON MAN [on monitor]: Slowly we will consume every particle of energy, every last cell of living matter. Earth will be sucked dry! — The Claws of Axos Show All Quotes (4) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Episode One [UNIT radar tracking] (An elegant golden spaceship is picked up on a tracking dish.) RADAR 1: Twenty five mps. One million miles. Mass, variable.RADAR 2: Well, if that's its course, we've discovered a comet. Run another course check.RADAR 1: It's altered its course!RADAR 2: It can't have.RADAR 1: Oh, yes it can, mate. You can say goodbye to your comet, 'because whatever that thing is, it's on collision course and heading straight for Earth. (We get a close up at the approaching ship, with it's organic-looking hull, leech-mouth-like bow, and tail-shaped stern. Inside, large lifeforms with lots of root-like appendages flail around.) Show Full Transcript Open in new window
