Doctor Who (TV Series) The Claws of Axos: Episode Four (1971) User Reviews

A decent episode concludes a rather good story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 6 February 2019]

This final episode is a little paint by numbers, it has some good points, but overall I found it a little generic.

On the plus side I loved the interplay between The Doctor and The Master, the chat was funny, and it was great to finally see The Doctor manipulate his greatest foe. Did anyone believe that he would have turned traitor?

Some good seems inside Axos, with some creepy effects and good hysterical acting.

Not sure about the new TARDIS interior, it was a little wobbly in parts. The walls that the Axons break through are a little dodgy.

Some bits felt a little repetitive, with the UNIT troops fighting the Axons.

The story overall, is better then I remembered, but it isn't really a favourite, despite an excellent second episode.

Decent. 6/10

Axos of Evil

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 7/10 · 25 September 2014]

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.

S8: Claws of Axos: Enjoyable serial even though it is just doing what you would expect

[bob the moo · 5 October 2014]

Following on from Mind of Evil, this serial is a bit shorter and also a bit simpler in its construction. The plot lets the viewer into the inside from the start, since it is clear that the spacecraft approaching Earth is filled with nastiness, even if the humans only get to see the Gold Man Group version, and are taken in by their offer of peace and technology. From here we get a bit of trickery and betrayal as we head towards the inevitable scenes of monsters walking at soldiers against a backdrop of an abandoned airstrip or factory grounds. This is essentially what we get with this serial since there is little room for much else; for example there isn't really a central idea here, just monsters and betrayal.

That said it does still do the job since it plays it fairly straight and without too much padding. The characters are mostly broad caricatures in the various supporting role, and this reflects their use within the plot. Generally the plotting and the characters lack shading and detail, instead just fulfilling their broad roles within the narrative. The monsters themselves do work well though; the spaceship looks very much like a cheaper TV set and attempts to give it an organic feel later on are not wholly successful, but the monsters are actually pretty effective. Okay they are basically the same as many others in terms of their modus operandi, but their messy organic appearance full of wet-looking tendrils and nodules was pretty effective. They are helped by the way they are filmed since the camera and the audio effects have a decent stab at a creepy unsettling presentation of them.

The main cast do okay with all of this (although for the regularly dispatched UNIT soldiers, they barely get a day's work out of this serial); mainly this is because the show is running through the basics with a decent enough pace, so it gives them enough to do without ever making things too difficult. This works well for them all, but again the chance to have some very good interplaying between the Doctor and the Master is not really made the most of. It does all still work reasonably well though, and in some ways it is interesting in how it is delivered, but generally it is not one that really jumps out as being great (although it also doesn't standout as bad either.

"It seems that I'm some kind of galactic yo yo." For me, one of Pertwee's worst.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 7 November 2007]

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos: Episode Four starts as the Master's (Roger Delgado) plan to destroy the Axons fails, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & Jo (Katy Manning) manage to escape the Axon ship & head back to the nuclear power plant. There the Doctor & the Master agree to work together in an attempt to put an end to the evil Axons plans for good...

Episode 14 from season 8 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during Apirl 1971, directed by Michael Ferguson I am actually very surprised at how much I didn't like The Claws of Axos. The script by Bob Baker & Dave Martin has been poor in my opinion, from the drawn out predictable story to the unlikable character's to the plot holes to the sense half of what happens is there to pad out the time over four episodes. The whole thing about a time loop is silly as well, I mean the Axons are trapped in it but the Doctor manages to escape & what happened to the two Axon creatures that were in the TARDIS with him? The Master as a character is totally wasted in a nothing part & I would have imagined this story was written originally without the Master but was altered when the decision was made to include him in every story during season 8 which is why he seems surplus to requirements in this. The scenes between the Doctor & the Master were nice enough & when the Axon monsters were on screen my interested piqued but otherwise I just though it was a dreary & somewhat dull way to pass 100 odd minutes & even the cliffhanger endings weren't very good. I was well disappointed because I usually like any Pertwee stories & I think The Claws of Axos is the worst from his era that I have seen.

Another couple of glaring production goof in this one, for a start the shots where Benton is driving the jeep & is being attacked by Axons has no background. It's like the shots of Benton driving were shot in a studio against a plain background with the intention of using CSO, it seems like the CSO effect was never keyed in & there is a huge continuity issue between the close-up shots in the studio & the location footage which is painfully obvious. Also check out the scene as the Axons attack UNIT in the power plant room, a few scenes earlier the Doctor clearly uses the TARDIS to dematerialise inside the Axon spaceship yet if you keep an eye out the TARDIS is still clearly visible in the corner of the power plant room in several shots when it shouldn't be there, again a big glaring continuity mistake which is hard to ignore & just adds to the general sloppiness of this story. The action scenes in this are OK but why don't the Axon monster 'zap' & kill people like they were through Episodes One, Two & Three? Oh that's right, the Doctor, Jo & the Brigadier have to survive don't they?

The Claws of Axos: Episode Four is another poorly made, poorly thought out installment of a story I didn't like at all. Overall across it's four episodes I'll give The Claws of Axos a lowly four stars out of ten & it should be grateful for that, a real disappointment & the first Pertwee story I've seen that I actively dislike.