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Axos calling Earth... Axos calling Earth...
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...Svh839fiUQ&t=1
Can the Axons really be as friendly and altuistic as they seem? How does the Master fit into this one? And will Mr Chinn keep England for the English?
What do you think of the debut story from Bob Baker and Dave Martin?
Si xx
I remember being very excited when I got it on video - and then even more excited by that opening montage of the ship and the creatures, which of course the book didn't indicate.
It's a rompy little tale, four episodes is just right so that there's not much ploddy padding in it. And "Freak weather conditions in the landing area" is something I say on a regular basis, usually when it's raining!
I rather like it (can you guess from the avatar???) and it does a lot right, but it's just very obvious when it's missing what it might have needed to pass for one of the very best.
After the black and white world of Mind of Evil this is all looking very colourful isn't it, and looking increasingly like an edition of Top of the Pops, or is Top of the Pops looking increasingly like an episode of Doctor Who as they used to borrow effects from Who to help that show along.
Claws is excellent, there's enough menace in those Axons to scare some kids to sleep at night, and no doubt they did, and the surrealism in that spaceship is like someone's bad acid trip. Then that creepy tentacled monster appears to show us what the Axons really look like, little wonder it became an iconic image of the series.
What's the Doctor up to in the TARDIS? Most of the last series the control console was in bits in the UNIT lab, here it is now, back in the TARDIS but still in bits, no wonder the Master compares it to "an overweight, underpowered second hand gas stove." But it nonetheless does the job in ultimately dealing with Axos.
So far series eight has had some strong and memorable stories, iconic images too, surely, with some ten episodes yet to go, they won't let us down with a duffer.
It's not a perfect story - indeed, the Flaws of Axos are buried deep within. There are great sound effects and sonic engineering, who can forget the terrifying Roars of Axos?
Crap puns aside, I find it a bit of a frustrating watch because the story is driven by Ministers Behaving Stupidly. Most of the conflict in the first half comes from the Doctor and Chinn taking opposing views, so thank heavens that the Master turns up to make things more interesting!
Once the Axons go on the assault the story really kicks into gear. The attack on the Nunton complex is superb, the blobby Axon seems completely unstoppable and looks great running around on location.
This is another story that I think I'd enjoy more if the prints were cleaner too. I think we've got two good episodes, but the others look pretty washed out.
The Claws of Axos is a good, colourful, fun story but it does bear similarities with the previous two stories where the Master ends up teaming with the Doctor to combat the alien menace.
Oh, and that communicator thing on the Axon spaceship is funny, due to it looking like something rude...
7/10
9/10 - one of my favoutrite Pertwee, stories .
So what about this oft-mentioned 'Blue screen' scene at the end of the story? Apparently there are a couple of shots that look like they're filmed against a blue screen background, indicating that they forgot to put in the scenery. It's when Yates and Benton (I think) are escaping the Axons in a jeep. But to my eyes it looks like it's filmed against a blue sky rather than a screen. What do you think?
Axos looks superb- both outside where it looks very alien in the cold at Dungeness and inside where the mix of sets, CSO, back projection and foam work together in a way they'd not really tried before, to create something memorably alien and weird. Add in some fabulous sound effects and the whole thing works very well.
The story is OK, but nothing special. I think it's let down by the number of rewrites it had to get Bob n Dave into shape, so things happen but they never feel like they matter as much as they should. UNIT being replaced by the regulkar army, Mr Chinn and all that feel rather inconsequential when they shouldn't.
Still, the idea of the Axons being friendly and then not is rather novel and well done, as they are themselves. Sahme the humn costuimes aren't as great as the blobby ones but you can't have everything.
Si xx
I don't think they were attempting CSO on film, but maybe they just thought they'd stick a blue sheet behind them and pass it off as sky?
Si.
I think you're right Si.
Si xx
I'll have to have another look at some point, because it didn't look much like a sheet to me.
We've just spent a great hour and a half rewatching this one. Objectively it's pretty rubbish. The story is a bit of a mess really- too many elements Bill Filer, Mr Chinn, the regular army. It could ahve done with more tidying up, especially as it feels as though we keep entering new scenes right in the middle of a scene- it must have been quite cutly cut to get it down to time.
I'm noticing more and more that the third Doctor is a grumpy old sod throughout season 8. He wasn't as bad as this in season 7 and he mellows a lot in season 9. Here he's quite objectionable throughout- just like in Terror of the Autons but probably not as bad as in The Daemons.
It's really not a good Jo story. She gets very little to do, gets confused, screams and looks pretty. After what she does in the previous two stories, this is something of a let down.
But depsite all those things I found I really enjoyed it. That's Doctor Who for you!
Si xx
An average story something to pass the time, a bit all over the place at times.
I must admit that back in the day Claws of Axos was not my favourite story in this season. I didn't really enjoy it on first sight. The years have given me a different viewpoint on it and I see it as a great piece of contemporary Doctor Who and I find it really enjoyable to watch. I do agree though with Si who says he finds the Doctor rather grumpy in these stories, could it be he feels usurped by The Master, his intellectual nemesis? Or the fact that Jo, a young, pretty assistant is not of the calibre of Liz Shaw from the previous year. Either way, he does mellow in the next series as he gets used to having Jo and The Master around.
Ah, like Pertwee, Axos mellows with age!
...And another thing, every character in the story says 'On the contrary!' at one point or another.