Started 20-JanWe watched the Special Edition with PAL sourced eps 1 & 4 and the slightly fuzzier RSC'd NTSC sourced eps 2 & 3.
This is Bob Baker's and Dave Martins' debut and Michael Ferguson's farewell to the show.
The plot in this one is both inspired and a mess.
The alien invasion trope is:
- We are aliens.
- We are a high tech threat (lasers, energy beams, mind control, squillions of us).
- So "take us to your leader" (so we can issue our ultimatum)
- Then the brave, against all odds military response and then explosions.
- And we're done.
- Think Earth v the Flying Saucers or Independence Day or even War of the Worlds
The ep1 "Axos calling Earth" move is inspired. The Claws of Axos features a magnificent twist.
It is this.
The "We're out of gas. Can we fill up here?" approach (including a 'payment') conceals a parasitic gameplan. This neatly splts the human characters between initial hostility (the missiles) and caution (The Doctor) and then after first encounter flips the the humans into camps of greed (Chinn, Winser, Hardimann) and scepticism (again the Doctor).
The Doctor's questions about if Axons had Axonite "why did you not use it to deal with solar flares?" and "how did you run out of energy with an energy transmuter of such versatility available?" are not answered by the Axons (only an aggressive denial) and ignored by Chinn, Winser, Hardimann etc.
After that there is more confusing revelations about the nature of Axonite following particle accelerator investigation... then some messy, poorly focussed stuff about turning Axos into a time machine using the power station output. BTW one nuclear power station is unlikely to provide anywhere near enough energy to do this. The TARDIS runs on a black hole for instance.
After that in ep4 it's back to "activate the nutrition cycle" but drag 'em into a timeloop with the TARDIS to finish 'em off.... and we're done.
After that in ep4 it's back to "activate the nutrition cycle" but drag 'em into a timeloop with the TARDIS to finish 'em off.... and we're done.
A great start turns into a mess.
The direction is fast and frenetic. Tellingly the location work (which features four seasons in one day miscontinuities!) is hardly noticeable.
The production is ambitious and (mostly) looks fantastic. There are some iffy visual effects but they aren't too bad (mostly bits of the Axos ship). There are some layered video effects which are very, very good. They must have taken hours to plan and execute in the old fashioned analogue BBC tv studio. No wonder it didn't happen again.. The use of CSO has developed since two stories ago by better use of lighting and shot composition. This is the earliest use of coloured lighting which I can see in the show. The old lighting formulas (side fill and key.. nice and bright.. lovely) which are broken down so well in Series 13 (Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Brain of Morbius) have their debut here.
The production is ambitious and (mostly) looks fantastic. There are some iffy visual effects but they aren't too bad (mostly bits of the Axos ship). There are some layered video effects which are very, very good. They must have taken hours to plan and execute in the old fashioned analogue BBC tv studio. No wonder it didn't happen again.. The use of CSO has developed since two stories ago by better use of lighting and shot composition. This is the earliest use of coloured lighting which I can see in the show. The old lighting formulas (side fill and key.. nice and bright.. lovely) which are broken down so well in Series 13 (Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Brain of Morbius) have their debut here.
Performances are shouty and sometimes sketchy but they're credible. Perhaps the least effective is Paul Grist as Filer in fevered, plot dump mode while in hospital in ep3. But such performances are ok. In a story about a giant space weed taking over the Earth.....the colour of his tie or his dodgy accent aren't worth quibbling about.
The Axon costumes (both the golden body stockings and the two versions of the tentacle monster (some tentacles and lots of tentacles) are iconic and classic.
There are many classic lines of dialogue in this story.
CHINN: I have a duty to my country!
DOCTOR: Not to the world?
AXON MAN: Our worlds are uncountable light years away on the far rim of the galaxy. Our planetary system has been crippled by extreme solar flare activity. Axos is all that remains of our culture. As you can see, our science, unlike yours, has taken an organic path. This ship? This ship was not built for our journey. It was grown.
WINSER: What?
AXON MAN: Yes, grown from a single cell and now its nutrient is all but exhausted. We would like to stay.
AXON MAN: Axonite is the source of all our growth technology. Axonite can absorb, convert, transmit and programme all forms of energy.
DOCTOR: Even radiation? Why then were you crippled by solar flare?
AXON MAN: It was already too late.
CHINN: Minister? Will you scramble, or shall I, sir?
MINISTER [OC]: Just your report, Chinn. I'm sure that will be quite garbled enough.
CHINN: Yes, sir. Well, as I anticipated, we are having a certain amount of trouble with these UNIT people, sir.
MINISTER [OC]: We, Chinn? We?
CHINN: Well, I am, sir.
MINISTER [OC]: Are you quite sure you can handle this matter, Chinn?
CHINN: Oh, yes, sir, yes, of course! Er, about the special powers, sir?
MINISTER [OC]: Because if you are not, just remember, it's your head on the block, Chinn, not mine.
MINISTER [on monitor]: Perhaps you can tell me why the sole result of the special powers I granted you, has been this catastrophic security leak?
CHINN: Catastrophic security leak? Which catastrophic security leak, sir?
HARDIMAN: What else can we do©
MASTER: Oh, nothing very much. Oh, I suppose you can take the normal precautions against nuclear blast, like, er, sticky tape on the windows and that sort of thing.
DOCTOR: The claws of Axos are already deeply embedded in the Earth's carcass! Soon it'll activate its nutrition cycle and the feast'll be begin. The Axonite'll cease to be dormant and it'll continue to grow, gentlemen, until every living thing is consumed.
BRIGADIER: And you came back of your own accord©
DOCTOR: Well, I
JO: Doctor©
DOCTOR: No. No, I'm afraid not. No, obviously the Time Lords have programmed the Tardis always to return to Earth. It seems that I'm some kind of a galactic yo-yo!
In common with every other Pertwee story so far there's a stack of UNIT action. I'm trying to see it as more a narrative form or a style than boring repetition. This time there's a conflict between the usual UNIT characters and some Military Police types who put them under arrest. At least that hasn't happened previously (except in Ambassadors... oh well.)
Interestingly the Master is verging on the merely amoral here rather than the outright evil. His aims seem to vary from personal survival to being persuaded to help. This wavering of intent culminates in the next story when he offers the Doctor a partnership, an alliance. Next time on DW....
This is a story which uses pace and surprising and strange developments well but has some crazy plot flaws.
ABM Rating 3.05/4.00
LJM Rating 3.00/5.00
SPJ Rating 8.20/10
No. 19 (out of 57)
Link to Cumulative Rankings
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The thing that's extraordinary about this is the notion that the alien invaders pitch is a 'help us were outta gas and we need to fill up'. This neatly splits the Chinn and Doctor led factions of humans and generates drama where otherwise the story would mere my be cliche.
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