User reviews

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

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.

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.