Humanoid Axons

At UNIT Headquarters, The Brigadier is entertaining two visitors - Chinn, a civil servant carrying out a security inspection, and Bill Filer, an American agent sent from Washington to help UNIT track down The Master. Whereas The Doctor’s assistant, Jo Grant, is enjoying the presence of the American, The Brigadier is suffering from the visit by Chinn who is concerned that there seems to be no files or records on UNIT’s Scientific Adviser - The Doctor.

Just as the meeting with Bill Filer is about to start The Brigadier is informed that a strange object has been detected heading towards Earth. At first it is thought that it is just a meteorite but when it changes direction, and heads straight for Earth, The Doctor confirms it must be a spacecraft. Chinn automatically assumes command and orders a missile strike to destroy it. But just as the missile is about to reach its target the unidentified object suddenly vanishes forcing Chinn to issue the order to abort the missile. Chinn then orders that Bill Filer is to take no part in UNIT’s investigation as the spacecraft’s landing on British soil makes it an internal matter. Bill Filer is therefore forced to leave as UNIT mobilises to go to the landing site.

On the South East coast of England, close to the Nuton Power Complex, a tramp cycling along a lane witnesses some very strange weather conditions as the spacecraft lands. As he approaches the entrance to the spacecraft, which has partially buried itself in the ground, he is captured and then analysed by the alien beings inside. They reject him as being of no value. Bill Filer, who arrives just before UNIT, also approaches the entrance of the spacecraft, and he too is captured. However, Bill Filer’s higher intelligence is detected and so he is held for further analysis. When Bill Filer regains consciousness he discovers he is being held captive along with another person who he recognises as being The Master…

The Master

As soon as UNIT arrives a mobile headquarters is set up. It is then that the sound, like a heartbeat, and a message asking for help is heard coming from the spaceship. The Brigadier, The Doctor and Chinn, together with Sir George Hardiman and Doctor Winser who have joined them from the nearby Nuton Power Complex, enter the spacecraft. Inside they meet its occupants - beautiful golden-skinned humanoids who introduce themselves as Axons. They claim that their ship, Axos, has very low power levels and that they need time for it to be replenished. In return, they offer the humans Axonite, a substance that the Axons demonstrate can cause animals to grow to enormous sizes and thus end food shortages. The Doctor though is suspicious of this miracle gift, and rightly so.

Chinn agrees to take a sample of Axonite away for study. He though can only see glory for himself by keeping Axonite for exclusive use by Britain. Meanwhile The Doctor and Doctor Winser take the Axonite to the Nuton Power Complex to start analysing it. The Doctor wants to put the Axonite in a particle accelerator so as to get it to analyse itself, but Doctor Winser won’t allow his equipment to be used in this manner. The Doctor therefore asks for his TARDIS to be brought to the complex as he will be able to use equipment that he has inside instead. The Doctor actually hopes that he might be able to get the TARDIS operational again with the help of Doctor Winser’s equipment. While Doctor Winser arranges for the transport of the TARDIS, The Doctor starts to use, without Doctor Winser’s knowledge, the particle accelerator to analyse the sample of Axonite. The Doctor realises from the results that Axos, Axonite and the Axons are all just different aspects of a single organism.

Chinn

In Axos The Doctor’s experiment has disastrous results when the Axonite starts reacting and absorbing all the energy. This causes Axos to panic as its nutrition cycle has been started early. The disruption though allows Bill Filer to escape and he is able to warn The Doctor about The Master. However, the disruption also prompts Axon monsters – hideous tentacled creatures which are the Axons true form - to invade the lab, at the Nuton Power Complex, so as to retrieve the Axonite. They also take The Doctor and Jo back to Axos with them.

It is then that The Doctor realises the Axons are a parasitic entity brought to Earth by The Master to feed on the planet's energy. The Axons want Axonite to be distributed all over the world thus allowing Axos to drain the Earth of energy. When the Axons learn that Chinn intends to keep Axonite in Britain they allow The Master to leave Axos - They have his TARDIS and so use this to retain The Master’s cooperation.

When The Master reaches UNIT Headquarters he arranges for a message about Axonite to be sent to the UN, thus ensuring that the other countries will ask for some of the substance for themselves. He then hitches a lift back to the Nuton Power Complex with The Doctor’s TARDIS. There he discovers that The Doctor has made a mess of his time machine in his attempt to break free from the exile imposed by the Time Lords. As The Master starts to effect repairs to The Doctor's TARDIS, as his time machine is still being held by the Axons, he is seen by Captain Mike Yates and placed under arrest.

Inside Axos

Meanwhile Axos becomes interested in The Doctor's knowledge of time travel, having recognised him as being of the same race as The Master. It now plans to broaden its feeding base by travelling through time as well as space. By threatening Jo with rapid aging Axos gets The Doctor to reveal the theory of time travel. They realise that they need power from the Nuton Power Complex to achieve this and so an Axon is ordered to enter the nuclear reactor and the resultant power build-up is steadily absorbed by Axos.

However, when it is discovered that the Axons are absorbing all the power output from the complex’s nuclear reactor, The Brigadier has no choice but to persuade The Master to help them to defeat the Axons. The Master uses The Doctor’s TARDIS to store up the power, and then releases it all back at Axos in one go causing the ship to convulse and so allowing The Doctor and Jo to escape. They both return to the Nuton Power Complex where The Doctor and The Master work together to fix the TARDIS. Once Axos has recovered a power surge is sent back to the Nuton Power Complex causing the nuclear reactor to overload When it is realised what the Axons have done the order is given for the complex to be evacuated. The Doctor, along with The Master, depart in the TARDIS.

Much to the dismay of The Master the TARDIS materialises inside Axos. There The Doctor offers to link the two ships together to make one giant time machine, on condition that Axos in return helps him to take revenge on the Time Lords for exiling him to Earth. This though is merely a trick. He has in fact locked Axos into a time loop from which it can never escape.

While Axos is distracted The Master manages to reach his TARDIS and therefore escapes. The Doctor then manages to break his TARDIS free of the time loop, leaving Axos trapped forever. When the TARDIS returns to Earth The Doctor reluctantly admits to The Brigadier that The Master has escaped and that his TARDIS has now been programmed always to return to Earth meaning that he still cannot fully escape from his exile.