 "The Claws of Axos" is the first story by writing duo Bob Baker and Dave Martin. They who would go on to write many Doctor Who stories throughout the seventies.
One of the working titles for this story was "The Vampire From Space" - which this story went into production as. However, halfway through production it was decided to rename this story to "The Claws of Axos". As a result the opening credit sequences for the first two episodes had to be rerecorded. However, the original title was inadvertently retained on some overseas prints as well as in most of the story's publicity material. The 2005 DVD release contains unused footage and cuts still naming this story as "The Vampire From Space".
This story was originally due to be a six-parter, but the concept of the storyline changed as development progressed resulting in it being reduced to four episodes.
This story marks the first television appearance of Tim Pigott-Smith. He would later play Marco in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Masque of Mandragora".
Bernard Holley had been last seen in Doctor Who in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Tomb of the Cybermen".
Kenneth Benda was heard as the Minister in a voice-over telephone conversation in episode 2. This was uncredited on screen.
The interior of the TARDIS was seen again after an absence of nearly two years (it was last seen in the final Second Doctor story "The War Games"). This story also includes the debut of the new TARDIS console, designed by Kenneth Sharp. The original had been tinted light green to show up better as white on monochrome videotape, but was no longer suitable now that the show was being broadcast in colour. It had also been badly damaged over its seven years of service.
Also making its debut in this story was UNIT's second mobile HQ.
Both The Doctor and The Master refer to events in this story in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords". The Master mocks the now-elderly Tenth Doctor by recalling when he stood up to Axons and the Sea Devils and The Doctor later reminds The Master of the Axons and the Daleks while attempting to encourage his old enemy to regenerate after being shot.
This story features the famous shot of Jo Grant's purple knickers.
Location shooting for this story took place at mainly at Dungeness in Kent with the Dungeness ‘A’ Nuclear Power Station serving as the Nuton Power Complex.
Frustratingly, the weather proved highly variable throughout the five-day shooting, ranging from snow at the start of the week, through fog and finally to sunshine on the final day. To explain the inconsistency of shots filmed on various days, but supposedly taking place within minutes of each other, Script Editor Terrance Dicks assigned a new line of dialogue for Corporal Bell to announce about reports of ‘freak weather conditions’ as a result of the Axos arrival.
For reasons unexplained, the opening titles for this story use the Second Doctor's version of the Doctor Who theme music as opposed to the Third Doctor's, as do "Terror of the Autons" and "The Mind of Evil". After this story however, the theme reverts to the Jon Pertwee standard.
A common myth about this story is that the colour-separation overlay (CSO) backgrounds were accidentally omitted in some of the car interior scenes, leaving the blue screen behind the characters. In reality, it has been revealed that the blue is supposed to represent the sky.
"The Claws of Axos" was the last of four stories that Michael Ferguson directed on Doctor Who. He went on to direct episodes of programmes such as Colditz before becoming a producer, with credits including The Sandbaggers, EastEnders and Casualty.
Like many of the early Third Doctor stories a complete colour version of this story was not kept by the BBC. In the early eighties only episodes 1 and 4 were located in the BBC archives. Thankfully 16mm black & white telerecordings had been kept and NTSC syndicated versions had been sent abroad to Canada in 1979. Episodes 1-3 were recovered in 1985 so enabling PAL D3 colour restorations of episodes 2 and 3 to be made. These were released on VHS in 1992. Enhanced restorations were made for the 2005 DVD release.
Even though this is there only television appearance the Axons returned in 2011 in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Feast of Axos". Bernard Holley, who played both the voice of Axos and the male Axon can also be heard in this audio story which stars Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Dave Martin and Bob Baker.
Barbara Lane's first involvement in the show as Costume Designer.
The first appearance of the interior of the TARDIS since "The War Games".
The debut of the new TARDIS console, designed by Kenneth Sharp.
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(Position = 113 out of 159)
(Position = 129 out of 200)
