Episode #57 : The Claws of Axos

"Obviously the Time Lords have programmed the TARDIS always to return to Earth. It seems that I am some kind of a galactic yo-yo!"

Episode 57:   The Claws of Axos.
Companions: The 3rd Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 13th March to 3rd April 1971.

A group of gold-skinned aliens land on Earth and offer wondrous technology in exchange for fuel. The Doctor, however, isn't fooled, uncovering the Axons' true nature and once again facing his arch enemy the Master.

In this excellent story the Master is up to his old tricks again, only this time he has messed it up before the start of the episode. He is attempting to use the Axons, in fact a single being in multiple forms, to destroy the Earth only they have taken him captive.

The Claws of Axos follows a typical science fiction trope of an extraterrestrial race coming to Earth, offering advanced technology in exchange for something reasonable, but being in fact evil invaders. In this case it plays out quite well starting with the arrival and turning into a base under siege type story as the Doctor and the Master try desperately to find a way to defeat the Axos entity.

The Master is supposed to be this uber genius villain yet, as I have mentioned before, his plans never seem to work out mainly because of his own incompetence. Although it is some what annoying, in a good way, it does diminish him somewhat as a major villain.

At the end, the two time lords succeed in getting the Doctor's TARDIS to take flight and they are able to look the Axon's ship into a permanent time loop. However the Doctor is not free of his exile yet for the Time Lords have made sure that whatever happens he would always return to Earth.

The Claws of Axos is one of the better stories of this period and well worth a watch.