During his exile to Earth, the Third Doctor battled many alien invasions and monsters alongside the military organisation U.N.I.T. But none more strange and deceptive than the Axons. Axos was a parasitic organism that fed on planets. The Axons (a part of Axos) were golden humanoids but in reality, they were orange squid-like creatures with tentacles that could kill! The Axons are one of the most iconic Doctor Who monsters even though they have only made one appearance onscreen to date.

The Claws of Axos

★★★☆☆

TX: 13/03/1971 – 03/04/1971

Written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin    Directed by Michael Ferguson

The Third Doctor, Jo and U.N.I.T observe freak weather conditions as a precursor to the arrival of a giant organic alien spacecraft. In reality, the spacecraft is Axos, a vampiric organism that feeds on other planets. The Doctor and U.N.I.T are invited inside the spacecraft where they meet the Axons, golden humanoids who are apparently benign. The Axons offer Earth a gift in the form of Axonite – a rare mineral that causes matter to grow. Mr Chinn and other Earth officials believe that this can end world hunger and so they prepare for the global distribution of Axonite. However, this is all a trap and the Axons are not peaceful at all. The global distribution of Axonite is the first step towards Axos consuming the Earth. The Axons are actually large, orange squid-like creatures that kill on contact with humans. The Axons also create copies of people that they use as their agents, such as Bill Filer (although the reason for making his duplicate is unclear). The battle rages between U.N.I.T and the Axons. The Doctor discovers that the Master is captured inside Axos, having previously been employed by the Axons. The Master and the Doctor work together to trap Axos in a never-ending figure of eight time loop. The Doctor breaks free of the time loop but the Master escapes once again.