Trivia / Doctor Who S8 E3 "The Claws of Axos"

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• Acting for Two: Bernard Holley (Axon Man) also provided the Voice of the Eye of Axos, but was uncredited on-screen.
• Creator Backlash: Bob Baker was unhappy at the inclusion of the Master, as he felt that he was shoehorned in and didn't fit well in the established plot.
• Fake American: Welsh actor Paul Grist as American Bill Filer.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Bob Baker and Dave Martin originally pitched this as a seven-part story called The Gift, featuring the Second Doctor. It involved evil aliens who land in Hyde Park in a skull-shaped spacecraft, and featured spaceship battles and even a giant carrot crashing into the park. The production team loved the story, but had it scaled down on account of impracticality and budget.
  • Scenes cut from the script include a Meet Cute between Jo and Bill and the Brigadier daydreaming of having Chinn taken out the back and shot through the head.
• Working Title: The Gift, The Friendly Invasion, The Axons and The Vampire From Space.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Bernard Holley had been last seen in "The Tomb of the Cybermen".
  • Peter Bathurst had previously played Hensell.
  • John Hicks had previously operated a Quark.

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