(PULSATING BEAT)
- Two-zero-six. - Well, Doctor, what is it?
- I've no idea. - Two-zero-five.
Variable mass. That's interesting, hm?
- Compute target area. - Check.
(CLICKING)
Somewhere on the south-east coast, I imagine.
(KATYMANNING) Dungeness, once known as Dengeness, is situated on the Kent coastline.
It is one of the strangest places in the country.
Formed from miles of shingle deposited by the eastward drift of the English Channel,
this wild and desolate expanse was chosen as the principal location
for ''The Claws Of Axos'' in 1971.
Filming began on Monday 5th January at Dengemarsh Road.
Well, amidst the snow and dense fog that had descended overnight,
scenes featuring the hapless tramp, Pigbin Josh, were filmed.
It was here, at the crossing of Dengemarsh Sewer,
the drainage channel for Romney Marsh,
that Josh, startled by the arrival of the Axons,
meets a rather cold and damp end.
The following two days were spent filming on the Dungeness Road,
where piles of shingle and dead trees had been moved
to surround the entrance to the Axon spaceship.
Over 30 years later,
those same piles of shingle are still where the BBC left them all those years ago.
The first day of filming on the Dungeness Road
were spent on the scenes surrounding the capture of Pigbin Josh and Bill Filer
as well as the arrival of UNIT and the Doctor.
We had ''freak weather conditions'' in Dungeness at the time
and it was very cold for a young actress in a very mini miniskirt.
Not so hard for the blokes who had long johns on.
Although still bitterly cold in the exposed desolation and miniskirt,
by Wednesday 7th the temperature had increased by ten degrees,
thawing the snow that had been so evident earlier in the filming.
On Thursday 8th January, the production team moved briefly away from Dungeness
and travelled to St Martin's Plain,
a Ministry of Defence camp in Shorncliffe, just outside Folkestone.
It was here, on the army training grounds,
that the scenes of Yates and Benton being attacked by the Axons in episode four
were filmed.
The nearby railway bridge and bridleway also proved an ideal location
to film the Master's hijack of the UNIT lorry in episode two.
For the final day of location filming,
the production team moved to the Dungeness A nuclear power station,
which doubled as the fictional Nuton Power Complex.
Dungeness A first began generating power in 1966.
At the time of filming, the second reactor, Dungeness B,
housed in the tall fluted building, was still under construction
and would not actually begin generating power for another 12 years.
This stairwell is not connected to the glass walkway seen earlier.
It was a completely different part of the station.
The scene of the Axon attacking the UNITsoldiers
and entering the main research reactor was filmed outside Dungeness A's turbine hall,
with Stuart Fell playing the fully tentacled Axon monster.
I can hardly believe that it's over 30 years
since I visited Dungeness to film ''The Claws Of Axos''.
From what I can see, virtually nothing's changed.
It still has that slightly unnatural, other-worldly quality to it,
which is absolutely perfect for a time-traveller like Doctor Who.