Environmentalist corporate magnate Campbell Irons has learned that the Axos, a classic enemy of the Third Doctor, has the potential to provide limitless renewable energy for the Earth if properly exploited. His astronauts make landfall on the outer shell of the creature just as the Sixth Doctor arrives in its interior, intent on keeping the creature dormant and harmless.
Before long, two human factions are fighting over Axos, Brewster has insinuated himself into Axos's confidence, and the Doctor runs once more into his greatest foe: himself.
The Feast of Axos contains examples of:
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: The Doctor has to fight off the Axos inside his own mind. He loses.
- The Bus Came Back; The Axons hadn't featured in any stories for over thirty years.
- Call-Back: Evelyn mentions that the last time she met Thomas, she was possessed by an alien planet.
- The original broadcast of the Axos is heard. And the Doctor recalls he was stranded on Earth with part of his memory missing about how to fix it.
- Evelyn asks the Doctor how Thomas got in 2011 to begin with, and the Doctor recalls how Thomas has impersonated him twice now, and sold off bits of the TARDIS.
- The Doctor laments how he's missing his Sonic Screwdriver and then mentions getting a new one has been on his to do list for quite some time.
- Philippe refers to the TARDIS, UNIT and The Master when asking about the Doctor.
- The Doctor employs the Fast return switch to send the TARDIS hurdling back into the Axos explosion, with the Axos-Doctor inside.
- The Doctor isn't overly fond of space walks.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Campbell Irons, though even though most of the cast is smart enough to guess.
- Evil Knockoff: Just about the first thing Axos does is cook up an Axon copy of the Doctor.
- Fake Defector: Brewster, pretending to be cozying up to Axos after hearing half a conversation.
- Giant Eye of Doom: The centre of the Axos.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: Artificially created by the Third Doctor to make Axos's dormant cycle last forever.
- Literal-Minded: The Axos doesn't understand lingo, the Axos-Doctor somewhat does, and has to slowly repeat idioms in order to understand what Thomas means.
- The Mole: As is de rigeur in a Doctor Who space story.
- Pun: When Joanna is about to cut into Axos with a chainsaw, she says something could potentially go wrong. Campbell quips: "What, like an Axos Chainsaw Massacre?
- Multinational Team: The Jules Verne has several nationalities, South African, French, British, all banding together against Campbell's Mega-Corp.
- Reverb of Doom: Axos.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Campbell gets eaten by the Axos, eventually.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Axos.
- Sequel Episode: To the previous Crimes of Thomas Brewster.
- Shout-Out:
- Evelyn dreads having to go into a spacesuit, dreading Barbarella's off casts. She then calls the Doctor and Thomas, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers respectively.
- She later calls Swanson "James Bond", and refers to a space walk as "that David Bowie music video thing."
- Campbell makes a reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
- Space Madness: Going for a space walk makes Evelyn a bit delirious.
- Third-Person Person: As much as Axos is a person.
- Thrown Out the Airlock: Nearly happens to the Doctor, Evelyn and Thomas. They're in a pocket of Axos with an atmosphere when people from outside are trying to get in.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: Inside the Timeloop, past, present and future overlap. The Doctor and Evelyn see the Jules Verne destroyed by the Axos, only for Evelyn later to end up on it.
- Womb Level: The interior of Axos; as Evelyn remarks, it's the second time in two serials that they've invaded an enormous creature's body.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Thomas sees this coming a mile away when serving the Axos.