The long history of everyone’s favorite never-ending English sci-fi story features some of the most beloved stories alongside plenty of questionable decisions.Doctor Whois coming up on its sixtieth anniversary, and no show can live that long with every piece of lore intact.
A lot ofDoctor Whofans didn’t get into the series until the early-2000s reboot series. The fanbase was radicallychanged when David Tennantbrought his unique charm to the role, and not every fan went back to check out the series' decades of background. There are endless worlds of weird decisions hiding in those 60s and 70s episodes of the beloved series.
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Anyone with a passing familiarity with theDoctor Whoformat understands that the mysterious Time Lord always travels with one or two regular people.His companions vary wildlyin all metrics. Some are beloved staples of the franchise while others are forgotten as quickly as they’re introduced. The fourth Doctor, still the longest-lived iteration of the character garnered quite a list of companions over his seven seasons. Portrayed by Tom Baker, Doctor #4 was best remembered for his distinctive colorful scarf and his obsession with candy. Baker is regarded as one of the most recognizable and most beloved incarnations of the character even today, forty years after his tenure on the series ended.On Baker’s long journey, he picked up a hard-nosed journalist, a powerful alien warrior, a precocious teenage genius, a fellow member of his own species, and, of course, a robot dog named K9.
There have been no less than four iterations of robot dogs operating under the name K9. The first wasintroduced in the 1977serialThe Invisible Enemy. The original model was designed by a professor named Marius who found he’d be unable to bring his beloved pet dog into space. Distraught and lonely, he decided to build a cybernetic replacement that could also serve as a computer. The plot of the adventure sees the Doctor pitted against a swarm of hostile viral creatures that seek to make the Time Lord their host. K9 is integral in stopping the swarm’s violent assault, so Marius gives him to the Doctor as a new companion. That Mark I version of the character wasn’t around long. He was designed to be short-lived, but the studio wanted him around due to his popularity with children. Hecanonically left the teamonly four serials later, only to be replaced by an identical model.
K9 Mark II stuck around a bit longer, lasting around three years before being handed off to the Doctor’s Time Lady companion Romana. Both versions of the character offered the ability to fire a laser blast that proved helpful in a variety of situations. Mark II added some level of additional perception that made it able to warn the Doctor of any danger. Mark II was also nobler and generally more helpful than the original. He suffers an injury that leads to his inability to continue traveling with the Doctor, leading to his peaceful retirement on the Doctor’s home planet Gallifrey.Some extraneous material outsidethe show depicts him alongside Romana as she takes leadership of the planet.
The third iteration of K9 first appeared in 1981, in the first of two attempts to turn the robot dog into a solo property. The spin-offK-9 and Companydidn’t receive a series order after its pilot, leaving the rest of Mark III’s journey to comics and audio plays.The spin-off would haveconcerned K9’s journeys with former 4th Doctor companion Sarah Jane Smith. The duo appeared together in the series' 20th-anniversary special, before Mark III’s final appearance in 2006. The first K9 unit also got a shot at spin-off stardom with the 2009 seriesK9. That show blended live-action and CGI and lasted only 25 episodes longer than the first attempt. Interestingly, the show was not officially allowed to useDoctor Whoiconography. This made it tough to operate legally, so the show is forced to ride the line between making reference to K9’s past and avoiding legal trouble.
The fourth and final take on K9 first appeared in 2006, shortly into David Tennant’s tenure with the character. He then joined Sarah Jane’s more successful spin-off, making several appearancesalongside the companion thatoften shared his spotlight. Behind the scenes, issues have always plagued K9’s appearances inDoctor Who. The creators of the original 1977 serial claimed rights to the character, leading to the failed 1981 spinoff. The multiple new takes on the character were grim attempts to skirt the creator’s ownership. It’s always been a difficult back and forth, but, by the late 2000s, the creators and the studio struck a deal, leading to more consistent appearances.
K9 was a strange phase for the franchise that modern incarnations love to occasionally harken back to. On the small screen, K9 was just an occasional ally that would pop up on special occasions. Behind the scenes, he’s a weird reminder of how difficult a long-running series can be.
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