“K-9 and Company” is the first attempt to spinoff of “Doctor Who” broadcast on December 28, 1981. It’s composed of a single part, written by Terence Dudley and directed by John Black.
The story
Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) arrives at the home of her aunt Lavinia but discovers that she left ahead of schedule for the USA. Instead, Lavinia’s young ward Brendan Richards arrives to train station, where Sarah Jane goes to pick him up. When the two of them return to the house they find a box for Sarah Jane, which contains the robot dog K-9, a gift from the Doctor.
The focus of Sarah Jane is torn between her curiosity about K-9 and her concern for her aunt Lavinia, also because she can’t reach her even by phone. When she goes to the village nearby to ask if someone knows something more, she discovers that her aunt wasn’t liked by all the inhabitants because she had denounced the practice of magic by a local coven. When Brendan is attacked and only the presence of K-9 saves him from something possibly bad Sarah Jane starts a serious investigation.
Extras
This DVD contains a good amount of extras. There are contents typical of “Doctor Who” DVDs such as production subtitles, a gallery of pictures from this adventure, the Radio Times Billings and a promo of the “Doctor Who” DVDs soon to be published.
There are various comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonist Elisabeth Sladen, actors John Leeson and Linda Polan and script editor Eric Saward.
The K9 Files. A documentary almost 12 minutes long on the production of this special.
K9 – A Dog’s Tale. K9 answers some questions.
Pebble Mill at One. The appearance of K-9 in the program “Pebble Mill at One” of Christmas 1981.
Trails and Continuities. BBC trailers and continuities.
The Adventures of K9. The four books for kids with K-9 in PDF format published in 1980: “K9 and the Beasts of Vega”, “K9 and the Missing Planet”, “K9 and the Time Trap” and “K9 and the Zeta Rescue”.
The Annual K9. A special K-9 annual published for Christmas 1982 in PDF format.
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Producer John Nathan-Turner decided to remove K-9 from “Doctor Who” because he regarded it as a comedic element which was also used to solve the Doctor’s problems in a way too simple. Nathan-Turner also wanted to put his mark on the show and K-9, introduced when Graham Williams was the producer, was considered one of the elements to be eliminated.
“Doctor Who” fans, especially the younger ones, took decision terribly and started a campaign to save K-9. John Nathan-Turner didn’t change his mind and the robot dog left the scene in the adventure “Warriors’ Gate” but came up with the idea of creating a spinoff for younger fans.
To make a new program with K-9 work the presence of at least one human protagonist was required. John Nathan-Turner had already tried to bring back Sarah Jane Smith in “Doctor Who” but actress Elisabeth Sladen wasn’t interested in returning to the show. The idea of being the focus of a special with the possibility of starting a new series was for her much more interesting and she agreed to play Sarah Jane Smith again in what became “K -9 and Company”.
Lavinia, Sarah Jane’s aunt, was mentioned in “Doctor Who” so it was decided to put her in some way at the center of the story. In fact, when Sarah Jane arrives at her home, Lavinia isn’t there and the concern that something might have happened brings her niece to discover that in the area there’s a coven of witches who performs strange rituals.
That subject was occasionally touched in “Doctor Who” and a few years before had been part of “Children of the Stones”, a great success today considered a classic and also the most frightening drama for kids ever produced. In “K-9 and Company”, however, its toned down very much so the sense of threat is limited.
A story like the one told in “K-9 and Company” would’ve needed a good pace and a certain tension to work well. Maybe there was some concern because kids were its target but that’s exactly why they didn’t have to bore them. Perhaps it was thought that the presence of K-9 would be enough to amuse them.
The way it is, “K-9 and Company” has a rather long initial part where Brendan Richards is introduced and K-9 is found and activated. Only then there’s the start of the “real” story about the magic rites performed in the area to reach an ending that honestly seemed rushed.
“K-9 and Company” was broadcast in a single 50-minute episode, as long as two episodes of the classic “Doctor Who” series, on December 28, 1981. Despite its opening titles, which have become a joke, the rating was very good: 8.4 million viewers, more than the average of the “Doctor Who” episodes of those years.
Producer John Nathan-Turner hoped to produce a whole series, so much that this special has the title “A Girl’s Best Friend”, which would have identified the pilot episode if others had been produced. Despite its rating result, the idea was rejected and it took over 25 years before we could see a successful spinoff with Sarah Jane Smith as the protagonist and occasionally with K-9 as well.
The rejection came from Alan Hart, a new BBC controller who had different ideas from his predecessor Bill Cotton, who had approved the production of the special as a possible pilot for a new series. Simply, Hart didn’t like the idea and didn’t approve the production of a series.
“A Girl’s Best Friend” could make sense as a pilot for a series because the story is basically an excuse to introduce its protagonists and start the relationships among them. As an autonomous special it’s honestly a bit boring, because it’s very focused on the characters and little on the story.
The extras on the DVD are nothing extraordinary. The novels and the annual could be the most interesting ones for those who have an e-book reader and are interested in reading them. For the rest, it’s a product for “Doctor Who” fans and I think it’s sold in a box set along with “The Invisible Enemy” because it was the only way to sell it in decent amounts.
This DVD is part of a box set together with “K-9 and Company”, available on Amazon UK
