K9 (TV series)


 * For the character of the same name, see K9.



Overview
'''When the world needs saving, the right person for the job is a dog... A ROBOT DOG!'''

K9 is a spin-off television series featuring the robotic dog K9, that has been produced in Australia by Jetix Europe, Park Entertainment and Stewart Wall Entertainment.

School Reunion led to near-immediate plans to launch the Sarah Jane Adventures spin-off. However, the rights to K9 were obtained by other parties, for the purposes of creating a separate spinoff. According to news reports in mid-2007, the K-9 series will "feature a blend of live-action and CGI: K9 himself would be a CGI creation, but the show would otherwise be recorded in front of cameras."

In June 2008 it was announced that production would begin on the series in July 2008, with all or some of the episodes being written by the co-creator of K9; Bob Baker. Other announced writers include Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong. The series will be produced by Simon Barnes, Richard Stewart and Penny Wall. Due to licencing issues, the robot dog has been extensively redesigned. At first, the series was not expected to have any obvious connection to the Doctor Who universe. , but a 2009 update to the Park Entertainment website revealed that the series would explicitly star K9 Mark I, and that he would initially appear to be of the same design seen on Doctor Who. It will be the first Doctor Who-related series to not be produced or co-produced by the BBC. Aside from the 1996 telefilm, it will be the first time a Doctor Who-related production will not be based in Great Britain.

These licensing issues also prevented K9 Mark IV from making more than cameo appearances in The Sarah Jane Adventures. As of April 2009, Sarah's K9 has only appeared briefly, in SJA. Two cameos were seen in the 2007 episodes - Invasion of the Bane and The Lost Boy. These have been followed by a 2008 cameo on Doctor Who in Journey's End, and a larger role in the mini-episode, From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love. Possibly due to the announcement that the new series is to feature a different model, Mark IV is set to make a more robust appearance in Series 3 of The Sarah Jane Adventures, at roughly the same time the Mark I's series is due to air in the UK. (It is expected Mark IV may appear in as many as half the episodes, though as of May 2009 only two have been confirmed. )

The first season of the series consists of 26 episodes of 30 minutes apiece, which gives it a similar runtime to an average series of Doctor Who, and it's the first time a Doctor Who-related season has had so many episodes since the mid-1980s.

The first episode of the series aired for the first time in the UK on the cable network Disney XD as a special on 31st October 2009. The series began airing as a weekly offering on a Scandinavian network in January 2010. The series commenced broadcast in the UK on 3rd April 2010, the same day it premiered on the Ten network in Australia. This was also the same day that Series 5 of the parent program debuted in the UK.

Currently, Disney XD has adopted a twice-weekly broadcast schedule for K-9, airing episodes on Saturday and Sunday.

The canonicity of the series as it relates to the "Whoniverse" is unclear, but due to it being produced separately from the other Doctor Who series (such as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures), it is unlikely that the shows will ever directly reference each other. The backstory does not appear to contradict the canon of the other Whoniverse TV series, but does contradict the Big Finish Productions' Gallifrey series, which showed K-9 Mark I destroyed. Although Leela refused to rebuild K-9 it is possible that the Time Lords rebuilt K-9 without her knowledge, possibly to help fight in the Last Great Time War because K-9's Regeneration circuit has writing on it very similar to Gallifreyan (language). Also K-9 Mark III didn't have a regeneration circuit when he was destroyed which implies that it was fitted in by the Time Lords as opposed to The Doctor.

Main Cast

 * K9 - John Leeson
 * Starkey - Keegan Joyce
 * Jorjie Turner - Philippa Coulthard
 * Darius Pike - Daniel Webber
 * Professor Alistair Gryffen - Robert Moloney
 * Inspector June Turner - Robyn Moore

Recurring Cast

 * Inspector Drake - Connor Van Vurren
 * Inspector Thorne - Jared Robinsen

Holiday Specials

 * Regeneration - 2009 Halloween Special

Connections with Doctor Who

 * As noted above, K9 has a long history with the parent series, being one of the most recognisable icons of the show. K9 Marks 1 and 2 travelled with the Fourth Doctor from 1977 to 1980. The next K9 appeared in A Girl's Best Friend, the pilot episode for a aborted 1980s spin-off, K9 and Company. He made reunion appearances in DW: The Five Doctors and DW: School Reunion. K9 Mark IV made cameo appearances in several episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures and DW: Journey's End and later had a more larger role in Series 3. Specificly, the K9 in this series is the regenerated K9 Mark I having a radically different design change as the BBC own the design to K9.
 * In Regeneration Professor Gryffen triggers a piece of music stored in K9's memory, the 3 notes that are played are the first three notes of the Doctor Who theme song.
 * In  Regeneration the component of K9 that triggers his regeneration has symbols resembling Old High Gallifreyan, the language of the Time Lords with whom K9 Mark I has been.
 * In Liberation Jorjie considers the possibility using the Space-Time Manipulator to have Time-Travel adventures, The main feature of Doctor Who.
 * In Liberation creatures resembling Zephon and an Axon are seen in Dauntless Prison.
 * In Liberation one of the prison corridor doors in Dauntless Prison is labelled D84.
 * In The Bounty Hunter, in a News Report it is stated a man named only "Mr Smith" has won the lottery and it asks anyone who he is. "Mr Smith" could possibly be The Doctor as he often goes by the alias of "John Smith" or it could be a reference to the character Mr. Smith from the spin off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.
 * In Jaws of Orthrus Proffessor Gryffen uses the phrase "Reverse the Polarity", a phrase often associated with the Third Doctor.
 * In The Curse of Anubis a gallery of races the Anubians have invaded show a Sea Devil, a Mandrel and a Alpha Centauran.
 * In The Cambridge Spy Jorjie is sent to November, 1963 – the same month the first episode of Doctor Who was both broadcast and set. (DW: An Unearthly Child)
 * Darius Pike's name may be a reference to K-9's original owner's name, Marius.

From Doctor Who

 * Axon (The Claws of Axos)
 * Mandrel (drawing) (Nightmare of Eden)
 * Alpha Centauran (drawing) (The Curse of Peladon,The Monster of Peladon)
 * Sea Devil (drawing) (The Sea Devils)

Broadcasters

 * K9 is broadcast in Australia on Network 10 and began screening on the 4th April 2010.
 * K9 on Disney XD in the UK.
 * K9 has been announced that it will begin to be broadcast on the UK's Five in the British autumn.