Forum:K9, K-9, K-9 (2050), K9 Mark 2, K-9 Mark II

Okay. Before K9TV gets fully under way here, we need to settle an old debate. What is the proper way to spell this character's name? There's a discussion over at Talk:K-9 available for those wishing to catch up on the discussion. The name has never been given with a hyphen on screen. Ever. Nor is it anything but "K9" in Target Books. Or in the K9 Sparrow Books (like K9 and the Beasts of Vega), written by co-creator Dave Martin. No, what happened was the DWM, the magazine that couldn't even spell Peter Davison's name correctly on the cover, got it wrong. They were the ones who introduced the hyphen. They consistently use it in Fourth Doctor comic strips. They consistently use it in non fictional articles. So it's Dez Skinn's fault that later, original works like the short story "Housewarming" also use "K-9".

But the important bit, to me, is that it's never "K-9" on screen. The voice actor is always credited as providing the "Voice of K9". The only "punctuation" — and it's not actually punctuation, but really just a little stylistic "bullet" — is what's on the casing, and therefore on the K9 and Company title card: K•9. It is clear, though, based on scripts, casting call sheets, and credits that this was never meant to be observed. Every scrap of evidence from production indicates that the character was "K9".

I propose that al K9 pages should be moved to this spelling of the name. Yes, I know there are already redirects, but the actual name at the top of the page should be "K9 Mark ". Sure K-9 should link to K9, and I don't propose some massive rooting out of every spelling of K-9 on this wiki. But the page title should absolutely go with the most correct name possible.

Then we come to the real bugbear: the K9 of K9TV. And here there is urgency to move because soon a large number of new pages will refer to him. The page currently resides at K-9 (2050). But look at that page. In the infobox, it's called "K-9 Mark I.1". The first, bolded mention in the lead calls him "2050 K-9". So when one goes to that page, one is immediately hit with three different names. Something's got to give here.

And the answer is lying at the bottom of the page, qualified by the words "there is a slight possibility that his names is K9 Mark 2". There's nothing slight about that. That is his name. We've even got the screencap to prove it. For some unknown reason we are rejecting the only on-screen proof we have in favor of two or three conjectural titles. I don't even get where "2050" comes into it, as that year hasn't been mentioned onscreen, I don't think. Besides, even if it has, that's not where he comes from. The whole point of Regeneration is that he's been pulled to Earth via a time machine. Calling him "K9 (2050)" is a bit like calling the Third Doctor "Doctor (1970s)" or "Doctor (Exiled to Earth)" or "Doctor (UNIT)". In a universe based on time travel, you simply can't get into the business of naming a character based upon where he rolls up one day.

Imagine that K9 is a successful series. It goes on for a few years. The kids get older or brattier or whatever. And they're not asked back to the fourth series. But by that point the producers have made a little cash and they decide to give the thing a bigger budget and give K9 the ability to travel in space. Or even time. Would it make sense then to call him "K9 2050"? Of course not. We have to use names that are actually given to us on screen, and ones that will be flexible enough to accommodate possible changes to the show's format.

He is K9 Mark 2. Oh, look. A red link. The name's available. Slap a "you may have been looking for K9 Mark II" at the top of the page, and Bob's your uncle.  Czech Out  ☎ | ✍  13:54, March 1, 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'll back away from being so strident on K9 vs. K-9.  I have recently found some credits in the BBC Wales version that use the hyphen, though there are equally other times where he's credited without the hyphen.  So, we can let that bit slide.  I'm still not terribly convinced that the series name is actually K-9 — production information and industry announcements all seem to go for K9 — but that's a simpler fix if and when it needs to be done, that can be done with one shake of a bot's tail.


 * I'm still, however, concerned with this whole K-9 (2050) business, and before we get too deep into the series' transmission, I think we should still have some kind of debate about that. First of all, it's a totally non-standard name.  We almost always disambiguate characters by referring to the production from which they come, not the year.  At the very least K-9 (K9TV) or K-9 (K-9 TV series) would more closely hew to how we traditionally disambiguate.  But I still think the best disambiguation is to follow in the tradition of how we disambiguate other K9s and give him the name we actually see on screen, K-9 Mark 2.   Czech Out   ☎ | ✍  14:43, April 20, 2010 (UTC)