K9 Mark IV

"There was a scientific experiment in Switzerland, they created their own black hole. If it gets free the Earth will be swallowed up. So K-9 is sealing it off."

- Sarah Jane Smith

K-9 Mark IV served as a replacement for the destroyed K-9 Mark III.

Biography
"Why does he look so... disco?"

- Rose Tyler on K-9 Mark III

After Mark III sacrificed himself to defeat the Krillitanes, the Doctor left a new model, Mark IV, for Sarah Jane Smith, just seconds after he departed in his TARDIS. K9 refers to himself as being rebuilt and improved, suggesting Mark IV possesses the same memory as Mark III. (DW: School Reunion) Though Sarah Jane didn't find this out right away, the Doctor had also placed some gifts in a panel in K-9's side: sonic lipstick and a Scanner Watch that could detect alien life. (Sarah Jane Smith website)

A year before Sarah Jane first met Maria Jackson, K-9 Mark IV left Sarah Jane in order to stabilize a dangerous artificial black hole in space which had been created in Switzerland. He could only speak with Sarah occasionally via a cabinet with a spacetime link when the orbit of the black hole intersected with that of Earth and did not know when he would complete the job. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) However, at times he was capable of returning to Earth briefly, and did so on two later occasions in order to render vital assistance. In the first time, he fought Mr Smith in pitched battle to allow Sarah to upload the Armaggedon Virus, (SJA: The Lost Boy) And again in order to quickly upload TARDIS base code to Mr Smith and assist the Doctor in returning the Earth to its correct location in space. (DW: Journey's End)

After these events he went back monitoring the black hole only to find an unidentified member of the Slitheen family attempting to steal him as part of a revenge plot against Sarah Jane, who had foiled their plans in the past. K-9 banished the Slitheen, after reversing one of its attacks.(SJA: From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love)

Features and improvements
"Oi! Listen, in the year 5000, this was cutting edge!"

- the Doctor

This K-9 had a shiny metallic blue paint job and a number of improvements over Mark III including an omniflexible hyperlink facility. (DW: School Reunion) Later, though, K-9 reverted to his old, dark green color. (SJA: Invasion of the Bane) In episode 2 of The Lost Boy Sarah Jane unleashes K-9 Mark IV to battle Mr Smith. Before and after the battle K-9 displays a teleport facility and utilises a laser weapon similar to the previous K-9s'. (SJA: The Lost Boy)

Behind the Scenes

 * The designation K-9 Mark IV never actually appeared in dialogue. Documents packaged with the 1/4 scale Remote Control K-9 toy referred to this model as the Mark IIIb, but props in The Sarah Jane Adventures have had the Mark IV designation.
 * K-9 Mark IV has not, to date, made more than token appearances on The Sarah Jane Adventures because of its conflicting with the rights by Jetix Europe to have him appear in a series of his own, K9. (Jetix has chosen to display the character's name as K9).
 * K-9 is set to come back to The Sarah Jane Adventures in series 3 with a larger role, allegedly appearing in 6 of the 12 episodes. This has not been confirmed as of May 2009, however it as been confirmed that K-9 will appear in at least two episodes alongside David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.