What a slog. The K-9 Series is just an absolutely boring addition to the Doctor Who franchise, albeit a slightly unofficial one. K-9, of course, had been given his own attempt at a show once before, in the early 80s. That co-starred Sarah Jane Smith (who he had never shared time in the TARDIS with), and did not end up going beyond a pilot...and had the absolute worst theme song imaginable. Co-creator of the tin dog always felt it deserved a better shot. In 1997 he began developing a concept for a series based around K-9, but it sat in development hell for a decade. When K-9 as reintroduced to younger viewers in 2006 in "School Reunion," Baker used this brief new clout to try and get his concept off the ground. But RTD and the BBC had already decided that the other returning character from that episode deserved her own series, and it was already aimed at Baker's target audience...and so once again funding eluded him, until he went to Australia.
Originally, the show was meant to take place in space and feature a ragtag team on a spaceship going on adventures with the robot dog. I am guessing the funding in Australia was limited, so they opted to just make it set in the "near future," but go for London instead of Australia...this was the first poor decision. Why not really set this show apart from the other official BBC shows which are all set in the UK. Doctor Who could go anywhere, but often when landing on Earth it was in London. Sarah Jane Adventures was also based in London. Torchwood was at least in Wales. So you've got a whole production in Australia and need to set yourself apart from the BBC competition, why not have K-9 land in Australia and give the show a different flavor? No...no it is better to just see how many bad Australian actors can unconvincingly do a English accent.
The show had the rights to K-9 but little else from the Doctor Who universe, as such this just feels like it doesn't fit in the Who universe at all. It could have been it's own Australian sci-fi show, but it has this weird tenuous connection to something bigger that they have no right to mention beyond this singular character. I don't think this would have ever been a great show, but perhaps space adventures with the dog would have been more entertaining.
The show has this weird awkward setting, somewhat totalitarian dystopia, sort of regular London but with Alien adventures. The dystopian setting often feels like a mixed message, as if the "Department" that runs things is maybe okay except for one guy...other times it is a wholly evil organization apart from Jorjie's mom. But Jorjie's mom sometimes is pretty pro-Fascism...so I dunno. Living in this world are a bunch of half baked characters, none of which really jump out as being worthwhile.
It also just feels like a show for nobody. "Doctor Who" is geared towards a pretty wide general audience, whereas SJA catered to younger viewers, Torchwood towards more mature audiences, and Class catered to the YA audience. This is some sort of weird middle ground between trying to have some darker themes like fascism, but it never dives deep into that...then it has cartoony cheesy elements like SJA but it never really works...so it all becomes a show for no one in the end.
Ultimately, I never cared for the show. I started this series 2 or 3 times before I decided I really wanted to give it my full attention. And even after I got halfway through I took an extended break before deciding I wanted to finish my commitment before the 60th Anniversary of proper Who came later this year. I didn't like the stories, I didn't like the characters, I thought the production values were cheap. SJA was also cheap looking, but it was able to back it up with more likable characters and as it progressed it actually got some fine stories as well. This never really did.
The show only lasted this single un-regarded season and has, for the most part, been forgotten as a part of Doctor Who lore. People might bring up SJA or Torchwood, but this is not usually in the conversation. Hell even Class got a Big Finish spin-off...this show is happily left in the dustbin of time. Bob Baker was still keen to keep it going, even if people didn't want to give them the money to do it. He was at one point trying to sell a second season and a movie...eventually focusing more energy to trying to make the K-9 film, titles "K-9: Timequake" but Kickstarters and other funding sources never really got anywhere before he died. Those helping on the project claimed they'd try and see it through, but honestly is there even an audience for it? I doubt it will ever be made, as it has been in development hell for over a decade, the audience for it is slim, and the driving force behind the project has passed away.
I think if K-9 ever returns, it will be back in Doctor Who proper as some sort of goofy one-off, sort of like "School Reunion." But they already did that once, so I think it unlikely they'd do it again. I think the tin dog is more likely to be left to spin-off material like comics or books, maybe an audio here or there while John Leeson still lives...but I doubt he will truly come back in TV form again.
NEXT TIME: A 14th for the 60th
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