Category: K9 the Series
Last article published: 11 July 2014
This is the 30th post under this label
What do you do with a label for series reviews when said series is over and there will never be any more? Well, won't there be? K9 belongs to its creators Bob Baker and Dave Martin - as opposed to the Doctor Who offices - but Baker has spent the intervening years trying to get his little robot pup back on the air in some fashion. It's a little like Terry Nation and the Daleks in the late 60s-early 70s, but y'know, with an actual heroic character to star in whatever vehicle. So let's just track the developments of K9 projects beyond the Australian series. First though, we have to acknowledge the plans for a second season, where K9 would have regenerated once again into a slightly cuter model.
But by the time they were talking about this, it was already 3 years after the first season. The kids would have been all grown up and what audience they had would have moved on. So by 2014, Baker was talking about a reboot series called K9 Adventures, which he officially abandoned (via Facebook post) in 2016, to concentrate (with his writing partner on the TV series, Paul Tams) on a K9 movie called K9: TimeQuake, set to premiere in cinemas in 2017. It was supposed to be about the robot dog fighting another of Baker's Doctor Who creations, Omega (but obviously an Omega that wouldn't acknowledge being a Time Lord). What, no Axons, Bob? As we know, that didn't happen. In 2018, the news morphed into an apparent multi-million dollar deal with a major US/UK company that would bring this story to life in the style of Guardians of the Galaxy (dreaming big). Still, nothing has materialized.
BUT! As late as last year, there were still statements made about K9 vs. Omega, except this time as an animated series! As the creator of Wallace and Gromit, Bob Baker certainly has an in with animation people (though no one imagines K9 in claymation), so perhaps this version of the project has more legs (though K9 himself does not). It's now been more than 10 years since K9's show on Channel Five, maybe it's time to introduce him to a new generation of kids...
Where would YOU want to see K9 go? (It's okay to answer into the packing crate in the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.)
Comments
K9 is more the centerpiece to a group of humans with interpersonal drama that's the primary focus (I don't think I could even imagine where to start if I tried to write K9 as a dramatic figure himself), it takes place in one setting we can explore thoroughly as opposed to the parent show and said setting isn't just present day London. Of course I would have actually made it Australia.
If anything the fact we already had an extremely so-so series with that premise makes it a bit odd to pitch something K9-focused with such a similar setup, though. The Tin Dog really does only work well in a supporting role.
I'd love to see the SJA K9's adventures with Ace post-Farewell, Sarah Jane... but I feel that's such a fanwankery idea it'd only really suit a Big Finish series aimed at fans, less a pitch for general audiences.
To a soundtrack co-written by Ian Levine, if possible.