We could have had it all if this got more eps

K9 & COMPANY: STORY 1

It’s impossible to talk about A Girl’s Best Friend, the pilot for the (never continued) spin-off K-9 and Company, without mentioning that intro.

It’s so stupid, and I love it.

In fact, that last sentence could also be applied to the whole episode.

It’s so bonkers, with one of the strangest plots in the Whoniverse.

Sarah Jane and her cousin Brendan, with the help of K-9, must stop a cult from... I actually don’t really know what the story was about, as a lot was annoyingly left unexplained.

The most unforgettable part of the episode for me is the finale, where K-9 slaughters everyone in the cult, and no one cares!

This is one of the weirdest stories in the world of Doctor Who, and, while it will definitely not be to everyone’s taste, I love it because of how strange it (unintentionally) is.

I do like to wonder what it would be like if the series actually went ahead, but I think that would just be too much, even for me.

Oh well, we’ll always have Australia’s K-9 series.

Ah. K9 and Company. How many ways do I love thee.

The glorious theme tune - 1 part Dynasty, 2 parts Ulysees 31 (seriously, listen to the two back to back); K9 on a wall - how, just how; Elisabeth Sladen jogging, drinking wine and reading a newspaper.

Linda Polan - what a brilliant performance as Juno Baker. She knows the script is supposed to suggest she's the head of the black magic cult so ramps her performance up to 85% weird/15% Margo Leadbetter. Her husband, Neville Barber, is 20% Jerry Leadbetter, 80% relatively normal compared to his wife!

Gillian Martell playing the flipside of Juno, Lily Gregson - all country oo-ar, simple folks we are, would you like a cup of tea (I'm a black magic cultist really under my frumpy exterior....(sorry - spoilers!)

Bill Fraser in full on 'gruff but kindly' mode so we don't suspect him of being the other cult leader.

A surrounding guest cast of simple, country folk from the farmer who doesn't trust science but his own gut instinct to the simple lad used as a heavy and the policeman who's got in too deep.

Brendan, Brendan, Brendan. This is Adric if he was a bit more likeable (and I don't even mind Adric all that much). Ian Sears is great as Brendan and of all the characters from this spin-off he's the one who I would most have liked to see in a full series. He's a bit of the Sarah Jane Adventures' Luke crossed with a bit of Clyde and a bit of Maria.

The ridiculous plot of black magic cults in an English village - why is this the first story they went to for a K9 spin-off? A futuristic robot dog! It literally makes no sense and I love it all the more because of it.

Characters smoking and drinking left, right and centre - you can tell this is kid's TV in 1981!

John Leeson being awesome as K9 - of course - and singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas as the credits roll - sublime.

Elisabeth Sladen acting as if she has quietly realised this isn't exactly what she thought it might be and isn't really very good. But she's a professional and she'll give her best shot.

The K9 Annual this spin-off gave rise to. If you haven't read it, get the K9 and Company DVD - it's on there as a PDF - and treat yourself to story after story of black magic cults around the world (even the writer, interviewd in the most recent issue of DWM admits he may have gone a bit overboard with the cults!).

The climactic scenes which, now, remind me of Hot Fuzz's climactic reveal. In fact, I'd go so far as to say someone responsible for that film remembers K9 and Company, even if just subconsciously - Pegg's a fan isn't he?

K9 and Company is rubbish, but it's fun rubbish and its heart is in the right place. The cast give it their all and the main reason it just doesn't work is because the setting and plot just don't fit the idea of creating a show based round K9. It feels much more like a Sarah Jane spin-off with K9 added in rather than the other way round.

I implore those of you debating whether to include it in your marathon to do so. It's so clearly part of 80s Who - the look and feel of it has distinct echoes of the Pertwee era atmosphere (with obvious parallels to The Daemons) mashed up with the production design of the Davison era.

Sod all the Doctor Who Christmas specials - watching this should be an annual Christmas tradition!

It’s Christmas 1981, we’ve just lost the most well loved Doctor to date and the Doctor Who production team have another surprise in store for us - the show’s very first spin off (if you don’t count the 1960s movies). Sarah-Jane Smith is the ideal candidate for a spin off, as would be proved many years later, but is oddly sidelined in the title of this show for the shiny K-9 who exited the main show a couple of stories back. But this is K-9 mk III, not the one who stayed with Romana.

Despite nowadays being consigned to obscurity, remembered only by fandom, this story is actually more entertaining than you’d expect. The whole production is perhaps overshadowed by the ridiculous opening title sequence and theme tune which looks desperate (I can only imagine Elizabeth Sladen’s embarrassment). I wonder, is the theme tune Ian Levine’s first contribution towards Doctor Who?

Once you get into the story, it’s very reminiscent of early 1970s Doctor Who. The set ups of cults and folklore is spooky and intriguing, building an interesting village setting where mysterious goings on can occur. It reminds me a little of Children of the Stones or some of the cults you come across in Survivors. Unfortunately the way it wraps up is pedestrian and relies solely on the cliches and genre tropes it’s tapping into rather than it’s own unique story ideas. There is literally a Scooby Doo unmasking of the central villains at the end of the 50 minutes. K-9 also isn’t used quite right. He is best as a peice of light relief and worst when he becomes a moving ray gun.

All in all I’m delighted that this story exists and a little disappointed that it never got picked up for another episode. In some ways it makes sense, the balance of all the right ingredients for a spin off isn’t *quite* there. It will be quite some time before we deviate from the main show again. Bring on the 5th Doctor!

This was just alright, unfortunately. An interesting sort of prelude that I definitely think had all the potential of Sarah Jane Adventures, yet one unfocused and oddly choosing to have K9 be the titled character even though this is very much a Sarah Jane story. Elizabeth Sladen really stands out as a performer here, but everyone else feels a lot more lacklustre. The story also just bored me a bit, being this sort of generic cult-themed plot. It kind of reminded me of an unfunny version of Hot Fuzz, actually, coupled with a complete lack of self-awareness.

It does remind me that Doctor Who is often aimed at and constructed for a younger audience, especially in the time this was produced, but I'm not sure that made much of a difference anyways. Really it just reflects the various failed and in my opinion severely misguided attempts to give K9 a spin-off. This one feels especially egregious since it is clear it is Sladen that deserved the focus of the spin-off, and it would be decades before this character and actor finally got her due.