K9 Tales
DOCTOR WHO: K9 TALES
LABEL: BBC/2Entertain
RUNNING TIME: 150 mins approx.
RATING: PG
VIDEO FORMAT: 4:3 Non-Anamorphic
AUDIO FORMAT: English 2.0
SUBTITLES: English HOH, Production Notes
DVD REGION: 2
AVAILABLE: 16th June 2008
Synopsis
This new box set brings together two noteworthy chapters in the adventures of everybody's favourite tin dog, K9. “The Invisible Enemy” introduces him to audiences – and the Doctor! -- for the first time, whilst “A Girl's Best Friend” (better known under the title K9 AND COMPANY) features the mechanical mutt striking out on his own in the pilot for a TV series that never was...
Review
There are times when I look at my editor and mutter “You owe me, pal”. Be it fighting my way into central London at rush hour to attend the press screening of a Roland Emmerich movie, or sitting through almost six hours of VOLTRON, it seems there's no job too heinous to be slapped on to my desk if it means that Mr. Patmore can get out of the office in time to catch happy hour at the Leaky Cauldron, save the universe from General Zod, or do whatever else it is he does when he's not slaving away over a hot keyboard to keep our darling reader base well-informed. So, you can image my ire when the latest package from the 2Entertain label waggled its way into my field of vision just a little while ago. “What's this?” I cried, excitedly. “Could it be the new Torchwood box set, or perhaps another rediscovered classic from the Troughton era?” “Er, not exactly.” replied my evil overlord. “It's a K9 box set. And yes, K9 AND COMPANY is in it. Enjoy!”
Gah. K9 AND COMPANY. It's picked up a reputation in fan circles the DOCTOR WHO equivalent of the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL. It's the aborted foetus of the Whoniverse, the very definition of The Thing That Should Not Be. Of course, it occurred to me on the way home that evening, I've never actually watched the damn thing before – as a child, at the time when I was discovering Classic Who on video, I had given it a wide birth thanks to a number of friends warning me to steer clear*. Could it be that I had it all wrong? Could it be that beneath the dust of years of fan-abuse and misunderstanding I was faced with a lost classic? Could it be, in fact, that I would be decrying the BBC for failing to pick up this pilot for a full series by the time the episode had come to an end?
Er, not quite. As it turns out, K9 AND COMPANY is nowhere near as bad as everybody makes out, but for all of its plus points its still a tremendously flawed outing for characters as popular and as enduring as Sarah-Jane Smith and her faithful tin dog. It starts with the theme tune. Call me shallow if you like, but those opening credits are cheesy, cringe-worthy and *painfully* long – and to make matters worse, they can't fail to induce laughter. If you think that doesn't sound so bad, consider the fact that this is supposed to be a mystery-drama; having your audience going into it chuckling with embarrassment does nothing to set an appropriate mood. The second minus point is the plot. If you're going to set a DOCTOR WHO spin-off on present-day Earth and centre it around characters like Sarah-Jane and K9, what you need are some decent contemporary sf/fantasy pieces, similar to the UNIT years in Classic Who. Instead what we get are rejects from THE WICKER MAN and a bunch of RADA-drop-outs from the “oo-arr” school of yokel acting bumbling woodenly about the place, muttering about witchcraft when it's clear that all they really want to do is stab people. A story like this wouldn't be out of place on MIDSOMER MURDERS.
Still, despite this run of negativity there's still a glimmer of promise. Elizabeth Sladen remains a charming and engaging lead, leading the viewer through a sea of dross as if it were Shakespeare's finest work, and John Leeson – reprising his role as the titular robo-pooch -- is as amusing as ever. Even the format works quite well, although there's sadly a fairly obvious Doctor-shaped hole through most of the proceedings. Ultimately it's worth watching for the curiosity value alone; after all, this is the historical first attempt at a DOCTOR WHO spin-off, and a direct precursor to THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES.
The second title in this box set is the 1977 fourth Doctor story “The Invisible Enemy”, and it is this that is going to be of most interest to Classic Who fans. Ostensibly a (cough cough) homage to the FANTASTIC VOYAGE, the story sees miniaturised clones of the Doctor and Leela injected into the real Doctor's brain in order to combat a destructive sentient spore attempting to take over his body. Despite this central premise, however, the Baker-Martin script still finds time to frame everything with a classic siege story, featuring an ever-diminishing band of white-hats defending the Doctor's unconscious body whilst his clone does its vital work. Certainly it's a little derivative and sure, some of the special effects will make you twitch (especially the Nucleus, which is essentially a giant prawn), but its nonetheless entertaining for it and some of the characters – especially K9's creator Professor Marius, played by delightful DOCTOR WHO veteran Frederick Jaeger – are so quirky and refreshing that you genuinely wish you could see them again once the story has finished.
If K9 TALES was on sale for thirty pounds, or even twenty, I'd certainly tell you to think twice before picking up. As it is, however, it can be found online for as little £13.99, giving you one classic episode and one related curiosity for well under fifteen quid. With this in mind, K9 TALES comes highly recommended – after all, what Classic Who collection is complete without a little tin dog?
*To be fair, when you only get three pounds in pocket money per week fifteen quid is a hell of a lot of money to risk on a video...
Picture
The picture on both features has been cleaned up nicely, although the footage still displays that tell-tale 70's grain. Nonetheless, it's infinitely better than the 90's video releases, and about as good as it's going to get, given the age of the source material.
Audio
Classic stereo. Lovely jubbly.
Special Features
There's quite a lot on offer here; both stories sport cast and crew commentary, whilst the usual glut of short documentaries, continuity announcements, archive footage and DVD-ROM reading material is joined by a selection of children's storybooks (in PDF format) and faintly amusing interview with K9 himself!
K9 TALES is out on 16th June and is available from major retailers including Amazon and Play.
LABEL: BBC/2EntertainRUNNING TIME: 150 mins approx.
RATING: PG
VIDEO FORMAT: 4:3 Non-Anamorphic
AUDIO FORMAT: English 2.0
SUBTITLES: English HOH, Production Notes
DVD REGION: 2
AVAILABLE: 16th June 2008
Synopsis
This new box set brings together two noteworthy chapters in the adventures of everybody's favourite tin dog, K9. “The Invisible Enemy” introduces him to audiences – and the Doctor! -- for the first time, whilst “A Girl's Best Friend” (better known under the title K9 AND COMPANY) features the mechanical mutt striking out on his own in the pilot for a TV series that never was...
Review
There are times when I look at my editor and mutter “You owe me, pal”. Be it fighting my way into central London at rush hour to attend the press screening of a Roland Emmerich movie, or sitting through almost six hours of VOLTRON, it seems there's no job too heinous to be slapped on to my desk if it means that Mr. Patmore can get out of the office in time to catch happy hour at the Leaky Cauldron, save the universe from General Zod, or do whatever else it is he does when he's not slaving away over a hot keyboard to keep our darling reader base well-informed. So, you can image my ire when the latest package from the 2Entertain label waggled its way into my field of vision just a little while ago. “What's this?” I cried, excitedly. “Could it be the new Torchwood box set, or perhaps another rediscovered classic from the Troughton era?” “Er, not exactly.” replied my evil overlord. “It's a K9 box set. And yes, K9 AND COMPANY is in it. Enjoy!”
Gah. K9 AND COMPANY. It's picked up a reputation in fan circles the DOCTOR WHO equivalent of the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL. It's the aborted foetus of the Whoniverse, the very definition of The Thing That Should Not Be. Of course, it occurred to me on the way home that evening, I've never actually watched the damn thing before – as a child, at the time when I was discovering Classic Who on video, I had given it a wide birth thanks to a number of friends warning me to steer clear*. Could it be that I had it all wrong? Could it be that beneath the dust of years of fan-abuse and misunderstanding I was faced with a lost classic? Could it be, in fact, that I would be decrying the BBC for failing to pick up this pilot for a full series by the time the episode had come to an end?
Er, not quite. As it turns out, K9 AND COMPANY is nowhere near as bad as everybody makes out, but for all of its plus points its still a tremendously flawed outing for characters as popular and as enduring as Sarah-Jane Smith and her faithful tin dog. It starts with the theme tune. Call me shallow if you like, but those opening credits are cheesy, cringe-worthy and *painfully* long – and to make matters worse, they can't fail to induce laughter. If you think that doesn't sound so bad, consider the fact that this is supposed to be a mystery-drama; having your audience going into it chuckling with embarrassment does nothing to set an appropriate mood. The second minus point is the plot. If you're going to set a DOCTOR WHO spin-off on present-day Earth and centre it around characters like Sarah-Jane and K9, what you need are some decent contemporary sf/fantasy pieces, similar to the UNIT years in Classic Who. Instead what we get are rejects from THE WICKER MAN and a bunch of RADA-drop-outs from the “oo-arr” school of yokel acting bumbling woodenly about the place, muttering about witchcraft when it's clear that all they really want to do is stab people. A story like this wouldn't be out of place on MIDSOMER MURDERS.
Still, despite this run of negativity there's still a glimmer of promise. Elizabeth Sladen remains a charming and engaging lead, leading the viewer through a sea of dross as if it were Shakespeare's finest work, and John Leeson – reprising his role as the titular robo-pooch -- is as amusing as ever. Even the format works quite well, although there's sadly a fairly obvious Doctor-shaped hole through most of the proceedings. Ultimately it's worth watching for the curiosity value alone; after all, this is the historical first attempt at a DOCTOR WHO spin-off, and a direct precursor to THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES.
The second title in this box set is the 1977 fourth Doctor story “The Invisible Enemy”, and it is this that is going to be of most interest to Classic Who fans. Ostensibly a (cough cough) homage to the FANTASTIC VOYAGE, the story sees miniaturised clones of the Doctor and Leela injected into the real Doctor's brain in order to combat a destructive sentient spore attempting to take over his body. Despite this central premise, however, the Baker-Martin script still finds time to frame everything with a classic siege story, featuring an ever-diminishing band of white-hats defending the Doctor's unconscious body whilst his clone does its vital work. Certainly it's a little derivative and sure, some of the special effects will make you twitch (especially the Nucleus, which is essentially a giant prawn), but its nonetheless entertaining for it and some of the characters – especially K9's creator Professor Marius, played by delightful DOCTOR WHO veteran Frederick Jaeger – are so quirky and refreshing that you genuinely wish you could see them again once the story has finished.
If K9 TALES was on sale for thirty pounds, or even twenty, I'd certainly tell you to think twice before picking up. As it is, however, it can be found online for as little £13.99, giving you one classic episode and one related curiosity for well under fifteen quid. With this in mind, K9 TALES comes highly recommended – after all, what Classic Who collection is complete without a little tin dog?
*To be fair, when you only get three pounds in pocket money per week fifteen quid is a hell of a lot of money to risk on a video...
Picture
The picture on both features has been cleaned up nicely, although the footage still displays that tell-tale 70's grain. Nonetheless, it's infinitely better than the 90's video releases, and about as good as it's going to get, given the age of the source material.
Audio
Classic stereo. Lovely jubbly.
Special Features
There's quite a lot on offer here; both stories sport cast and crew commentary, whilst the usual glut of short documentaries, continuity announcements, archive footage and DVD-ROM reading material is joined by a selection of children's storybooks (in PDF format) and faintly amusing interview with K9 himself!
K9 TALES is out on 16th June and is available from major retailers including Amazon and Play.
Posted 09 Jun 2008 by Matt
