Okay, yes, this is silly. However, “K-9” as a series wasn’t really meant to be serious. A semi-spin-off from “Doctor Who” some familiarity might be needed. And the thing is, it’s not an official spin-off. one of the official sin-offs to “Doctor Who” featured a K-9 (“The Sara Jane Adventures”). Since one of the creators of the character owned the rights, the production was allowed to go forward. Only stipulation was, since it wasn’t an official spin-off, no mention of any other “Doctor Who” characters or settings (or anything really) could be made. That didn’t stop people from trying though.
While some familiarity with “Doctor Who” is actually helpful in understanding the show, it can also be frustrating. Knowing this is supposed to be the same version of the character that was left on Gallifrey (the Doctor’s home planet) but with no real explanation as to how K-9 arrived back on Earth. In a way, just having a clean slate with the character is sort of nice, a “deus ex machina” if you will.
The idea is we get a robot dog, representative of some alien race, helping to defend Earth from alien threats. Aided by a professor and a couple of kids based in a run down and unused police station. There’s also some time travel. Some of this will resonate clearly with “Doctor Who” fans as the similarities are not coincidental.
As a kid’s show, it’s not bad. There are adventures but the threat is never really menacing. It might be worth using as an introduction to some younger viewers into the universe of “Doctor Who” but it’s not the proper extension of the universe the way “Torchwood” was.
Still, it’s a fun enough series and Shout Factory has done a great job bringing this to audiences. Over 4 DVDs we get all 26 episodes. A couple of short special features round out the package. The first is an “interview” with K-9 meant for the target audience. Then there’s a “making of ” featurette which doesn’t quite take the hard look I would have liked, but is still worth checking out.
Since it doesn’t explore the same grand ideas as “Doctor Who” this spin-off does get rather formulaic, but taken in small doses “K-9” is highly enjoyable. “Doctor Who” completists will certainly want this as well as those who are looking for a way to introduce their kids to a world beyond “Pokemon” and “Phineas And Ferb”.