K9 as in The Armageddon Factor
Name:
K9 Mark 1
Voiced by:
John Leeson/David Brierly
Tenure:
1 October 1977-12 November 1981
First Seen In:
Latest Appearance:
Numberof Series:
2 1/2
source TARDIS Wikia
K9 MARK I
Professor
The Professor offered K9 to the Fourth Doctor as the same weight requirements made him unable to take Mark I back to Earth. (
The Fourth Doctor and
K9 stayed with Leela on
However, K9 survived this and the
K9 MARK II
Before this, The Doctorobtained or constructed at least one backup model of K9. Immediately after leaving Mark I behind with Leela, he unpacked
The Fourth Doctor found that K9 had contracted laryngitis and had lost his voice as a result of this. K9 was left in the
This K9 exhibited the ability to sense and warn others of danger. He was also more mobile than his predecessor, despite his problems with the swamps of Delta III. (
K9 travelled to
Damaged by the time winds,
During Romana’s Presidency of Gallifrey, Leela became her bodyguard, and the two K9 units were forced to work together, not always amicably. After
The fates of K9 in light of the
K9 MARK III
A third model,
K9 helped Sarah Jane to defeat Moreton Harwood’s murderous
In 1996, Sarah used K9 to hack into records and find
Inearly 2007, while investigating the mysterious jump in student performance at Deffry Vale High School, Sarah Jane encountered a science teacher, John Smith, whose peculiarly happy reaction to meeting her led her to suspect that he was herold friend,
K9 MARK IV
As a heartbroken Sarah Jane watched, the TARDIS dematerialised to reveal
Almost as soon as he arrived,
After these events, he returned to monitoring the black hole. He emerged to find a member of the
K9 returned when
Unlike 25 years earlier where she appeared unconcerned with K9 Mark III being seen, Sarah Jane restricted K9 Mark IV to her Ealing house except in emergencies or when she required his services, lest she have to explain him. Her son Luke covered by claiming K9 was a Japanese robot toy with pre-programmed phrases. (
Whereas Sarah Jane lifted K9 Mark III into and out of her car, (A Girl’s Best Friend) K9 Mark IV had a”hover mode” allowing him to negotiate the stairs of the Smiths’ three-story house and bi-level attic, and to enter and exit cars. (
LIVING ART SIMULATION
During an encounter with the sentient painting, the Mona Lisa at the International Gallery, a simulatedition of K9 Mk IV was created when Mona Lisa was tricked into animating a drawing of K9 made by Clyde inside a cloud of mystic drawing-animation energy. He subsequently defeated
K9 MARK 2
After Mark I sacrificed himself to destroy the Jixen warriors,
Later he defeated Ahab, who tried to convince him he had murdered Zanthus Pia. He became part of the K9 UNIT, being made the responsibility of Gryffen and under the control of Department inspector June Turner. (The Bounty Hunter) He foiled Inspector Drake’s plan to control the populationusing Cerulium (Sirens of Ceres) and experienced fear. (Fear Itself) He aided in the defeat of echoes of Gryffen’s family, (
He helped Starkey fight the
Either Inspector
After this he was tricked by Thorne to give him his regeneration unit for a lost memory chip/ This turned him into a bomb to make him self-destruct on encountering Jixey. Starkey helped him disarm himself. (Hound of the Korven) K9 Mark 2’s brief life was almost cut tragically short when after the fall of the Korven invasion force, Thorne sent the Trojan to kill K9, who defeated it by burning out his power core and exhausting all his energy. As his regeneration unit was in the Trojan, K9 seemingly died at the mansion after his companions bade him farewell. However his regeneration unit homed in at the last minute and resurrected him, giving the frisky pup a new lease on life. The regeneration unit restored his old dog collar so he could celebrate the joyful occasion to the full as he flew off to more adventures, bristling with life. (The Eclipse of the Korven)
FUTURE MODELS
According to
PERSONALITY
K9 had a personality very consistent across the models with some contact with The Doctor. He was polite and formal, with pedantry bordering on condescensedition. Though he often displayed feelings such as sorrow (
He did not use contractions such as “you’ve” for “you have” and addressed others by titles such as “Master”, “Mistress”, “Doctor-Master” (to refer to The Doctor) or “Young Master” (
He usually did not engage in
With his great intelligence, he had a tendency to bore people with facts and did not stop immediately when asked, as he did to
(
K9 Mark 2 had some obvious commonalities with the Mark I that had preceded him. However, as he had almost completely lost his personal memories, he was forced to reacquaint himself with the world around him. Toward this end, he downloaded thousands of
FEATURES
K9 Mark I’s mechanisms included rotatingear-probes, telescopic ‘eye’ probe, an extendable nose concealing a powerful laser weapon, flashing lights on the top and the ‘eye’ panel, waggling tail antennae, and ticker-tape tongue. His head could move up and down. His shell was painted in metallic gold/grey. There was a monitor screen on his left flank, though K9 rarely used this during his travels with The Doctor. Around K9’s neck was a tartan collar, (being the Family Tartan of the Clan Buchanonn) from which hung a silver disk. (
After K9 Mark I was left behind with
When The Doctor left
When the
After K9 Mark I regenerated into K9 Mark 2, his design was radically altered. His ear probes were replaced with larger silver aerials. A set of blue lights on his head flashed when he spoke. Most of his body was dark silver and a silver dog bone was located under his neck. He seemed to have the same capabilities as Mark I but was presumably more advanced. (Regeneration)
After K9 Mark 2’s apparent rejuvenation, he looked similar to his predecessor, but with a bright blue coat of paint and K9 Mark I’s old collar. (The Eclipse of the Korven)
MARKS
- K9 Mark I was created about the year 5000 by Professor
The Invasion of Time) Some time later, he was blown up by a bomb on Gallifrey, ( Space-Time Manipulator randomly pulled him to London in the year 2050. There, he almost immediately self-destructed to protect Gryffen and a group of teenagers from Jixen warriors. (Regeneration) - K9 Mark II was created by the Fourth Doctor as a “backup” when it became obvious that the Mark I was becoming erratic. (The Time Vampire) He was left behind with
Romana II in The Choice, The Search) and apparently made it back to Lady President of the High Council. ( Shada) - K9 Mark III was a gift from
The Doctor to Sarah Jane Smith (A Girl’s Best Friend). He sacrificed himself to save Deffry Vale High School from School Reunion) - K9 Mark IV was a recreation and enhancement of the Mark III created by the
School Reunion)This model continued in service to his mistress, Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, and Rani Chandra and was known by Maria Jackson and Kelsey Hooper. - K9 Mark 2 was the result of the activation of the Mark I’s on-board
regeneration unit. He had only very limited memories of his past as the Mark I. He had many adventures with Alistair Gryffen, Jorjie Turner, Darius Pike and his new master
(The Bounty Hunter) the Department to replicate K9, but it was of vastly inferior design. ( Jaws of Orthrus)
BEHIND THE SCENES
- K9 is a real world acronym of canine, used to refer to working dogs in the police and military.
- In an interview, the writers said they originally wanted to name K9 “Pluto”, after the Disney character, however, Disney refused permission.
- Another name used in anearly draft of The Invisible Enemy was FIDO, for “Phenomenal Indication Data Observaation”. (
The Invisible Enemy) - The original K9 model was designed by visual effects designer Tony Harding. One early concept was to have a small actor in a large Doberman-shaped costume, however,
Graham Williams vetoed this, saying that the robot should not look like a person in a costume. The eventual design was closely based on Harding’s third concept sketch. ( The Invisible Enemy) - The voice of K9 was inspired by the film, Billion Dollar Brain, albeit at a much higher pitch.
- K9 was also a contestant on
the Doctor Who special of The Weakest Link. While the other contestants were Doctor Who actors appearing as themselves, K9 remained in-character and was the first contestant to be voted off. - K9 was referenced on the American tv show Community, as the character Abed describes himself as a dispassionate observer in the style of various other tv/movie characters.
- K9 also appears in the non-canonical 1990 special
Search Out Space. It is not known which model of K9 this is supposed to be. - K9’s bodywork is made of lanthanum. This fact was stated when he appeared on a Doctor Who addition of “Pointless Celebrities”.
K9 was damaged when he tried attacking some Wrarth Warriors. He was left on board the TARDIS for repairs, during which time he believed he was Leela, and later, a cat. When the Wrarth Warriors arrested Beep the Meep, K9 hissed at Beep. (Doctor Who and the Star Beast)
The Doctor repaired K9. When The Doctor attempted to return Blackcastle resident Sharon Davies home, they instead ended up in the space freighter the Spacehog in the New Earth System. K9 stunned a group of attacking Werelox with his nose beam on board the ship, who were then tranquillised. The Doctor was infected by the venom of a Werelok claw and began transforming into a Werelok. He brought K9 into the TARDIS, and hauled the ship out of time and space. He spent three months in the TARDIS laboratory devising a cure, while K9 was underorders to stun The Doctor every time he tried to return to the controls. When The Doctor and K9 returned, only ten minutes had passed on board the Spacehog.
The Daleks had used the Werelox as an army to attack the planets of the New Earth System so they could sterilise life there and breed a super race of Daleks In the system out of the qualities of the zoo creatures they kept on board The Dalek battlecraft. When The Doctor was captured on board the battlecraft, K9 released the captured zoo aliens, causing them to attack their Dalek captors. After discovering the Room of the Many Centuries, The Doctor escaped to the TARDIS to materialise the ship inside the room. When K9 and the hypnotised Werelok Brill cleared the secured room of Daleks, The Doctor disconnected the time-space rationaliserof the time transporter, freezing The Daleks in one moment in space and time forever. Sharon decided to continue travelling with The Doctor before returning to Blackcastle. (Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom)
K9 was separated from The Doctor and Sharon by a split in the fabric of space and time that split the TARDIS in two. He reunited with The Doctor and Sharon, both of whom were aged four years by a malfunctioning chrono-compensator, when the two halves of the TARDIS were brought back together. (Doctor Who and the Time Witch)
After landing on Barclow, he was given constitutional privilege after trying to warn Rabley about the incoming bomb. Subsequently, he became a presidential candidate. He went to Metralubit to run his campaign. He developed an economic policy that would be populist but not raise taxes. During his campaign, the population of Metralubit started rioting. He was affected when Menlove Stokes destroyed the Femdroids’ central processor. Shortly afterwards, with the help of Romana, he realised that Galatea was based on him. (The Well-Mannered War)
K9 was left inside the TARDIS when The Doctor and Romana went punting in Cambridge to meet Professor Chronotis. After several hours of being “nowhere”, (Shada) due to The Doctor and Romana being taken out of time by Borusa, (The Five Doctors) The Doctor went back to the TARDIS, demanding everyone to put their bathing suits on as they were going to Brighton. The Doctor and Romana, though retaining memories of the punting trip, had forgotten they intended to visit Chronotis. The Doctor said that they had intended to be back “before lights out”, but “went on somewhere else”, according to Romana, afteronly being away from the TARDIS for two hours and twenty-one minutes. (Shada)
Mark II was repaired. He accompanied Romana when she returned to N-Space. During Romana’s term as President of Gallifrey, K9 Mark II served as her aide and advisor. (Lungbarrow)
Remembering he had intended to visit his friend, Professor Chronotis in 1979 Cambridge back in the days his fourth incarnation travelled with Romana II, (Shada) before he and Romana were taken out of time by Borusa for several hours, (The Five Doctors) The Doctor came to Madame President Romana and K9 on Gallifrey to investigate what he was supposed to have been doing before his fourth incarnation, annoyed he was “nowhere” for several hours, forgot and went off to Brighton.
K9 was able to trace the sphere that attacked The Doctor to the ship of Skagra. The Doctor, Chris Parsons, Romana and K9 travelled to it. Chris and K9 were imprisoned in the ship’s brig until The Doctor could release them. When The Doctor’s meddling on board Skagra’s ship awoke a Krarg, K9 bought time for The Doctor and Chris by fighting it off. The Krarg attacked Think Tank and destroyed its systems.
Using The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey as a “key”, Skagra took Romana with him to the Time Lord prison planet, Shada, to take the mind of the criminal, Salyavin, to make all inhabitants of the universe share Skagra’s mind. Discovering Chronotis’ TARDIS on board Skagra’s command ship, The Doctor chased after him. After arriving, Skagra stole the mind of the Professor, who was actually Salyavin. Skagra began placing fragments of the minds he had stolen into his Krarg servants.
As Skagra left Shada in The Doctor’s TARDIS, The Doctor created a tunnel to link the two TARDISes in the time vortex together. This broke Chronotis’ TARDIS. However, K9 was able to help repair it. The Doctor arrived through the TARDIS”back entrance” and improvised a mind control helmet to command the Krargs, as part of the shared mind contained The Doctor’s own thoughts. After the TARDIS landed on Skagra’s command ship, the conflicting commands from The Doctor and Skagra destroyed the Krargs, the surviving victims whose minds were taken by the sphere returning to their bodies. The Doctor and Romana ordered K9 to shoot at the Krarg commander, leading it towards the vats of unborn Krargs, destroying it and the vats. (Shada)
K9 was also equipped with a stealth mode. However, he did not use it until boarding the space platform Fortune II in the Proxima System, as “no one ever asked.” (The Final Phase)
According to another account, K9 stayed in the family for generations until he was inherited by a stockbroker named Frank in 4997. Since neither Frank nor his fiancéeee Gloria were mechanically-minded, they decided to give it to Gloria’s uncle, Professor Frederick Marius. The professor was amazed when examined the old machine, its technology being far in advance of the 20th century. However, Marius was forced to have it scrapped rather than take it with him to the Bi-Al Foundation due to shuttle weight restrictions. He watched as K9 was destroyed, compacted into a tiny metal square. He kept the motherboard as a memento, and later used it as the basis of a new computer which he had constructed at the Foundation, naming it K9 as well… (Tautology)
Mark III included some improvements over past models. The new mechanics of K9 Mark III included larger wheels and a front and back-wheel drive. K9 also had a brand new coat of paint (this time a metallic-blue), (A Girl’s Best Friend) though over time, Mark III rusted to some extent. The paint on his metal casing had faded and chipped away a bit by the time she brought him to the Tenth Doctor to restore some of his functionality. (
K9 claimed that he was shaped like a dog because “the human ego requires a familiar reference point to aid in adjusting to new concepts. Animal forms are comforting to the majority of humans.” (Housewarming)
K9 ran on an electron-fusion nuclear battery. Though K9 usually recharged himself when necessary, Sarah Jane had occasionally done so by clipping jump leads to his antennae. (Housewarming)
MEDIA
Back to Assistants page
K9 tales DVD
Key to Time DVD
Invasion of Time DVD
Sarah Jane Adventures