
K9 is a spin-off television series featuring the robotic dog K9. It was produced in Australia by Park Entertainment and Stewart & Wall Entertainment under the auspices of Metal Mutt Productions, a business identity of Bob Baker which holds primary copyright to the series. K9 premiered worldwide between 2009 and 2010. In the wake of the first series, there were indications that a second series was being planned.[1] In June of 2012 series producer Paul Tams stated that he and Bob Baker were “working on the updates for series two and are also entering a new production partnership.” with another twenty-four episodes planned. They have also adjusted the K9 CGI model based on the positive and negative comments from fans, test footage has already been filmed, with further announcements regarding production later in 2012.[2]
K9 was the first Doctor Who-related series to not be produced or co-produced by the BBC. It marked only the second time, after the TV Movie, that an official Doctor Who-related production was not based in Great Britain.
The first season of the series consisted of twenty-six episodes of thirty minutes each, which gave it a similar run time to an average series of Doctor Who. It was the first time a Doctor Who-related season had so many episodes since the mid-1980s.
The first episode of the series premiered in the UK on the cable network Disney XD as a special on 31 October 2009. The series began airing as a weekly offering on a Scandinavian network in January 2010. It commenced broadcast in the UK on 3rd April 2010, the same day it premiered on the Ten Network in Australia.[6] This was also the same day that Series 5 of the parent program debuted in the UK. Nevertheless, the later December 2010 broadcast on Five was claimed to be the “premiere” UK broadcast.[7] Currently, Disney XD has adopted a twice-weekly broadcast schedule for K9, airing episodes on Saturday and Sunday.
The backstory does not appear to contradict the canon of the other Whoniverse TV series but does contradict the Big Finish Productions Gallifrey series, which portrayed the destruction of K9 Mark I and Leela’s opposition to the idea of constructing a replacement.