K9 - Another Spin-Off

There used to be a time when a Doctor Who spin-off would only result in a failed pilot episode (K9 And Company's A Girl's Best Friend) but with Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures both sating the older and younger audiences as well, can the metal dog strike out on his own? Well, K9 clearly made an attempt with this Australian produced spin-off that aired last year on a digital channel before making it's debut on Five last month.

The premise centred on a London set in 2050 with man's best friend, K9 coming back and undergoing a regeneration as he helped to protect the world from various alien threats. Helping him included Professor Alistair Gryffen (Robert Moloney) and his teenage assistant Darius Pike (Daniel Webber), rebellious orphan, Starkey (Keegan Joyce) as well as the intrepid, Jorjie Turner (Philippa Coulthard). Add in a secret government known as the Department, involving Jorjie's mother, June Turner (Robyn Moore) and the villainous Thorne (Jared Robinsen) and the Korvin and you've got quite a series to go.

Unlike, The Sarah Jane Adventures, the first season of this series ran for 26 episodes, mixing both arc storylines with the occassional standalone episode as well. The characters are reasonably likeable but the acting's choppy in parts and it doesn't grab quite as quickly, plus there's no official anything as to how canonical this actually is with the Doctor Who universe, in spite of the references that occured throughout the first season. I should also point out that over the next while, I'll review the first season as it gets a UK release. A second season is supposed to be in production but little is actually known about it yet. Either way, the series is definitely worth looking into at the very least.

Official Site: http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/k9/

Season 1 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8uqKLA6ObU

Season 1 of K9 is available on DVD now from Region 4 but is being released in two separate sets in the UK from January 31st and March 7th.