Before Torchwood, before The Sarah Jane Adventures, before decent special effects, there was this, K9 and Company [or “A girls best friend” if you want to get pedantic]

This unfortunate spin off never made it past the pilot episode back in 1981 and to be fair, it’s not hard to see why, it’s very much a product of it’s time and it doesn’t really stand up well against the new Doctor Who or Torchwood.

Just like the Sarah Jane Adventures the plot for this seems very much familiar, Witchcraft, kidnappings, human sacrifices, it’s a bit like a kiddies version of The Wicker Man but with a Robot dog thrown into the mix.

I know a lot of people say that the worst thing about K9 and company are the title credits, but I think they rock, ok they are a bit tacky and I don’t really think they say anything about the show itself but I love them, I’m totally digging Sarah’s Jogging outfit, but I don’t get how K9 managed to sit himself on a wall! [If you haven’t seen these credits, defiantly try and see them, they’re awesome!]

Anyway, the story starts in the sleepy village of Moreton Harwood where Sarah’s Aunt Lavinia is getting ready to go on a lecture tour of America, [it’s nice to finally see Lavinia since her first mention back in The Time Warrior actually, I was beginning to think she was a myth.], Sarah arrives for Christmas only to find that Lavinia’s disappeared and no one in the village knows where she’s gone, and being the inquisitive little thing that she is, she starts to investigate.

Also arriving at Lavinia’s for Christmas is Brendan, Lavinias ward, who I thought was awesome but a bit of a drip, and hidden away in a big blue box [nice little touch I thought] is K9!!

  Now this programmes called K9 and Company but actually K9 doesn’t do much in this episode, which is a shame because I love K9 and he’s got more potential in him than anyone gives him.

The whole plot of K9 and Company doesn’t work for me, it’s a bit silly, and frankly to me it made no sense, I watched it three times before I finally figured out who the bad guys actually were, and that’s bad even for me who’s slow at the best of times.

The characters in this are all a mystery to me, they seem to be stereotypical country folk mixed with evil coven worshippers, it’s all a bit confusing, and although I like Brendan I don’t actually understand who he is, Lavinia mentions that he’s her ward but thet really doesn't explain if he is actually related to her or to Sarah. I really think his character could have been fleshed out more and given more of a background, I do love his interaction with K9 though, typical boys and their toys!

Sarah’s great in this though, it’s good to see know her life didn’t completely end when the Doctor left her, but I found her to be a bit moody throughout the whole thing, ok it’s understandable I guess, her aunts missing, Brendan’s been kidnapped, her neighbours think she’s mad and the only person in the world she can talk to is a bloody robot dog! In the same situation I think I’d be a bit moody too!

I have mixed feelings about K9 and Company, it has some good moments but it has more bad moments, I don’t think the whole thing makes any sense but it’s a good bit of fun for Sarah Jane and K9 fans, I’d definitely recommend it to people even if only to laugh at the title credits. 

Review by Brandon Tempany/Leather Tuscadero