A lot of Doctor Who fans really enjoy K-9, the robot dog who became a companion of the Fourth Doctor. He “co-starred” from 1977 until 1981, when he attempted to have a spinoff series shortly thereafter. He then appeared briefly in the 20th Anniversary special “The Five Doctors,” then made a bit of a comeback by appearing alongside Sarah Jane Smith in “School Reunion” before moving on to the other spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures, and then getting his own show in Australia that by all accounts is garbage-poop.
At any rate, I give you this potted history of the character to move on to me not particularly liking him. He was invented at a time when the new producer, Graham Williams, wanted to make the show less scary and more palatable for kids, and what kid wouldn’t want a robot dog as a best friend? As an adult, it screams of a merchandising scheme, especially duplicitous since you can’t actually get a real robot dog… but now you can!
The BBC has finally licensed a not-at-all-full-sized K-9 that doesn’t come with a remote control, because you can control it from your phone via Bluetooth and an app. (I can’t find how big it is, but the shipping weight is apparently only a little over 1lb, so who can say?) It takes 4 AA batteries and can wiggle its ears, light up its eyes, and extend its nose probe, which sounds like euphemism but isn’t. It also says that it has a “motorized base,” but it doesn’t actually say whether or not you can make it move around, but the app looks like it has a directional pad, so I hope that’s the case. The user can “control voices, interactions and movements.” So, I’ll let you decide what that means.
This is officially licensed and sanctioned by the network and it can be used with both iOS and Android devices. This K-9 looks pretty cool and is so far the only justifiable reason I’ve seen for the character even having existed in the first place. It can be purchased for £52.70 or $78 via Amazon.co.uk or other such retailers.
Is this the kind of thing that interests you? Will you buy a K-9 no matter what the size or price? Let us know in the comments below!
