K-9 and Company
A Girl's Best Friend
Modern Who has given rise to multiple spin-offs — Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Class, plus a couple of animations, not to mention all the behind-the-scenes-type series. And Big Finish have made a cottage industry out of producing entire ranges of the things. And in the Wilderness Years when proper Doctor Who was off the telly, fans took all sorts of elements and produced their own films and whatnot. But in the classic era, while various ideas were discussed from time to time, only one ever actually made it to screen: this one-off special from Christmas 1981. (It was produced as a pilot. Its ratings were strong (better than Who's at the time, in fact), but a change of channel controller meant the intended series was scrapped.) I'd never seen it... so what better pick for my 60th anniversary celebratory marathon, to honour all those other spin-offs, than the original?
And you know what, I really rather liked it. It's not perfect, but it's quite fun, with a nice Christmassy folk horror — but for kids — vibe. (Also, that means it's quite appropriate viewing for this time of year; or for next month, if you're a stickler about when to watch Christmas stuff.) I don't know whether they would've kept up that style for the full series or mixed it around more, but it's such a shame it was canned and we'll never know.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Oh, and, incidentally, this is officially the end of my Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebratory marathon! Well, Origins sort of was, as this technically isn't directly Doctor Who, but I've only watched it because of the marathon, so... Anyway, what seemed like a huge undertaking at the start has absolutely flown by in the end. So glad I did it — and it's left me with a tonne of stuff I want to go back to and dig into more, so I hope I keep that effort up.
Also watched today...
Behind the Sofa
18x08 K9 and Company [season finale]
For this edition of “Doctor Who Gogglebox”, they’ve chosen to only include three stars of the story itself, which leads to some nice reminisces, but it would’ve been fun to see some reactions from other Who alumni. At 36 minutes for a 49-minute episode, it’s almost a commentary track; but also, with only the three contributors throughout, a little thinner than it needs to be. It’s not bad, but it feels like a missed opportunity.
Sunday 19 November 2023
Radio
Doctor Who: The Wilderness Years
Matthew Sweet hosts this look at the so-called Wilderness Years — the period between Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 and its return in 2005 when (apart from one night in 1996) it wasn't around. Except, as most Whovians know, it very much was around. I think this doc is hoping to redress that perception somewhat by highlighting the mass of fan creativity from that era, but the problem is, with only half-an-hour to work with, it can only be a whistlestop tour of just some of what was going on.
Partly that's because it wastes a load of time rehashing the story of the cancellation. Then there's a bit about the New Adventures, a bit about Audio Visuals and how that led to Big Finish, a minute or two with McGann chatting about the TVM, an acknowledgement of fan straight-to-video productions... and then we're done. Where be DWM and its comic strip? What about the webcasts? What about the stories those different media told, not just that they existed? There's not enough time for any of that. So, it's nice, but the definitive documentary is still waiting to be made.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Matthew Sweet hosts this look at the so-called Wilderness Years — the period between Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 and its return in 2005 when (apart from one night in 1996) it wasn't around. Except, as most Whovians know, it very much was around. I think this doc is hoping to redress that perception somewhat by highlighting the mass of fan creativity from that era, but the problem is, with only half-an-hour to work with, it can only be a whistlestop tour of just some of what was going on.
Partly that's because it wastes a load of time rehashing the story of the cancellation. Then there's a bit about the New Adventures, a bit about Audio Visuals and how that led to Big Finish, a minute or two with McGann chatting about the TVM, an acknowledgement of fan straight-to-video productions... and then we're done. Where be DWM and its comic strip? What about the webcasts? What about the stories those different media told, not just that they existed? There's not enough time for any of that. So, it's nice, but the definitive documentary is still waiting to be made.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
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