K9 and Company

Distinguished scientist Lavinia Smith makes the social faux pas of commenting on local withcraft practises in the letters column of her community newspaper, sparking outrage amongst her neighbours. Lavinia does not care; she is eagerly awaiting the return of her neice, Sarah Jane Smith, for the Christmas holiday. When Sarah does arrive, she finds her aunt missing, a young ward named Brendan, and a mysterious box left by the Doctor. Inside the box is the newest model of K9, mark 3, sent to Sarah as a gift, and just in time as Sarah and Brendan come under attack from a local coven of witches,

Uh yeah.

This was painful to watch, right from the very start when John Leeson squeaks out the lyric to the opening theme in his little K9 voice. The pain continues through limp performances from almost the entire cast, the obvious exception being Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, reprising the role almost four years after leaving in The Hand of Fear. The dorky student Brendan is just a more earthy version of Adric, just wearing regular clothes. And why is it called K9 and Company? K9 has little to do with the story and its events, showing up late in the adventure and then being left behind a lot, right up until he raids the witches lair and shoots everyone down (those who Sarah does not karate kick into oblivion).

Well can you blame the BBC for trying? K9 had just left Doctor Who to a great public outcry, so what better way to grab some ratings around Christmas than to give him his own show and pair him up with the most popular companion in the series' history? With Doctor Who between episodes as Tom Baker had just left the role for Pater Davison to assume, fans wanted more, now more than ever. All the pieces for spin-off bliss were right there, but they somehow did not come together properly. The good news is, though, that the concept of this "team" was not totally abandoned and Sarah and K9 would return together again, just not for a while.

NEXT EPISODE : CASTROVALVA