I’m not sure if this is going to go to everyone on the world. Rights issues are a pain sometimes. For those that don’t, there are other options to watch the episode. In the UK you have the BBC i-player. For those of us in the States there’s Tubi. For everyone else I hope this works.
For people without i-player and not knowing about Tubi, the BBC reworked their classic Doctor Who YouTube channel, previously a place for classic Who fans to find clips of the original show without digging through the current era channel, into a home for full episodes. They actually started with truncated movie edits of the serials, but there were complaints. I guess now they’re going for full serials edited into a single video, but with the full video restored right down to all the opening and closing credits.
Funny enough, the first time I got to watch the show regularly since the Connecticut PBS station aired it at dinnertime were Sunday movie edits (only removing credits between episodes) from the Massachusetts station before our state was forced to make a law that got rid of network channels from out of state even when we had the state option alongside it. Then there was the VCR and changes to both our schedules. My first real exposure was the Fifth Doctor, but it’s Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor that gets all the big fan support.
Tonight I went with the episode that debuts my favorite Companion. K9 might not have been Tom Baker’s favorite but there’s a reason the BBC kept him on after “The Invisible Enemy” as he was a hit with the kids, the target audience of the original series (not so much currently). However, he isn’t the focus. A viral lifeform wants to use the Doctor to spawn a new generation, but he and his current companion Leela (a favorite with the dads) need to stop him. And they’ll have help from my favorite robot. Enjoy.
Also, trying to do this with the block editor. Let me know if anything goes weird.
K9 would go on to have his own series of children’s books where, after he and Leela remained on Gallifrey, he would do missions for the Time Lords in his own ship, K-Nel. Some of them were digitally added to the DVD release I have. After the Time War, K9 would end up with his own series in Australia (featured in a previous Saturday Night Showcase), which may or may not be canon to the original BBC series, but it is to me.
Meanwhile, K9 Mark II would be built by the Doctor but would stay behind with Romana (always going for the hot Companions) in E-Space, later coming back with her and joining his “big brother” when Romana was made President of the Time Lords for a series of Big Finish audiodramas. His fate post Time War has sadly never been explored. Mark III would be built as a gift for Sarah Jane Smith for K9’s first attempt at an original show (allegedly), which was the lacking K9 And Company, and rebuilt into Mark IV in the new Doctor Who and make recurring appearances in The Sarah Jane Adventures (which K9 And Company feels more like a prototype for). Not sure where he is after that show was ended with the passing of Elisabeth Sladen. Hopefully we get all the K9s together for a big adventure. Maybe someday.
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