K9! The one
and only robot dog with the satellite-dish ears and the wagging antenna tail.
Even though K9 is always something of an add-on companion, decidedly second
fiddle to any and all humanoids in the TARDIS, he does get his moments to shine
on the show, and that’s what we need to celebrate today. Here are my favorite
wins for K9 (spoilers.)
Fighting the Infected (Series 15, Episode 7 –
“The Invisible Enemy: Episode 3”)
In K9’s
first serial on the show, he does well for himself in helping Leela hold the line
against the infected. He destroys a
service shaft to cut off one route they could use to get to the Doctor and uses
his blaster to make a barricade across their one remaining entry point. When Leela is forced to fall back, he keeps
on fighting, at personal risk to himself (K9 is then infected and becomes
temporarily aligned with the baddies.)
Saving Leela (Series 15, Episode 15 – “The Sun
Makers: Episode 3”)
Leela has
been sentenced to execution by “steaming,” involving being cooked alive, and
the only chance to save her requires switching off the water main. The Doctor is keen to do it himself, but he’s
told in no uncertain terms that he couldn’t survive it the temperature/pressure
within the vents: enter K9. There are a few things I like about this
moment. First, K9 volunteers to go into
the vent himself, and I always like when he’s regarded as a contributor rather
than a tool. Also, he doesn’t actually
know whether or not he’ll be able to withstand those conditions – all he knows
is that his chances are better than the Doctor’s and, to be able to stop
Leela’s execution, it’s a risk he’s willing to take. Good boy, K9!
Rescuing Garron and Unstoffe (Series 16,
Episode 4 – “The Ribos Operation:
Episode 4”)
When
Garron and Unstoffe as trapped in a cave-in, K9 uses his laser to clear away
the rubble (with a wide beam that seems to completely vaporize all the rock
without touching Garron and Unstoffe on the other side – who knows how K9’s
laser actually works.) The benefits here are twofold. Obviously, he rescues
Garron and Unstoffe, who, while conmen, aren’t really bad guys. This move also
allows Romana to recover the locator, as Garron stole it from her earlier in
the serial.
Repairing the Projector (Series 16, Episode 12
– “The Stones of Blood: Episode 4”)
After the
Doctor builds a projector to send himself into hyperspace and retrieve a
captured Romana from the Ogri, the device is smashed. Despite K9 taking quite the licking earlier
in the serial and still being only semi-functioning, he calmly assures Vivien
that she can reconstruct the complicated alien machine under his guidance. He talks her through the process, which
allows them to use the repaired projector to bring the Doctor and Romana back
safely.
Escaping the Labyrinth (Series 17, Episode 20 –
“The Horns of Nimon: Part 4”)
When the
Doctor, Romana, and the Nimon’s captives are trapped in a labyrinth, K9
analyzes the maze’s patterns to calculate a safe route to freedom,
recalibrating when the pattern changes. What’s more, when they reach the exit,
he’s the only one able to recognize it for what it is: an open doorway overlaid
with a hologram to look like a solid wall. As everyone wonders how to make a
hidden door in the wall open, K9
simply glides on through the apparent wall.
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