Selections from K9’s adventures from World Distributors…

K9 received one solo annual but featured in plenty of other stories after his arrival on Doctor Who in 1977’s The Invisible Enemy. The annual was a spin-off from K9 and Company, in which he co-starred with Lis Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith (a Christmas special which has to be seen to be believed, if only for the… interesting title sequence), and Mike Wilde, who penned the stories, picks up on the cult element of that pilot for the most part, rather than Sarah’s journalistic background. The stories are of their time, and there’s at least one that really wouldn’t be well received in its original form now.

BBC Audio have wisely decided not to simply draw from that annual – we get its four best tales – and return to both the 1980 and 1981 annuals, which saw the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 in various adventures. Both incarnations of Romana appear – the last story, Light Fantastic, has the Key to Time version which might explain why she’s not questioning the Doctor getting a briefing without her – and the audio features two versions of K9 (with an explanatory article, from the K9 Annual, of both his genesis and Sarah’s life before and after the Doctor).

Alongside John Leeson, who provides K9’s voice for all seven stories and narrates others, are BBC Audio stalwarts Geoffrey Beevers, Bonnie Langford and Dan Starkey, and Neil Gardner ensures each treats the stories with perhaps slightly more gravitas than they merit! David Darlington’s sound design reflects the various locations, and my only regret is that we don’t have a reprise of a certain theme tune!

Verdict: With a terrific painting of K9 by Alister Pearson on the cover, this is a fascinating time capsule. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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