h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Doctor Who Companions: K-9 - A30188621
Author: Giford - U187177

Gif

That took me back a bit, Gifford.

I haven't deigned to watch the new-fangled series, but Miz Stress says they're the best yet, so maybe a climb-down?.

Son-in-law has a collection of the original & early toys (Tardis, Leela, Daleks ... K9...) & apparently they're quite valuable - some at several hundred GBPs - Wow!

Thanks for the memory.

I'm not a Dr fan, but I do remember K-9 when I was a kid .... I guess Tom Baker was *my* Dr.

I liked this since it gave me all the information I need to know about this critter.

Thanks guys - Rod, the new series is pretty good (though I was a little disappointed by the much-hyped Christmas special).

Gif

Good stuff - K-9 is very much my era! Might I suggest that the explanation of the different versions of K-9 should be moved up the entry to come before the 'Afterlife' section. There also seem to be a lot of footnotes that could easily be worked into the main text without breaking the flow.

Hi PF,

Thanks for your comments, which I have acted on. Now down to just 5 footnotes, which is a more reasonable number. I think that all the ones left would significantly interrupt the flow of the text if incorporated.

Gif

I went to see the Dr Who Up Close exhibition last year and K9 was one of the exhibits.

He was the K9 from the school episode and he did look very old and rusty. Poor K9.

Did his tartan collar have any significance, or was it as simple as model of a scottie dog will wear a tartan collar.

So you've met the legend in person, eh? Wow.

The collar has no significance I know of - I've added a mention to the article though.

Gif

Hey Giford!

Just diving in here with some corrections / pointers, so excuse the brevity of the comments:

Lose the 'Introduction' header. You don't need it.

Lose the second footnote entirely. It tells you nothing that the hyperlinked text doesn't.

As you like footnotes, you can add one to this bit: 'Two actors played K-9's voice' - actually, *three* actors played K-9, but only two were credited. In 'Destiny of the Daleks', K-9's laryngitis croaks were provided by Roy Skelton, who was also the voice of the lead Dalek in that story. The roles were reversed in 1988 when John Leeson provided the voice of a Dalek machine in 'Remembrance of the Daleks'.

General point. The name of the TV show should be in italics, but the story title should be in single inverted commas, throughout.

The Five K-9s section is cute, but we haven't actually seen this new K-9 yet. Just to be more accurate, and ensure the entry doesn't need revising, amend this to say that there were four K-9s in Doctor Who, then change the last paragraph in that section to explain that designs for a fifth K-9 were unveiled in 2006 when the spin-off series was announced (see if you can find a link to the announcement).

The spin-off bit is a bit confusing. Better to say that K-9 appeared in his own Christmas special, K-9 and Company, which bore the subtitle 'A Girl's Best Friend' as it had been intended as a pilot for a series that never materialised.

You could also mention that K-9 was a big TV star in his day, featuring in (among others) two separate editions of Jim'll Fix It, making a guest appearance on Blue Peter alongside John Noakes and Shep the dog, and even teaching dog expert Barbara Woodhouse a few tricks when he appeared on an edition of 'Wogan'.

He has also been immortalised as a toy in various forms. In 1981, Palitoy released the 'Talking K-9', which had the dog's speech recorded on a reversable mini-record. A friction-powered mini-K-9 was also released to stand alongside Denys Fishcer's range of 8" dolls (which included the Doctor and Leela). After his revival in 2006, he's appeared as a friction-powered toy in scale with Character Options' 5" figures, as well as a slightly larger remote controlled figure and a stunning 1/3-scale remote controlled model.

OK, changes made.

I've realised that the first mention of 'K-9 and Company' now comes before I explain what that series was in the spin-offs section. I've added in a 'see below' note; if anyone can think of a more elegant solution, I'm all radar-dish-shaped ears.

I've got in a horrible muddle with when titles should be in quotes and when they should be in italics. Am I right in thinking that book titles are in italics? What about audio titles? Can I leave John Noakes as he is, or does he count as a TV series in his own right?

Other than that, thanks for the trivia Jim. I've used a bunch of your text in the article so (as I've said before), if you want to be credited on the Entry, just say the word.

Gif

Loving the Dr Who entries gifordkeep up the good work
Notherscout

In italics: Book titles, TV series titles, album titles - also the names of ships (!).

In single inverted commas: Chapter titles, episode / story titles within a TV series, individual song titles

Exception: The Bible, which is just in plain text as it is a collection of books - so you'd write The Book of Genesis, in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Speaking of books, even though you've hyperlinked them, you shouldn't use the abbreviations for 'Missing' and 'Past Doctor' adventures as your first reference. Use the full names for the ranges, as a non-fan won't have a clue what this means without clicking the links and scouring through that entry.

OK, changes made.

Gif

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DAPOL-DR-DOCTOR-WHO-21st-ANNIVERSARY-K-9-K9-MOC-1987_W0QQitemZ330191189581QQihZ014QQcategoryZ4299QQcmdZViewItem

Well spotted, CA. I've added a reference.

(If you look at the large photo of the packaging, this K-9 seems to have 'moveable limbs'... )

Gif

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Gif

Whee!

Gif