Mar 29, 2024, 11:25 am

News:

New, New TardisBuilders!


K9 Picture History

Started by exleo, Jun 22, 2010, 09:28 pm

Previous topic - Next topic

warmcanofcoke

Mar 07, 2016, 09:03 pm #75 Last Edit: Mar 07, 2016, 09:04 pm by warmcanofcoke
K9%20pic%20002_zpsrpeljoqf.jpg
May I present caterpillar tread.
K9%20pic%20001_zpstirec2mo.jpg
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

exleo

Bob Baker retains the Character Rights on K9 having created him with his Writing partner Dave Martin for 1977s 'Invisible Enemy'. But the Design of the Original K9 is Soley owned by the BBC as it was Designed by Tony Harding while he was an employee of the corporation.
Bob Baker tried several times to get a solo show for K9 off the ground, with some lovely CGI test footage carried out for the second attempt where the show was to be CGI animated, but funding failed and this never got beyond the test phase.
Eventually he sold the idea to an Australian Network, and deals were made and worked out, but sadly the Ausralian producers had taken it for granted that Mr Baker owned the entire character including design and failed to include the BBC in those early deals. When it was eventually discovered that the BBC owned the Design, attempts were made to secure the rights, but The BBC felt they should have been included in negotiations from the beginning before deals were signed, and as a result they felt 'squeezed' out from having any say in how the character might be used with regards to portraying a positive view of Doctor who or any of the copyrights they owned within it.
As a result the BBC exercised it's right to deny use of the dogs original Design (or anything that could be considered a rip off) ad also to deny any link in name or history to anything that The BBC owned in Doctor Who, so Gallifrey or any mention of the Doctor or TARDIS or numerous other links were completely off limits, they could only use things owned by Bob Baker or if they negotiated rights with other copyright holders over other individually held Charcter Rights.
The Daleks were considered as they were owned by the Terry Nation Foundation, but utimately the TN Foundation also refused rights (and were considered too expensive by the Australian Prodcers anyway).
The producers plowed on creating their own design for K9 and casting what they thought was a good new voice for the Dog ( sounding like an electronic Chip'n'Dale), but initial test viewings found this voice annoying and the lack of any link to Doctor Who to be off putting.
Bob Baker ultimately contacted his good friend John Leeson and pleaded with him to revoice the Character and to see if he could pull any strings with the BBC.... As it was John Leeson found himself free for a few weeks (originally he had turned down voicing the character has he had prior work commitments that clashed with the K9 filming), Now filming was over and so was his prior commitment, John Leeson agreed to record the voice in post production and replace what had been previously recorded... he also set about asking favours of his BBC contacts.

Eventually the BBC agreed that the original design could be used for a 'regeneration' scene to start the series, but the design could appear for no more than 2 minutes of total screen time. They also made it clear that although reference was being hinted at this being K9 Mk1 as last seen in the invasion of time, they would consider this completely uncanon along with the entire series itself, and as far as they are cocerned the original K9 is still on Gallifrey with Leela.
Of course around the same time the BBC had allowed the rights to Gallifrey and the Timelord Civilisation along with Leela and Romana and the Tardis to be used by Big Finish Audio for the 'Galifrey' Series. In return for his persuading the BBC to let the Original design be used briefly, John Leeson requested the return favour from Bob Baker that K9 as a Character could be used by Big Finish within the 'Gallifrey' audios... This was all agreed as Bob Baker felt the appearance of the original Design in the tv show, albeit briefly, would secure the character in viewers minds that the series was canon, regardless of what the BBC said, but he also felt allowing the Character to be used within the Big Finnish Audios, would keep the character within true canon BBC events so they would happily use it again rather than turn their back on the character and deny it future possible tv use within Doctor who or any spin off.

Due to the success of K9 within the Big Finish Audios and the subsequent desire to use the Character more, not only in the 'Gallifrey' series, but also in a new series of 4th Doctor adventures now that Tom Baker had Surprised everybody by agreeing to record a series, K9 found himself being a 'goodwill' gesture where Bob Baker was allowing the character to be used and in return the BBC allowed the original design to appear in other episodes of the TV show (briefly) and historical links to be hinted at as to K9s past adventures. Although the BBC still insist that any events that take place within the K9 tv series are absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who and it's past present or future....
So according to BBC lore
K9 mk1 is still on Gallifrey with Leela and K9 mk2 is in E-Space with Romana. BUT, they retain the right to tie in with the big finish Audio 'Gallifrey' events in the future should they ever wish to.
K9 mk3 was seen to be destroyed in 'School Reunion'
K9 mk4 was last seen residing with Luke Smith as his companion.....
;D

warmcanofcoke

Mar 08, 2016, 02:08 am #77 Last Edit: Mar 08, 2016, 02:54 am by warmcanofcoke
K9%20pic%20003a_zpsuxbub8jj.jpg
three wheel drive.
Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:00 am
K9 mk1 is still on Gallifrey with Leela and K9 mk2 is in E-Space with Romana. BUT, they retain the right to tie in with the big finish Audio 'Gallifrey' events in the future should they ever wish to.

[spoilers]K9 MK 1 was blown up on Gallifrey in the audios. Some how this is the same K9 in the Australian program. [/spoilers]
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

exleo

Quote from: warmcanofcoke on Mar 07, 2016, 09:03 pm

May I present caterpillar tread.
K9%20pic%20001_zpstirec2mo.jpg


At the end of 1979 and the finale of 'Horns of Nimon' ('Shada' having been abandoned) it was decided that for K9 to continue in the series, the prop would need a rebuild of his interior to make him more reliable and to make use of new RC technology that finally see him totally free of outside signal interference. Also he had broken down and been repaired so many time his drive system was worn out. The BBC fx and Prop's department put up the money the pay for a rebuild of the mechanics (The dog was still the offical property of BBC Prop's and the production crew had to rent the dog at considerable cost from the Prop's department each and every time it was used).
During this refit the ultimate dream of fitting the prop with 'Tank like' caterpillar tracks was realised, and although it was a tight fit for the system and raised him up to the point where the tracks were visible, it was hoped it would enable the prop to cover rough  terrain and hopefully negate all the need for running boards and strings that had been used in the past to mobilise the dog on rough ground
Initial tests were good and the prop was taken to Brighton for location filming of 'The Leisure Hive', and everybody felt the new prop tied in nicely with the new hi tech redesign of the show.

K9 along with his new system was to run alongside Romana on the pebble beach until the moment he would be swapped by the stunt prop ready to run into the sea and explode..... Marks were set and filming began.... K9s new tracks span around at speed, at which point instead of shooting forward, he instead spat out pebbles in all directions and dug himself down into a hole...... filming stopped and they tried again with the same result... on the 3rd attempt they ramped up the speed hoping the initial push would start him moving and innertia would do the rest... a bang, a puff of acrid smoke and the new drive system died completely.... Enter the trusty stunt prop on the trusty fishing wire being dragged along in all scenes, while the the hero prop was thrown into the props van for return to London.

It was these events that sealed K9's fate for John Nathan Turner and he decided he hated the prop and wanted it gone, but in order to get rid of it, it would need to appear in at least one more story so would have to be fixed, but at minimal cost and something that could be relied upon....
So his old drive system was put back together and reinstalled in the hero prop (As is typical, this old style drive system combined with the new RC electronics turned out to be the longest lasting and least problematic version created, and although his 'Who' fate was sealed, it was his good behaviour that got him the JNT reprieve in 'K9 and Company'. But in true K9 Style the Drive broke in the closing scenes of the special sealing it's fate as a one off!

As to the caterpillar drive.. this was fixed and installed into one of the house robots in BBCs 'Robot Wars'.  ;D

exleo

Quote from: warmcanofcoke on Mar 08, 2016, 02:08 am
K9%20pic%20003a_zpsuxbub8jj.jpg
three wheel drive.



Although this does indeed look like 3 wheels in this picture from 'Warriors Gate', The rear 'Wheel' was infact a ball, very like a large 'mouseball' fitted into an underside socket. This was found to work incredibly well on the studio floors giving greater movement and speed in turning and reversing, even over the metal door sills on the studio floors and up ramps such as in this shot, but sadly when on location for 'Full Circle' the socket and ball would get jammed up by grass, and leaves, resulting in dragging and slowing to a halt (in one scene Tom Baker can be seen Manually pushing the prop into camera positin as it had jammed at the wrong angle and couldn't turn).
So while the best device ever on the studio floors this was replaced for the next appearance in 'K9 & Company' by twin castors on a rotating plate ready for use on gravel and grass location filming... The large drive wheels and twin castors remained for the next 30+ years

galacticprobe

Mar 08, 2016, 04:50 pm #80 Last Edit: Mar 08, 2016, 05:06 pm by galacticprobe
Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:00 am
Due to the success of K9 within the Big Finish Audios and the subsequent desire to use the Character more, not only in the 'Gallifrey' series, but also in a new series of 4th Doctor adventures now that Tom Baker had Surprised everybody by agreeing to record a series, K9 found himself being a 'goodwill' gesture where Bob Baker was allowing the character to be used and in return the BBC allowed the original design to appear in other episodes of the TV show (briefly) and historical links to be hinted at as to K9s past adventures.

This explains the images that appear in the Aussie 'K-9', with the original design drawn with other creatures that appeared in 'Doctor Who'. (I can't remember them all, but I think one was a Yeti, and there might have been a Dalek and TARDIS as well.) These sort of things appeared in several of the episodes. After all, in the first 'K-9' episode, he appeared in that professor's lab through a time vortex scoop of sorts, so he could have been snatched from the exploding Gallifrey even an instant before the explosion (which ended up not happening when the War, 10th and 11th Doctors (with help from the other 10 of him) altered the end of the Time War, and Gallifrey didn't explode after all).

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:00 am
Although the BBC still insist that any events that take place within the K9 tv series are absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who and it's past present or future....
So according to BBC lore
K9 mk1 is still on Gallifrey with Leela and K9 mk2 is in E-Space with Romana. BUT, they retain the right to tie in with the big finish Audio 'Gallifrey' events in the future should they ever wish to.
K9 mk3 was seen to be destroyed in 'School Reunion'
K9 mk4 was last seen residing with Luke Smith as his companion.....
;D

And to this - considering the above appearances of other 'Who' monsters and such in 'K-9' and his return with Tom Baker's 4th Doctor in the Big Finish Adventures - I have to wave that famous 'BS Flag' at the BBC. Everything above makes the 'K-9' series canon!

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:37 am
It was these events that sealed K9's fate for John Nathan Turner and he decided he hated the prop and wanted it gone...

Don't even get me started on JN-T. What he did to the show was a crime, and he eventually killed it. (K-9 was not his only victim.)

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:37 am
So his old drive system was put back together and reinstalled in the hero prop... it was his good behaviour that got him the JNT reprieve in 'K9 and Company'. But in true K9 Style the Drive broke in the closing scenes of the special sealing its fate as a one off!

This was a great pilot and never really given a chance. (Another black mark against JN-T. Between this and what he did to 'Doctor Who', it makes me wonder if he was actually out to put an end to the show from the day he took over as showrunner.)

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 03:02 am
Although this does indeed look like 3 wheels in this picture from 'Warriors Gate', The rear 'Wheel' was infact a ball, very like a large 'mouseball' fitted into an underside socket. This was found to work incredibly well on the studio floors giving greater movement and speed in turning and reversing, even over the metal door sills on the studio floors and up ramps such as in this shot...

This is exactly how R2-D2's center leg was made (only at large as he was, there were two such "track balls" in that leg).

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 03:02 am
...but sadly when on location for 'Full Circle' the socket and ball would get jammed up by grass, and leaves, resulting in dragging and slowing to a halt...

This makes me wonder if they had the same problems with R2-D2 (and all of the other such "R2 Units" they had).

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 03:02 am
So while the best device ever on the studio floors this was replaced for the next appearance in 'K9 & Company' by twin castors on a rotating plate ready for use on gravel and grass location filming... The large drive wheels and twin castors remained for the next 30+ years

Again, I wonder if they'd ever replaced the track balls in the R2 Units' center legs with a rotating castor? They ran R2-D2 over sand, dirt, all of the debris on the ground on the Forest of Endor...

All very interesting and enlightening facts, exleo! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

d0ct0r200004

Quote from: exleo on Mar 08, 2016, 02:00 am
Bob Baker retains the Character Rights on K9 having created him with his Writing partner Dave Martin for 1977s 'Invisible Enemy'. But the Design of the Original K9 is Soley owned by the BBC as it was Designed by Tony Harding while he was an employee of the corporation...

Eventually the BBC agreed that the original design could be used for a 'regeneration' scene to start the series, but the design could appear for no more than 2 minutes of total screen time. They also made it clear that although reference was being hinted at this being K9 Mk1 as last seen in the invasion of time, they would consider this completely uncanon along with the entire series itself, and as far as they are cocerned the original K9 is still on Gallifrey with Leela.
Of course around the same time the BBC had allowed the rights to Gallifrey and the Timelord Civilisation along with Leela and Romana and the Tardis to be used by Big Finish Audio for the 'Galifrey' Series. In return for his persuading the BBC to let the Original design be used briefly, John Leeson requested the return favour from Bob Baker that K9 as a Character could be used by Big Finish within the 'Gallifrey' audios... This was all agreed as Bob Baker felt the appearance of the original Design in the tv show, albeit briefly, would secure the character in viewers minds that the series was canon, regardless of what the BBC said, but he also felt allowing the Character to be used within the Big Finnish Audios, would keep the character within true canon BBC events so they would happily use it again rather than turn their back on the character and deny it future possible tv use within Doctor who or any spin off.

Due to the success of K9 within the Big Finish Audios and the subsequent desire to use the Character more, not only in the 'Gallifrey' series, but also in a new series of 4th Doctor adventures now that Tom Baker had Surprised everybody by agreeing to record a series, K9 found himself being a 'goodwill' gesture where Bob Baker was allowing the character to be used and in return the BBC allowed the original design to appear in other episodes of the TV show (briefly) and historical links to be hinted at as to K9s past adventures. Although the BBC still insist that any events that take place within the K9 tv series are absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who and it's past present or future....
So according to BBC lore
K9 mk1 is still on Gallifrey with Leela and K9 mk2 is in E-Space with Romana. BUT, they retain the right to tie in with the big finish Audio 'Gallifrey' events in the future should they ever wish to.
K9 mk3 was seen to be destroyed in 'School Reunion'
K9 mk4 was last seen residing with Luke Smith as his companion.....
;D


After reading that, a number of things happened.

1. My eyes now hurt
2. My head now hurts
3. I now really want to know what other episodes the original K.9 model was used in
-Doc204

warmcanofcoke

Nov 09, 2016, 02:56 am #82 Last Edit: Nov 09, 2016, 02:58 am by warmcanofcoke
K91.jpg
K92.jpg
K93.jpg

K9's Eye slats seam fine here.
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

warmcanofcoke

Dec 01, 2016, 10:51 am #83 Last Edit: Dec 02, 2016, 11:18 am by warmcanofcoke
K9%20001%20creature_zpsiejggffk.jpg
Recently I entered a novelty store called Five Below. It sells colorful and weird impulse items all for $5 and under. I found a suction-cup bow and arrow set.
Arrow 01.jpg
Arrow 02.jpg
Arrow 03.jpg

Are these about the correct size for K9?

Also can someone recommend a motorized car aerial that would make a good base for K9's Probe? "Make" and "Model" of the car if possible, something I can find at a Auto parts store.
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

galacticprobe

Dec 02, 2016, 05:22 am #84 Last Edit: Dec 02, 2016, 05:29 am by galacticprobe
According to lespaceplie's plans for K-9 (specifically the grid-lined page for the head), that looks about right for the suction cup: a tad over 1 inch in diameter. (The link for his free PDF download K-9 plans is in his http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3180.0 thread: first post, last link in the post.)

As for a motorized car aerial/antenna, I think any model would do as long as it runs on +12 volts, which is most common. You could visit the JC Whitney web site and search for them, and get a look at the different ones they've got to see which are smaller (casing-wise) since room is a concern. Google Images should also be helpful with that. (I'm guessing one for something like a Geo Storm would be better than one for a Chevy Tahoe.)

I hope some of this is helpful.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

Davros Skaro

I would go to a car wreckers first to get one before buying new, you'll get it way cheaper.
Chris.

galacticprobe

Dec 03, 2016, 06:52 am #86 Last Edit: Dec 03, 2016, 06:53 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: Davros Skaro on Dec 02, 2016, 08:23 am
I would go to a car wreckers first... you'll get it way cheaper.


Why didn't I think of that as another option? (My biorhythms must be at an all-time low. :P)

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

warmcanofcoke

Dec 16, 2016, 10:12 pm #87 Last Edit: Dec 16, 2016, 10:18 pm by warmcanofcoke
K9 collar.jpg
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/bp-autumn-plaid-scarf/4035981?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&fashioncolor=TAN%20ORANGE%20MULTI

Just saw this online - I thought it would make a good K9 collar. What do you guys think?

K9%20008%20horns_zpswfviez6c.jpg
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

galacticprobe

Dec 18, 2016, 05:40 am #88 Last Edit: Dec 18, 2016, 05:40 am by galacticprobe
I think it looks like a brilliant find, Nate! The color pattern is certainly close enough to the tartan on K-9's collar. And when you consider the size of the scarf, the collar and how you would carefully cut out the strips to make the collar, for the price you could make enough spare collars to last you through all sorts of wear and tear: spills, literal wear, cloth-eating bugs, etc. Great spotting!

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

warmcanofcoke

Thanks Dino - I thought someone might be able to use this information. I have already purchased one of these for my self. But those K9 lovers who don't want the Buchanan tartan Collar will probably find this useful while it is still for sale.  :D
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.