K9's First Appearance

[Davros Skaro]

Don't know where to put this or if a post has already been done, was looking at the extras on "The Invisible Enemy" disc & found information on the building of K9 have taken some capture pics & would like to know if anyone would like them & where to put them.

Chris.

P.S. I have ALL the Doctor Who DVD's that are out, so if anyone needs pics of anything, I'll try to oblige with them. I was 3 when Doctor Who started & always loved it.

Chris.

P.P.S. Here are the original plans for K9. just to tease.

[galacticprobe]

This might make some parts of this image easier to see:


Lightened, and sharpened a little.

And would this make a good merge with the following K-9 Reference threads?

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1818.0 (This one is a "sticky post", but it's 6 pages long);

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3275.0 (Only 1 page, 7 posts, but part of the K-9 prop);

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1749.0 (1 page, 3 posts, discusses the prop's different looks);

If not a good merge with the first thread linked above (because of that one's length), then maybe merge those other two shorter threads into Chris' thread, and make his a "sticky post" as well? Then we'll have two decent K-9 Reference Threads stuck where members can always find them. (Just a suggestion.)

Dino.

[Davros Skaro]

I have a lot more pics that were on the disc, I'll stick them up here as well, they even bring Tony Harding (designer) back to see his creation in 2007.




In Mat Irvine's workshop



this is the "Original K9"



Original drawing he did first

then this

And he still works after all this time

[galacticprobe]

Those last few outdoor photos of K-9 look like the prop after he'd been "upgraded" to "K-9 Mark IV" at the end of "School Reunion", and seen in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'. (Only four slats across the eyes, no 'mini-loops' on the ears, the solid "bump" on the nose above the laser emitter, the bluish color.)

I suppose if you keep good maintenance on a prop like this it could literally run forever (and K-9 sure seems to be).

Looking at the internal workings as they're fiddling with the cover reminds me of the old Heathkit HERO robot that you could buy and assemble. (I'm dating myself with that, and wondering how many others also remember that one.) That said, it makes me wish that someone would come out with such an officially-licensed kit for building a K-9... not that I could afford it, but I'm sure the people that could afford it would jump at the chance to own one of those. (And what a Prop from the Shop that would be!)

Dino.

[Davros Skaro]

all pics are "suppose to be" of the same K9 MKI, as they brought him out of Mat's workshop with the "original" operator who operated him, they didn't put his name up & I missed it.

[galacticprobe]

all pics are "suppose to be" of the same K9 MKI...

Unless I'm wrong (which is entirely possible), there was only one "hero" K-9 prop, with the Mark I first appearing in "The Invisible Enemy". The same prop was given a repaint to slightly change the color for the Mark II, which the Doctor pulled out at the end of "The Invasion of Time" and uncrated in "The Ribos Operation". Then we saw the same prop with another slightly different paint job as the Mark III in "K-9 and Company" (the unsold pilot for a series with Sarah Jane and K-9). Again the same prop was "grunged" up for his return, with Sarah Jane, in "School Reunion", and at the end of that episode (when K-9 Mark III sacrificed himself to save everyone), the 10th Doctor left behind K-9 Mark IV for Sarah Jane (which also appeared in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'). This "Mark IV" was the same Mark I prop that was once again repainted giving him a more bluish color than any of the other "marks", and given some other minor cosmetic changes, such as the number if slats on the eyes, new "ears", and that new panel with the solid "nose bump".

So the Mark IV is the same prop as the Mark I, but just having been given new paint and some minor changes. So while this prop seen here is in fact the "Mark I", it's got the paint and cosmetic details of the "Mark IV". (See http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1818.0 for more on the original Hero Prop history.)

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

The original prop didn't actually last quite as long as you suggest, Dino.

Unfortunately I believe it was destroyed in the fire at Longleat in 1995.

[meantimebob]

Dino is right. That is the original prop. It was only an exhibition replica that was destroyed in the Longleat fire.

[galacticprobe]

It was only an exhibition replica that was destroyed in the Longleat fire.

Marc, I think this might be the only time that both of us (and possibly others) are glad you were wrong!

I remember reading about that fire in one of the Doctor Who Monthly/Magazine articles. It was very sad to have lost all of those original props to a fire (which they said started in the replica K-9). At least it was an accidental mishap as unfortunate as it was. When my mum started working part-time at Old Tucson Studios a few years ago, in one of the gift shops (the same building that John Wayne chases Maureen O'Hara into at the end if the film "McLintock!"), one of the things she learned about was a fire that happened at that studio back in 1995 as well (not long after they'd finished filming Kurt Russell's "Tombstone").

That fire destroyed over a third of the studio property, and many original costumes and sets from such productions as 'Little House on the Prairie' were lost. (Almost every costume from 'Little House' was lost to the fire; I think only three survived.) What was also lost (partly restored, but still inoperable) was the locomotive The Reno used in Robert Conrad's 'The Wild Wild West' series; that locomotive was a historical landmark as President U. S. Grant (and dozens more famous people) had ridden aboard a train pulled by it What makes it even more sad is, that fire was arson; someone - they never found out who - set the fire. They found enough evidence to prove it was arson, but nothing to yield any suspects. (For film and history buffs, the history of the studio, including the fire, are in the book Old Tucson Studios, available from Amazon.)

Still, no matter how you look at it, both cases involved irreplaceable losses; the only difference is Longleat was accidental... not that it makes it any easier to bear, but it's better knowing that malice wasn't involved.

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

It was only an exhibition replica that was destroyed in the Longleat fire.

Marc, I think this might be the only time that both of us (and possibly others) are glad you were wrong!

No argument from me