It’s been 49 years since the beloved sci-fi character Doctor Who has been in cinemas, and if the idea of The Doctor’s return to the big screen excites you, well, you’re going to have to wait a little longer. Because his robot dog is getting its own movie first.
K9 Timequake will pit the beloved Doctor Who character against one of The Doctor’s greatest villains, Omega, a Time Lord who helped found the Time Lord society. The film is being prepared for a 2017 release, although the question of whether K9 Timequake will be released in America – where interest in the character is somewhat smaller than it is in Great Britain – has not yet been answered.
K-9, The Doctor’s adorable robot companion, first appeared in the 1977 Doctor Who storyline “The Invisible Enemy,” and remained with Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor for quite a while before co-starring in several spin-offs, including the one-episode wonder K-9 and Company in 1981, The Sarah Jane Adventures between 2007 and 2011, and another single episode installment, K-9, which was aired in Australia and on Disney XD.
Related: BBC Announces New ‘Doctor Who’ Spinoff, ‘Class’
The announcement was made on K9’s official Facebook page, along with two pieces of art (above). This will be the third theatrical film based on the Doctor Who television series, although the first two films – Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. – are non-canonical. The movies starring Peter Cushing as the title hero, but as a human doctor whose last name is actually “Who,” and who invented his trademark TARDIS in his backyard.
Truth be told, K-9 is not the Doctor Who character we most wanted to see as the star of his own movie. The Doctor, for one, probably deserves a proper, canonical feature by now, but we would also have preferred to see the ongoing adventures of Jack Harkness, The Paternoster Gang or River Song before K-9 got his turn.
We’re not knocking K-9 at all though. Any robotic robot who can beat The Doctor at chess is okay by us.
Photo: K9 Official Facebook Page
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
