Doctor Who: The Invisible Enemy/K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend

what can I say, the more Doctor Who that is released the better the world is. great redone special effects and of course the original version.

In startling contrast to the minimalist scale of the story preceding it (Doctor Who - Horror of Fang Rock (Episode 92)), "The Invisible Enemy" is an outrageously ambitious "Doctor Who" tale daring to span the expanses of both inner and outer space, flaunting all the pesky restrictions on the show as it does so. With predictably mixed results, but the brave successes well outweigh the few embarrassing flops in the final analysis. And as for the latter, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained--why let them deter one from enjoying this fine science fiction adventure?

And fine it is, with a brilliant premise: a microscopic organism with predatory intelligence lingers in the outer reaches of our solar system, waiting dormant for humankind to reach it, be infected and effectively controlled by it, and by so doing manage to proliferate across the stars carried along by their ultimately disposable hosts. It's the old biological game of survival of the fittest with an ugly interstellar twist. And of course the moment of crisis happens as the story opens somewhere near a refueling base on Saturn's moon Titan around the year 5000--the first humans are infected, as is the Doctor (by the virus's nucleus, its reproductive core and commanding conscious force, no less), since the Tardis just so happens to have materialized nearby. Most of the story then transpires on a medical base built into an asteroid, where temporary clones of the Doctor and his companion Leela are engineered by a certain Doctor Marius and his canine-formed computer, shrunken to microscopic size, and injected into the Doctor's brain to seek out the invisible enemy and destroy it--and one of the chief peculiar highlights of the story is this "fantastic voyage" through bizarrely organic landscapes.

The plot's twists and turns include the virus nucleus growing to macroscopic scale towards the end, which as it happens is the story's main downfall. The enemy was sinister and creepy when unseen and undetectable, and most of that evaporates immediately as he plops out awkwardly into the harsh hospital (i.e. studio) lights. The cloning idea is interesting, but both clones spring into existence fully clothed and (in the case of Leela) armed, which strains plausibility past the breaking point--as does the whole idea of shrinking people and things (including laser pistols) down to a microscopic scale without hindering their functioning. There are a few other gaffs of this nature, too, but still the overall drama holds one's interest nonetheless. Tom Baker is in top form as the Fourth Doctor and gets some particularly good lines from the script, Leela is beautifully aggressive, and Doctor Marius makes for a nicely memorable supporting character. And last but not least, this story marks the introduction of an iconic if pleasantly childish part of the Doctor Who mythos: his annoyingly clever pet computer K9, entrusted to him by Marius at the last minute. Love him or loathe him, here's where he rolls into the picture.

This DVD set thus also comes with the very first Doctor Who spin-off, "K9 and Company"--the inclusion of which makes sense then despite the four years or so intervening (1977 and 1981, respectively). I'm not much for spin-offs personally, and I'd most likely not have set out to obtain this on its own, but since it's included anyway I found it a pleasant enough little diversion and an interesting blind alley in Doctor Who history (and, in retrospect, the forerunner of the current spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures - The Complete First Season). In any case, is this bit of an oddity plus the admittedly flawed yet ultimately wonderful classic Doctor Who story "The Invisible Enemy" worth your hard-earned credits? Affirmative!

The Invisible Enemy.
A mysterious cloud is causing havoc in space, infecting all those who pass through it with an intelligent virus, the first victims are a crew of a shuttle heading for Titan base.(One of Saturns moons)
The Doctor and Leela try to come to the rescue, but the TARDIS passes through the cloud itself, leaving the Doctor infected with the nucleus.
He and Leela then try to find help at a medical station situated inside a Asteroid, where they meet the eccentric Professor Marius and his pet robot K-9.
According to this story written English in the future will be spelt phonetically, look at the wall signs. Interesting concept.
(Air date:~01/10/77-22/10/77)
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This was an ambitious story that was unusually given more sfx shots then was usually allowed for a Who story. And once again the Beeb was thankful for it's supplies of old Gerry Anderson models.
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DVD extras.
Commentary. With actors Louise Jameson and John Leeson, visual effects designer Mat Irvine and co-writer Bob Baker.
Dreams and Fantasy - artistes and production crew recall the making of this story and even take the original K9 for walkies. With actors Louise Jameson and John Leeson, director Derrick Goodwin, co-writer Bob Baker, visual effects designers Tony Harding and Mat Irvine, K9 operator Nigel Brackley, journalist Gary Gillatt.
Studio Sweepings - a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes on the recording of this story, courtesy of a timecoded Shibaden videotape recorded for production use.
Visual Effect - Visual effects designer Mat Irvine meets up with his old colleague Ian Scoones at Bray Studios to talk about the visual effects for 'The Invisible Enemy' and other stories.
Blue Peter - K9 meets John Noakes and Shep in this extract from the long running children's magazine show
CGI Effects - this gives the viewer the option to watch the story with many of the original video effects sequences replaced by CGI versions. Trailers and Continuity, Photo Gallery, Coming Soon, Easter Egg, Radio Times Listings Programme subtitles, Subtitle Production Notes.
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K9 and Company.
Sarah Jane Smith pays a Christmas visit to her Aunt Lavinia's house in the village of Moreton Harwood. She discovers that Lavinia, a noted scientist, has yet to return from a lecture tour of the USA. She does however meet Brendan (Lavinia's ward) and Commander Bill Pollock*, her partner in a small market garden business.
Also in the house, is a box sent to her by the Doctor, in it she finds K9.
The luckless Brendan is kidnapped by a local coven of witches who want to sacrifice him to the goddess Hecate. Sarah, with K9's assistance, set out to try and foil their dastardly plan.
This was a pilot for a possible spin-off series from Doctor Who. Alas, it was not to be.
(Air date:~ 28/12/81)
(*Bill Pollock is played by Bill Fraser, he played General Grugger in Meglos.)
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Once passed the annoying and severely dated eighties theme and credits this is an okay story for the undemanding viewer. The more discerning Who fan will probably be impatiently waiting for "Seeds of Doom" and other such stories.
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DVD extras.
Commentary - With actors Elisabeth Sladen, John Leeson, Linda Polan and script editor Eric Saward.
The K9 Files - key production personnel look at the making of this story and K9's subsequent life in books and comic strips. With actors Elisabeth Sladen, John Leeson, writer and co-creator of K9, Dave Martin, script editor Terrance Dicks, director John Black, visual effects designer Mat Irvine and journalist Moray Laing.
K9 - A Dog's Tale - K9 himself answers a selection of questions about his life.
Pebble Mill at One - K9's appearance on the Christmas 1981 edition of the BBC1 lunchtime magazine show.
Trails and Continuities, Photo Gallery, Coming Soon Trailer
K9 Stories - four books for younger children - 'K9 and the Beasts of Vega', 'K9 and the Missing Planet', 'K9 and the Time Trap' and 'K9 and the Zeta Rescue' - plus the K9 annual on PDF for Mac and PC.
The K9 Radio Times Listings
Programme subtitles, Subtitle Production Notes.