The Doctor Who spinoff K9 is currently shooting in Brisbane. This is the second spinoff series after the hardly missed K9 and Company. The Doctor’s robotic canine sidekick has also appeared in a recent episode of the main series.
Bob Baker, who wrote many Doctor Who episodes including “An Invisible Enemy” in which K9 was first introduced (and who also wrote all bar the first of the Wallace and Grommit films), has written the new series which is currently in production here in fabulously rainy SEQ.
Bob was a guest on Spencer Howson’s show on ABC local radio this morning. Audio of the interview can be downloaded here, and a background story on the production of the series by Natalie Alexander can be downloaded here.
Bob was asked “why is K9 being filmed in Brisbane?”
He replied: “Well it was to do with the house of cards called money, money and opportunity…”
All well and good. Another economic runaway, something this part of the world has a global reputation for. But then Bob said something which struck me as very strange, although it may have local filmmakers and location managers salivating at future production prospects:
“We wanted to set it in the future, a fair amount in the future, just 40 or so years, and Brisbane seemed to be quite a good place to use as a kind of ‘future London’. We drop in with CGI St Pauls, Trafalgar Square, that sort of thing in the background between the skyscrapers…”
Future London? Brisbane? Really? Only in science fiction.
A trailer for the series was released a few days ago on Youtube:
Airlock Alpha reports
The series will likely have no references to “Doctor Who” at all, since the BBC is not involved in its production. Fans will have a chance to see K-9 with the ability to fly, and have more physical movement with his body thanks to his overall redesign.
Filming on the 26-part, 30-minute episode series continues through this month, and is expected to premiere on Australia’s Network 10 and the United Kingdom digital channel Jetix/Disney XD in the fall.
The series’ production company Park Entertainment adds:
Originally created for the 1970s DOCTOR WHO series by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, K9 has long been an iconic television character. Now a brand new series of K9 is several weeks into production.. K9 is a children’s sci-fi/adventure series combining comedy, action and suspense - “X Files” meets “Men in Black” with a zany dash of “Ghostbusters”. K9 mixes live action characters with stunning visual-effects.
K9 and his three teenage companions become the earth’s front line defence against dangers threatening from anywhere and anytime in the galaxy. They will have a lot of fun, action, adventure, and some scares along the way, saving the earth from alien creatures, monsters and more than a few human threats.
Production commenced in early December 2008 on a specially built set just outside Brisbane, Australia. Shooting continues on this 26 part series until the end of April and the series is expected to begin broadcast on Ten Network and Jetix Europe early in 2010.
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