10 Unbelievable Doctor Who Facts That Are Somehow True
7. K9 Was Almost A Man In A Dog Costume
Created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, K-9 would go on to become the Fourth Doctor's most loyal companion between seasons 15 and 18. The initial task of designing and building K-9 for his debut story, The Invisible Enemy lay with visual effects designer Ian Scoones. Rather than the sleek and simple design we eventually later get, Scoones envisioned K-9 as a heavily armed robotic rottweiler, which could possibly be operated by an actor.
When Scoones was reassigned to working on the various models required for The Invisible Enemy, Tony Harding was tasked with creating and building K-9. Although he was unaware of Scoones' original designs, Harding also believed that the production team would want K-9 to be big enough so that a small actor could sit inside, much like the Daleks.
Graham Williams refuted this notion, because he didn't want the Doctor's high-tech new companion to be seen as merely a man in a robot suit. And so, Tony Harding came up a smaller, radio controlled version, which would be voiced by John Leeson - from the studio floor and not crammed inside the dog's chassis!
Interestingly, many years later, K-9 co-creator Bob Baker introduced a heavily armoured robot rottweiler in Wallace & Gromit's A Close Shave. All good ideas get taken up eventually!