Doctor Who: 10 Most Embarrassing Classic Series Companions

7. K-9

In the revived series, K-9 was variously referred to as the "tin dog" and the "shooty dog thing" (which was also the name of a great fanzine for a number of years, by the way). These nicknames correctly gave the impression that affection and fond regard were far from being the only reactions to the Doctor's computerised canine. For children, K-9 was one of the best things in Doctor Who from 1977 to 1981. Even now, very young kids jump with joy at the sight of him on a TV screen. But for everyone else, K-9 was always a mixed bag of good and bad features. On the plus side, it was interesting to have a robot character and it did look kind of cute. On the down side, actors had to kneel, sit or even lie on the floor to match the robot's eyeline for long exchanges of dialogue. And that inevitably resulted in awkwardly arranged scenes. On top of that, K-9 was often written as a pompous know-it-all, which is never a winning personality trait. The Doctor would frequently respond to K-9's unwanted opinions with a "Shush!" or by telling it to shut up, magically taking the words right out of the viewers' mouths.