Kept Safe and Sound

"The plight of the talking dog."

Writer: Paul Magrs

Format: Short Story

Released: April 2003

Printed in: Short Trips: Companions 06

Featuring: K9

Synopsis

Adventures in time and space are no fun if there's no one to share them. the Doctor has taken along many people on his travels – humans, aliens and robots. Did he really care for any of them? What in their previous life fitted them for the role of companion – and how did they cope after they left the TARDIS?

These seventeen stories look at the Doctor's trusty companions, before, during and after their travels with the eccentric Time Lord. Discover the truth about Romana's regeneration, find out what happened when Zoe encountered the Doctor again, and learn which of his companions the Doctor cared for the most...

Verdict

Kept Safe and Sound was an intriguing little story to continue my way through the Companions volume of Short Trips! I think I have perhaps been slightly harsh in the rating I have awarded this story but some things just didn’t quite work for me. I think the idea of having K9 as the lead companion is completely fine and there’s some much potential with his character and the nature of him being a robot dog, but why was he just referred to as such? We didn’t get the name K9 mentioned at all which is a huge shame because that just feels like such a missing element. It’s so obvious which companion this is, but perhaps it was a naming rights issue? I’m not entirely sure. I couldn’t find anything more in that regard in my brief research on the adventure after reading but it would make sense. I just don’t know why else you wouldn’t name such an iconic character! I thought it was actually a bit of a sad story all in with both K9 and Jack’s widowed mum going through a lot. I would like to know how this version of K9 came to be in the state of disrepair that he was, and how he ended up straddled alongside the owner of a secondhand bookshop. A large number of my entires on this blog over the years have been sourced in secondhand bookshops and I certainly remember the thrill of finding new copies of Doctor Who books in particular. The joy I had when finding copies of Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus and Galaxy Four as the first original Targets I’d located is a memory that will last with me forever. So whilst Jack in this story wasn’t collecting Doctor Who stories, his hunt to complete the set of twelve volumes of the Books of Mayhem was fascinating. There was a lot to appreciate in the story, but I think the OCD in me was a little flustered by the fact Jack had read volumes seven to eleven before having volume six in his collection! I just would flat out refuse to jump ahead before reading the others. I’m sure there are numerous blog entries that contradict that statement but I think the vast array of Doctor Who content gives me some leeway! I thought more on Jack’s mother as a widow would have been beneficial as her state of grief was certainly something to relate to. She was devastated at losing her husband and I loved that it was as a result of the events of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. How could you cope in the twentieth century in knowing that your loved one was eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex! It would obviously hurt more than a traditional or ‘normal’ death. How could you try and get over that? There’s so no rational explanation. She had turned to drink and that was having an impact on Jack as you would expect, but I wanted more on that. I didn’t actually care all that much about the continued ventures to the bookshop. The owner was clearly whacky and could have got a lot more than a solitary pound for the fabled twelfth volume, so I appreciated he stuck to the price despite knowing how sought after the copy was. Jack dealing with some internal dilemma of if he should actually finish the book was baffling to me. Of course he should! With no hesitation. Get it read and completed. Complete the set and then read it again and again. I fully appreciated that he went have the thrill of stories like it again, but there’s a sense of achievement in finishing things. I thought the slow way K9 was broken down for bit parts was sad and I wish I knew why. It was pretty generic and how did a mere bookshop owner have the technologist know how to strip a robot dog from the year 5000? These were the burning questions I wanted answers to. Jack taking the brain device of K9 at the end was weird but I liked that with his mother buying blank CDs, K9’s memory could be hooked up and transferred to it to preserve him. And the stories he’d be able to tell! That was a nice way to finish things. Overall, a rather whacky adventure which is no surprise given the author, but some strong ideas and certainly emotion aplenty. 

Rating: 6/10