K-9 and Company was a proposed television spin-off of the original programme run of
Doctor Who (1963–1989). It was to feature former series regulars
Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist played by
Elisabeth Sladen, and
K-9, a
robotic dog. Both characters had been
companions of the
Fourth Doctor, but they had not appeared together before. A single episode, "A Girl's Best Friend", was produced as a pilot for a proposed programme, but was not taken up. "A Girl's Best Friend" was broadcast by
BBC1 as a Christmas special on 28 December 1981. The story was released on DVD on 16 June 2008 as a double pack with K-9's first Doctor Who story "
The Invisible Enemy". Although a full series of
K-9 and Company was not produced, the two characters did re-appear two years later in
The Five Doctors, an episode of
Doctor Who broadcast in 1983 celebrating the show's twentieth anniversary.