Doctor Who spin-off K-9 and Company coming to BBC iPlayer

While both characters were the Fourth Doctor's companions, they hadn't appeared together prior to the pilot episode.

The episode was first broadcast on BBC One in December 1981, but it was not taken up as a continuing series.

The synopsis for the 50-minute K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend episode reads: "Sarah Jane searches for her missing aunt in a sleepy Gloucestershire village. Luckily, the doctor has sent her some help."

On the BBC's programme site, the episode is listed as "available soon", with many fans suggesting it could return on Wednesday 1st November.

It was previously announced that over 800 episodes of Doctor Who – from across the classic and modern era - would be available to stream on iPlayer.

As well as this, various spin-off series will also return to iPlayer, including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, Class and behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who Confidential.

Dan McGolpin, director of iPlayer and channels, said: "Doctor Who has captivated countless millions of viewers on the BBC for 60 years, and in celebration of this special moment we are bringing classic series to BBC iPlayer for the first time.

"Fans will be able to enjoy many of the Doctor’s earliest adventures with William Hartnell right through to the very latest series and the soon to be released and tremendously exciting new anniversary specials with David Tennant.

"We want everyone to be able to enjoy this breathtaking back catalogue, so we are making each episode on iPlayer as accessible as possible, with subtitles, audio description and sign language all available for the first time."

Fans won't have to wait long for new instalments of Doctor Who, as the long awaited dates for the Doctor Who 60th anniversary special episodes have recently been confirmed.

The BBC has announced that David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor will officially be back on our screens on Saturday 25th November, with the second and third special episodes following on Saturday 2nd December and Saturday 9th December respectively.

It is then expected that the three specials will be followed by a Christmas special starring Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor.

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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