SONY AIBO

That reminds me - I really need to check out the new series of Doctor Who. 

- Craig Grannell

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES

1999

There is a hint of The Doctor's robot companion K-9 in the original Aibo, although Sony's design is less clunky than the tin can that used to trundle around with Tom Baker - call it K-9.1, maybe. However, it's worth noting Sony had several barking-mad ideas before finally settling on a canine form. One was a six-legged mutant; another looked like a plastic ape. Only once all those were discarded did a doggy-style prototype land, reportedly with the nickname 'Robodog'.