Dream-Eaters (TV story)

Dream-Eaters was the ninth episode of Series 1 of K9.

Synopsis
An ancient stone obelisk is unearthed by the Department, unleashing an alien force that makes everyone sleep and dream. Starkey, Darius and Jorjie face their worst nightmares and Gryffen tries to find a way to communicate to the alien creature and stop the nightmares from destroying life on Earth. The Bodach feed on brain waves, and what better entries than human nightmares?

Plot
Starkey is being chased by a Jixen in a mysterious, misty place containing plants and a strange stone obelisk. He finds Jorjie and then Darius, who is terrified. He points to a strange creature behind them. It is revealed to be a nightmare when Starkey wakes up, but he is still in the nightmare when he is attacked by a Jixen. He runs to K9 who identifies an alien threat. To Starkey's horror, it is not the Jixen K9 is talking about, but himself. K9 fires and Starkey wakes up. He is met by K9 who tells him it is the afternoon.

Starkey goes to find the others. He discovers Gryffen talking in his sleep. He wakes Gryffen up and is shocked to find out the Professor had a bad dream. Meanwhile Darius is dreaming as well. As he finds himself in Mariah surrounded by Clowns, he pleads with her to let him out, but she says she is taking him to the Circus. As K9 spots Darius sleeping and begging to be let out of the car, he assesses Darius' behaviour as strange and records it in his memory banks. At Jorjie's house, she is woken up by her dog whistle. She has been contacted by K9, who remotely recalibrated the whistle.

Jorjie confirms that she suffered a nightmare. When she calls the gang clowns, Darius' fear is triggered and he informs them of it. Gryffen asks Jorjie if has seen her mother. Jorjie says that her mother is supervising a new Department project. Gryffen tried to contacther mother but she didn't respond: no one did. Gryffen then shows the gang a view of a street, but no-one is there. Starkey determines that everyone is asleep. He faints when he hallucinates that Gryffen has turned into a strange alien. K9 wakes him up. Gryffen's Psychrotron detects that London is being bombarded by psychic energy and that everyone is being made to sleep and dream, apart from K9 (who, being a robot, is immune). Gryffen suggests a method to counteract the effects (wearing tin-foil hats).

Jorjie makes her way to the mansion and spots many people on the street, asleep. She arrives but an alien is behind her. Darius manages to get her into the mansion. The alien keeps trying to get through, demanding the Eye of Oblivion. Starkey recognises the alien as the one from his dream. The alien reveals itself as a Bodach; it has come to feast. When Darius threatens to go out, the Bodach suddenly leaves. Gryffen looks up the Bodach in a book and finds they feed on nightmares. Starkey recognises the stone obelisk in the book as the one he saw in his dream, but he didn't see the eye, just the eye socket. Gryffen gets out a package containing Department Artefact 781 (the Eye of Oblivion), confirming that this is what's inducing everyone to sleep.

K9 determines that the disturbance of the Eye brought the Bodach to Earth and it wants it back. The Bodach then takes control of everyone who has been walking in their sleep. Gryffen plans to enter the dreamworld by inducing a trance-like state via hypnosis; he does so and falls asleep. The team finds that the sleepwalkers are at the door and K9 is asleep. Starkey tries to use an alarm clock to wake K9 but fails. Darius starts to feel drowsy. K9 enters the dreamworld along with Gryffen, revealing that since Gryffen is in the dreamworld he has in a way left the house (Gryffen is agoraphobic). He had to fall asleep and join him in the Dreamworld.

The Professor reveals that if the Eye that is in the mansion is put in the obelisk, the circle of power will be completed, putting the whole world to sleep permanently. K9 suddenly leaves; Starkey and Jorjie try to keep the main door closed while Darius, now asleep and under the Bodach's control, opens the back door for it. Darius takes the Eye. Gryffen wakes up and notices it is gone. Gryffen goes to Starkey and Jorjie and alerts them to the Bodach, whose sleeping army surrounds them. Darius gives the Bodach the Eye. K9 flies past the Bodach and takes off its mask, revealing it to be June (who is in the same trance state as the rest of the Bodach's army).

Gryffen reveals that since the Bodach have no physical form they have to control others through their sleep; June is their avatar. She uses the Eye to attack K9. The army falls asleep when their avatar departs. K9 goes to destroy the obelisk, which is the Bodach's link to Earth, but June is too close and puts in the Eye. K9 tries to ram into the obelisk but it is protected by a force field that knocks out his weapons. Jorjie puts on the helmet and goes into the dreamworld. She shows June a fake love tattoo for Darius, angering June, who then wakes up. K9 tells June to remove the Eye and leave, after which K9 destroys the obelisk.

Cast

 * K9 Mark 2 - John Leeson
 * Starkey - Keegan Joyce
 * Jorjie Turner - Philippa Coulthard
 * Darius Pike - Daniel Webber
 * Professor Alistair Gryffen - Robert Moloney
 * June Turner - Robyn Moore
 * Jixen - Jarrod Grodecki
 * Harbinger - Tim Lamacraft
 * Mr Floppy Fun Pants - Paul Tams
 * Milk Man - John Walkin
 * Department Inspector 1 - Noel Sheridan
 * Department Inspector 2 - Micheal Coglan
 * Bus Driver - Andrew Mudie
 * Man Child Sleeper - Robert Crampton
 * Old Man Sleeper - Bill Ferguson
 * Tall Man Sleeper - Gregory Pickup
 * Woman Sleeper - Deborah Thompson
 * Mob Sleeper - Chandra Narayan
 * Mob Sleeper - Anthony Manuel
 * Mob Sleeper - Naresh Morajka
 * Mob Sleeper - Raymond Smith
 * Mob Sleeper - Brian Hays
 * Mob Sleeper - Natalie Mitchell
 * Mob Sleeper - Supriya Bose
 * Mob Sleeper - Katya Melendez
 * Mob Sleeper - Bill Watson
 * Mob Sleeper - Eagle Kad
 * Mob Sleeper - Kent Hamblett
 * Mob Sleeper - Ann Bond
 * Mob Sleeper - Stacey Christensen
 * Mob Sleeper - Justin Sweetser
 * Mob Sleeper - Sallie Petersen
 * Clowns - Joaquin Povea-Gonzalez
 * Clowns - Deamien Bryant
 * Clowns - Jarrod Grodecki
 * Clowns - Manuel Sabie

Production crew

 * Writer - Jim Noble
 * Director - Daniel Nettheim
 * Producers - Penny Wall, Richard Stewart, Simon Barnes
 * Executive producers - Jim Howell, Grant Bradley, Steve Robbins
 * Associate producers - Bob Baker, Paul Tams
 * Supervising producer - Dale Bradley
 * Co-Executive producer - Mark Blythe
 * With special thanks - Sam Tromans
 * Line producer - Pam Collis
 * VFX Director - David Napier
 * Series Production Designer - Jon Dowding
 * Episodic Designer - Adam Head
 * New K9 Design by - Paul Tams, Alex Kubalsky
 * Series Director of Photography - Ben Nott
 * Episodic Director of Photography - Tony O'Loughlan
 * Music by - Christopher Elves
 * K9 theme music by - Michael Lira
 * Editor - Patrick Stewart
 * Casting - Faith Martin and associates
 * Episodic casting - Lisa Maloney
 * Drama/Dialogue coach - Peter Kent
 * Story Producer - Greg Walters
 * Script Adaption - Michaeley O'Brien
 * Production Accountant - Pru Donovan
 * 1st Assistant Director - Peter McLennan
 * Script Supervisor - Sue Ketchington
 * Costume Designer - Joanne Thompson
 * Makeup Designer - Sharon Robbins
 * Puppeteer - David Pawsey
 * Location Manager - Charles Boyle
 * Sound Recordist - Ian Grant
 * B Camera Operator - Dan Maxwell
 * Gaffer - Steve Monk
 * Key Grip - Billy Harmer
 * Special thanks to - Space Furniture, Shredox, J. Barbour & Sons Ltd, Heath Williams at Firefly Lighting, Videopro
 * Safety Supervisor/Stunt Coordinator - Danny Baldwin
 * Transport Manager - Alister Ward
 * Unit Manager - Graeme Suhr
 * Post Production Facility - Cutting Edge Australia
 * Head of Post Production - John Lee
 * Sound Design - Warren Pearson

Story notes
to be added

Ratings
to be added

Myths
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * Connor Van Vuuren is credited as Drake even though he didn't appear in this episode.

Continuity

 * In Darius' nightmare, alongside a Human clown, three robotic clowns are seen. These robot clowns have a much larger role in K9TV: Robot Gladiators.

Home video releases
This episode is featured in the Series One complete boxset.