Dream-Eaters (TV story)

Dreameaters was the ninth episode of Series 1 of K9.

Synopsis
An ancient stone obelisk is unearthed by the Department and an alien force is unleashed that literally starts inducing everyone to 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 night-mares 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, however he is still in the nightmare when he is attacked by a Jixen. He runs to K9 who identifies and 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.

He goes to find the others, he sees Gryffen talking in his sleep. He wakes him 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 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 assess his behaviour as strange and records it in his memorybanks. At Jorjie's house she is woken up by her dog whistle, she is contacted by K9 who remotely re-calibrated the Dog Whistle.

She confirms Starkey's question that she suffered a nightmare. When she calls the gang clowns, Darius's fear is triggered and he informs them of his fear. Gryffen asks her if has seen her mother, she replies that her mother is supervising a new Department project. He tried to contact her 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 then 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 every one is being made to sleep and dream apart from K9 (Who being a robot, is immune). Gryffen suggests a method to counter-act the effects (wearing tin-foil hats).

Jorjie makes her way to the mansion and spots many people on the streets asleep. She arrives but an alien is behind her, Darius manages to get her into the mansion. It keeps trying to get through demanding the eye of Oblivion, Starkey recognises the alien from a dream. The alien reveals itself as a Bodach and 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 out they feed on nightmares. Starkey recognises the stone obelisk in the book to the one he saw in his dream, he didn't see the eye but the eye-socket (The Obelisk). Gryffen gets out a package containing Department artefact 781 (The Eye of Oblivion), he determines this is inducing everyone to go to sleep.

K9 determines that the disturbance of the eye brought the Bodach to our dimension and it wants it back. The Bodach then awakes everyone who start to act in a zombie-like manner. Gryffen plans to enter the dreamworld by inducing a trance like state via hypnosis, he does so and falls asleep. The team find that the "Zombies" are a 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, he reveals 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 permenantly. K9 suddenly leaves, Starkey and Jorjie try to keep the main door closed while Darius now a Sleeping "Zombie" opens another door for the Bodach. Darius takes the Eye, Gryffen wakes up and notices its gone. Gryffen goes to Starkey and Jorjie and alerts them to the Bodach whose "Zombie army surrounds them, Darius gives the Bodach the eye. K9 flys past the Bodach and takes its mask of revealing it to be June (Whose in the same trance state as the rest of the Bodach's army).

Gryffen reveals that since the Bodach have no physical form and are controlling June through their sleep, she is their avatar. She uses the eye to attack K9. The army then fall asleep because their avatar is gone. K9 goes to destroy the Obelisk to destroy the Bodach's link to our world, however June is too close and puts the second eye in. K9 tries to ram into the Obelisk but it is protected by a shield that knocks his weapons out. Jorjie puts on the helmet an goes into the Dreamworld.She goes to June with a fake love tattoo for Darius, this angers June who wakes up. K9 tells June to remove the Eye and leave, K9 then 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

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 - Michaelet 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.