Regeneration (TV story)

Regeneration is the first episode of K9, an Australian-produced spinoff series featuring K9 Mark 2. The episode first aired in the UK as a special preview on 31st October 2009.

Synopsis
In 2050, London is under the governance of a totalitarian regime. Two rebellious teenagers, Starkey and Jorjie, find themselves on the run from police and make their way into Professor Gryffen's lab building. Once there, they are witnesses to K9's arrival.

Plot
Two men arrive at the home and lab of Professor Alistair Gryffen with a case. Giving him the case, containing a piece of technology from a "fallen angel", a downed alien craft, they inform him that The Department will want a full report in 24 hours.

Elsewhere, a teenage boy named Starkey, who operates under the pseudonym of "Stark Reality", is near an outdoor public display board terminal and is hacking in to post a dissident message against the government. As he finishes, a teenage girl known as Jorjie arrives to yet again propose working together. Starkey adamantly refuses, but when she refers to him as Starkey he is shocked that she knows his real name. She reveals that she hacked his criminal activity file. She tells him she admires his work and that she wants to help. The CCPCs arrive and the pair take off together. They find themselves in a back alley with police at both ends. In desperation they try a number of doors until they find one unlocked.

Inside they find the laboratory of Professor Gryffen. They hide in the shadows and watch as the professor begins an experiment with his Space-Time Manipulator. As the duo prepare to leave, Starkey accidentally kicks the power plug from the wall and the machines goes haywire. Instead of bringing back the professor's lost family, four reptilian warriors arrive through the manipulator's beam. As the professor and two teens try to evade the creatures, Starkey is hit with their mucus-like projectile secretions. As Jorjie and the professor turn to aid Starkey, a fifth being comes through the beam. This fifth arrival is a dog-like robot who, after distracting the aliens to give Starkey time to escape, informs the humans that his power is running low and that he must self destruct in order to destroy the four creatures. Starkey and Jorjie exit the building as Gryffen stays just outside the door, saying that he suffers from a condition. Because the dog saved them, Starkey tries to help him but is pulled back by Gryffen as an explosion rocks the room. Looking back they see the parts of the robot strewn across the floor.

As they look around, Starkey picks up a oval, palm sized object that seems to still be active. The surviving alien goes down the stairs. Soon a boy arrives and seeing the damage, asks what's going on. Starkey asks him what business is it of his and he explains that if anything happens to "the Prof" he's out of a job. He soon notices Jorjie and introduces himself as Darius Pike, personal assistant and supplier of ordered goods, basically a delivery boy as Jorjie puts it. She introduces herself. Starkey warns her not to use real names so she calls him "Stark Reality". Darius comforts the distraught Gryffen and quietly places a call to the authorities while Starkey apologises to the professor. Just then the palm sized ovoid begins to pulse and float into the air. Soon the parts of the robot dog are reintegrated and refashioned into a new, but still recognisable, design. The robot introduces himself as K9 and begins to recalibrate his systems, including his new flight system.

K9 exits the building for a flight test as the police arrive and place Starkey under arrest, informing him of a sentence of six months in virtual reality (VR) detention. As everyone begins to exit the lab, the lone surviving reptile warrior, which K9 referred to as a Jixen, is seen sneaking off into the shadows.



Professor Gryffen works with K9. K9 informs the Professor that his memory has been scrambled and that he does not remember who he is. He also tells the Professor that the mucus from the Jixen is used to mark their enemies for later tracking. Any Jixen that smells Starkey will recognise him as their enemy. In response to K9's question, the professor says the space-time manipulator was reconstructed from parts found in Fallen Angels, downed spacecraft that have landed on Earth.

Meanwhile Starkey is in a barren room wearing VR goggles. He sees a plain white room with absolutely nothing to do. Suddenly Jorjie appears, having used her own goggles and her hacking skills to communicate with him. From the computer system she shows him images of aliens that have been locked up and are being experimented on in a secret Department facility. He says that some of them might deserve it. She argues that they aren't all like the Jixen and some of them are peaceful. She tells Starkey that the reason she wanted to work with him was to expose this facility to the public. Starkey points out that he is already in detention and can't help her.

Gryffen works on K9 and activates a piece of music which K9 doesn't recognise as the damage to his memory is too great; he tells Gryffen he retains memory fragments only. He asks why the Space-Time travel device is located here; Gryffen says the Department wants him to get it operating properly. K9 asks why; Gryffen explains that the ability to travel through space and time is enormously valuable. There is no limit to where you could go or whom you could bring. K9 gives the Jixen as an example, and asks whether he will be able to return where he came from if Gryffen fixes the device. Gryffen tells him hopefully he will. As Gryffen works on K9 some more, a sound comes from K9. Gryffen asks what happened; K9 explains that he was in his remote identification system and tells him that once a sound is imprinted, he can hear it across dimensions. Gryffen drops a ball, K9 says the sound has to be repetitive and Gryffen drops the ball twice.

Soon after, alarms go off in the detention facility and the Jixen enters the corridor leading to Starkey's cell. The alarms trigger the end of the VR session and Starkey turns to see the Jixen enter his cell. After Starkey is sprayed a second time with the Jixen's mucus, a CCPC enters and is attacked by the Jixen. This gives Starkey enough time to exit the cell and escape the facility.

Back at Professor Gryffen's lab, Darius is tuning up Mariah, the professor's antique car. As Darius and the professor discuss K9 and how good an idea it is to let him stay there, Starkey enters the lab. As Starkey is covered with Jixen mucus, K9's still-repairing systems identify him as a Jixen warrior. Only the professor's protestations and Starkey's repeating some of the first words he said to K9, cause K9 to stop and reconsider his actions.

As that crisis is averted, June Turner, Professor Gryffen's primary contact with the Department, arrives to discuss the explosion in the lab, the robot "dog" that was seen in the vicinity near the time of the explosion, and to ask if the professor has seen Starkey since his escape. While Starkey and K9 hide behind a bank of cabinets, June makes it clear that capturing the robot "dog" is a priority of the Department and that she expects the professor to find him and bring him in for study. If he fails or refuses, his funding for the STM project will be terminated; it will be dismantled and passed on to a more co-operative researcher. Gryffen tells her there is no need to do that. She says she hopes not and that she'd hate to take it away from him, but will if she has to. After she leaves, Starkey and K9 come out of their hiding place and Starkey thanks Gryffen.

After June leaves, Starkey tells Darius that no one has ever stuck up for him like Professor Gryffen has, and Darius agrees that the professor is a great guy. Starkey also thanks Darius for not turning him in. Darius informs Starkey that there will be other chances. As Jorjie enters, K9 tells her about nearly "neutralising" Starkey, and to apologise, K9 gives Starkey a special whistle that will call K9 wherever Starkey is.

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
 * Department Field Officer 1 - Rob Horton
 * Department Field Officer 2 - Michael Thompson
 * CCPC - Josh Norbido
 * CCPC - Jason McNamara
 * CCPC - Eugen Bekafigo
 * CCPC - Michael Donnet
 * CCPC - Tyler Rostedt
 * Jixen 1 - Janardan Kewin
 * Jixen 2 - Brennan Koryzma
 * Jixen 3 - James Smith
 * Alien - George Pikusa
 * Alien - Jessica Field
 * Alien - Nick Burgess
 * Alien - Amy Verwayen
 * Alien - Hayley McFarlane
 * Alien - Vince Holland
 * Alien - Billy Shannon
 * Alien - Cathey Burgess

Production crew

 * Writers - Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause
 * Directors - David Caesar, Mark DeFriest
 * 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 producers - Mark Blythe, 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 - Russell Maggs
 * Casting - Faith Martin and associates
 * Episodic casting - Lisa Maloney
 * Drama/Dialogue coach - Peter Kent
 * Story Producer - Victoria Madden
 * Script Editor - Anthony Morris
 * 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
 * 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
 * Sound Mix - Ben Vlad
 * K9 Theme Music Recorded - Supersonic
 * The Postworks - Bob Blasdall
 * Marshalls and Dent Lawyers - Shaun Miller, Bryce Menzies
 * Completion Guarantor - First Australian Completion Bond Company Pty Ltd
 * Executive producer Network Ten Australia - Cherrie Bottger

Story notes

 * Before his "regeneration", the K9 that is seen is identical to the original models used on Doctor Who. According to K9 creator Bob Baker, this is meant to be K9 Mark I who was last seen on screen remaining on Gallifrey with Leela. This implies that K9 Mark I survived the Last Great Time War. He was, however, destroyed in an audio play before the events of the Time War, so, it is likely that he was rebuilt by Romana, against Leela's wishes. Romana is also the person who probably installed his regeneration circuits. This means that the K9 that appears at the beginning of the episode is actually K9MKI.I
 * K9 informs Professor Gryffen that much of his memory was damaged in his self destruction; K9 no longer seems to remember the Doctor. Whether he remembers his former mistress, Leela, or Romana and her K9 model, the Mark II, is yet to be seen.
 * When Professor Gryffen triggers a piece of music stored in K9's memory, K9 informs the professor that he cannot name the tune. The 3 notes that are played are the first three notes of the Doctor Who theme song.
 * The day before this episode was broadcast, another K9 appeared in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
 * This episode was originally reported to be rebroadcast on 3 April 2010 to start the series. However for an unknown reason The Korven was broadcast instead.
 * On its broadcast on Network 10 in Australia, and Disney XD in the UK, June is the only character to be credited. However, on its broadcast on Five, the supporting cast is credited as well.

Ratings
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Myths
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Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * When K9 gives Starkey the whistle, he says that if Starkey blows it it will "call you to my side." He must have meant it the other way around.

Continuity

 * The main K9 is an alternative to the K9 Mark I that first appeared in DW: The Invisible Enemy.

Home video releases

 * This episode is featured in the Series One complete boxset which is due to be released in Australia in 29 September 2010, UK release is unknown.
 * This episode is featured in a "vanilla" DVD called The Bounty Hunter along with Liberation, The Korven, The Bounty Hunter, Sirens of Ceres and Fear Itself, which is due to be released in Australia in 29 September 2010, UK release is unknown.