Alien Avatar (TV story)

Alien Avatar was the twelfth episode of Series 1 of K9.

Synopsis
The Thames becomes heavily polluted by an alien chemical. K9 discovers the telepathic alien Medes are imprisoned by Drake and that he is attempting to duplicate a missing special key to operate their organic starship. K9 rescues the Medes, while June discovers Drake's plot and helps to release their starship.

Plot
As K9 and Starkey make their way to the River Thames to fish, Starkey explains fishing to K9. Two CCPCs ask them what they are doing. K9 explains fishing to them. Starkey and K9 arrive they find dead fish. K9 warns him not touch them; he has detected an unknown alien substance. At the Gryffen House, Jorjie is singing along to some music and accidentally elbows Darius, who is carrying a pile of books. Gryffen asks him if he was going to sell the books; Darius denies it but Gryffen tells him to pick them up and take them back to the library. Jorjie starts singing again. Gryffen has to raise his voice to get her attention, and he tells her to keep it down.

As Darius goes to the library, he sees two aliens appear and vanish. At Gryffen's house, Starkey takes readings of the toxin on the dead fish. Gryffen is shocked at the results as the toxin is definitely extraterrestrial. Starkey finds a match: the toxin is chenium, a corrosive byproduct from the manufacture of Qualon 37, used in the manufacture of interdimensional starships. K9 estimates that if it builds up in the food chain, 85% of life in the Thames Valley will die.

In June's office, Drake orders a CCPC to be more persuasive. June tells him that she sent her squad to investigate possible alien activity butthey  were turned back by Drake's unit. Drake is contacted by the CCPC, who tells him the aliens won't stop talking. Drake tells June he won't "upset" her squad again and he has business to attend to. She leaves.

K9 and the team find where toxin is entering the river. Starkey sees the aliens which Darius saw. They knock Starkey to the ground. They take him to Gryffen's house., K9 looks the aliens up in his file. They are the Medes, a species that can project their images as avatars when they cannot physically be in a certain area. They decide to go to the source of the pollution. K9 goes through the drains as Darius and Jorjie follow him through the streets, and Gryffen and Starkey monitor them.

K9's transmissions starts to break up. In Drake's office June finds the missing schematics for a Fallen Angel on his computer. When Drake arrive she asks him his interest in the ship. Before he leaves, she warns him he best not be in possession of the ship. June goes to Gryffen's house where she shows him a blueprint of the Mede starship and the molecular refractor on the top, telling him Drake, not the Department is exploiting it.The molecular refractor allows the ship  to dematerialise and with this he could use it to spy anywhere and not be seen by anyone.

The gang spots a factory. Gryffen and June analyse an image of the Mede avatar which cannot be seen in infared vision. When Starkey insists that Gryffen tells June the situation, Gryffen informs her that Darius, Jorjie and K9 are looking for the source of the pollution in North West 12. June contacts Jorjie and warns her to get out, but she and Darius are caught by CCPCs.

Darius and Jorjie are tied up in the factory where Drake's men are experimenting with the refractor. K9 sees the Medes' avatars, who tell him to come with them, and he responds in their language. They take him to the factory, the source of the pollution, where he sees the workers casting the chenium. He finds Darius and Jorjie and frees them. Darius and Jorjie are recaptured. June arrives and the CCPCs take the workers away.

K9 asks Starkey to help him deliver the molecular refractor to the Medes and tells June that Drake had the Medes locked up. K9, Starkey and June gives the Medes the refractor, apologise for what Drake did to them, and lets them go. The Medes clean up the pollution and repair the damage to K9 before they leave in their ship. After noting the "awesome" day they had, Starkey asks K9 if he wants to go fishing. K9 cheerfully refuses,

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
 * Drake - Connor Van Vuuren
 * Foreman - Brian Bolton
 * Mede 1 - Kristin Rolles
 * Mede 2 - Lani Surverson
 * CCPC - Marcel Baum
 * CCPC - John Devine
 * CCPC - Timothy Humphries
 * CCPC - Robert Cooney
 * CCPC - Favian Ledesman
 * CCPC - Joshua Norbido
 * CCPC - Jarrod Grodecki

Production crew

 * Writer - Graeme Farmer
 * Director - Karl Zwicky
 * 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
 * Editors - Russell Maggs, Strutts Pysros
 * 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

 * This episode aired on the same day as the Doctor Who episode Flesh and Stone.

Ratings
to be added

Myths
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * While other episodes use matte paintings to establish London landmarks, this episode's exteriors aren't really treated in any way. It is blatantly obvious, especially as the characters are at the river side, that they're not anywhere close to the Thames. Tropical trees can be seen on the other side of the river, and the wide shots don't reveal any architecture that even slightly resembles London. Much of the action also takes place under a bridge that runs parallel to the river — something that doesn't exist in London. It's forty years into the future, a lot has changed, the climate, the government, the city, everything, time has really taken its toll.


 * When K9 cheerfully refuses Starkey's offer to go fishing at the end of the episode, the lights on his face that go on when he speaks don't flash. That's probably because he hadn't had enough time to fully recover from his infection, meaning that he would continue to be plagued by further technical difficulties, which would grow weaker and weaker with each attack before ceasing completely.

Continuity

 * This episode establishes that the reason this K9 unit's language is laced with so many English colloquialisms is that the 5000 Earth movies on his memdrive have influenced his mode of expression.
 * This episode definitively establishes that K9 has some sort of on-board linguistic database, as he is able to talk to the Medes. This point was never particularly clear in his (or his successors') usage in Doctor Who, since he would have ostensibly had access to TARDIS translation circuit. Moreover, he's never been shown to use other languages in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

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