Alien Avatar (TV story)

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

Synopsis
Following the Thames becoming 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 by following their holographic avatar projections, 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, who considers it inefficent as he could easily take out all the fish with his photon beam. Two CCPCs halt them, asking them what they are doing. K9 explains fishing to them, but like K9 they don't understand it and leave. When Starkey and K9 arrive they find several dead fish. Starkey is about to touch it when K9 warns him not to as he has detected an unknown alien substance. Starkey picks up one of the dead fish with his net which accidentally hits K9, causing part of his body to sparkle red. At the Gryffen House, Jorjie is singing along to some music and accidentally elbows Darius, who is carrying a pile of books. When Gryffen spots him, Darius tells him the books could be interesting to look at but he obviously isn't telling the truth. 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 to return the books, he sees two aliens who appear and then disappear. At Gryffen's house, Starkey takes readings of the toxin on the dead fish. Gryffen is shocked at the results of the unusual chemical composition. Gryffen asks Starkey to search the database as the toxin is definitely extraterrestrial. Darius comes in and tells them of his encounter with the aliens, and questions the weird sparkling on K9. Gryffen takes a look at it. 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 is talking to a CCPC over a Department computer, who tells him the prisoners are withholding information they need. Drake orders them to be more persuasive. June arrives, asks why he's here, and speaks to him about his special security unit. She tells him that she sent her squad to investigate possible alien activity but were turned back by Drake's unit. She warns him that alien threats take precedence over all other Department operations, and if her squad is blocked again she will inform Lomax. Drake is then contacted by the CCPC, who tells him the aliens won't stop talking. Drake tells June he won't "upset" her squad again. He then tells her he has business to attend to, and she leaves.

K9 and the team go to the place where the toxin is entering the river. Starkey sees the same aliens which Drake imprisoned and Darius saw, and they knock Starkey to the ground. When he complains about his eyes they take him to Gryffen's house, where Gryffen determines it to be a strong case of vertigo and that his eyesight will return to normal soon. Starkey tells Jorjie he is fine but Gryffen gets him a bucket ("just in case") when he starts to feel nauseous. When Darius asks who the aliens were, K9 looks them up on his file. He recognises them as 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, although Darius is reluctant. K9 goes through the drains as Darius and Jorjie follow him through the streets, and as Gryffen and Starkey monitor them.

K9 feels uncomfortable and his transmission 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, and he replies the entire Department wants to know its location. When she asks him about the featured detail on the top, he replies he has no idea and tells her to leave as he has business to attend to. Before she does so, she warns him he best not be in possession of the ship. Drake then contacts the CCPC, who tells him the aliens aren't cooperating. Drake then authorises the use of torture. June goes to Gryffen's house and contacts him, and he goes downstairs to meet her. She shows him a blueprint of the Mede starship and the molecular refractor on the top, telling him Drake is exploiting it. She also says that it is Drake, not the Department, who is doing this. Gryffen wonders why Drake, the head of security, wants this technology. June explains that the molecular refractor gives the ship the ability to dematerialise and with this he could use it to spy anywhere and not be seen by anyone, even Lomax.

As K9 searches, he tells Darius and Jorjie that the fumes are interfering with his inertial compass. Jorjie then spots a factory and they make their way there. Jorjie contacts Starkey, who tells her Gryffen is talking to her mother downstairs. Jorjie wonders wether she should press on, but Starkey tells her to do so. Gryffen and June analyse an image of the Mede avatar which cannot be seen in infared vision. Gryffen wonders why the Medes project themselves when they can disappear and reappear, and June suggests it's due to the absence of the refractor. 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 apprehended by CCPCs.

June decides to go there and Starkey follows, but Gryffen warns him that he mustn't go as he hasn't fully recovered. As Gryffen tries to stop Starkey, Starkey leaves the house and Gryffen's agoraphobia kicks in. Darius and Jorjie are tied up in the factory where Drake's men are experimenting with the refractor. Darius tries to break free by gnawing at Jorjie's rope. While searching, K9 calls out to anyone who can respond. Gryffen responds but can't understand him over all the static. K9 then 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 blasts their rope. They run and K9 stops the CCPC who tries to catch them, blasting it. Darius and Jorjie get the gates but are captured. June arrives, interrupting with a command override, and the CCPCs take the workers away.

Starkey meets up with K9, who asks him to help him deliver the molecular refractor to the Medes. K9 tells June that Drake had the Medes locked up. K9, Starkey and June visit the Medes in their cell. She gives them the refractor, apologises for what Drake did to them, and informs them they are free to go. The Medes reply that they need to do one more thing before they leave: clean up the pollution. They also repair the damage to K9 and leave in their ship. After noting the "awesome" day they had, Starkey asks K9 if he wants to go fishing. K9 cheerfully refuses and chuckles along with Jorjie.

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.