Black Hunger (TV story)

Black Hunger was the fifteenth episode of Series 1 of K9. This episode marked the departure of Drake and his replacement by Thorne, who was introduced in Liberation.

Synopsis
The Department is using an alien device which literally eats rubbish. Darius sees an opportunity to make some money and snatches the device. However the alien virus in the device escapes and threatens to devour everything it touches.

Plot
In the sewers, two men in hazmat suits are looking through the rubbish dumped there. One of them uses a device which sprays microbes on the rubbish. Darius walks in and hides as he takes a look. The nanoforms consume all of the rubbish, which interests Darius, who then makes a noise which alerts the men to his presence, but he runs away before they can catch him. As one of the men grabs an empty can of Cola, the nanoforms start to eat at his hand while the other man sucks the nanoforms back into the device. At the mansion, Gryffen and Starkey fail an experiment due to a hygiene crisis caused by the presence of K9 and his teenage companions. Gryffen tells Starkey he has traced the contamination to the chess room and the source is pepperoni pizza. When Starkey insists that he pays Darius to clean up, Gryffen tells him Darius promised but hasn't. Starkey and K9 look through the chess room as Darius wades through the sewer and snatches the device to find an empty Hazmat suit.

At Department HQ, June asks the survivor about the accident, who tells her he suspects it's alien. He tells her a mishap like this hasn't occurred any other time he used the device. June suggests it could have been a malfunction but he says that the microbes are as harmless as yeast and have turned into "bloodthirsty flesh-eaters". Darius brings the device to the house and uses it on the rubbish, amazed by its efficiency. The worker shows June the scene of the accident, where they find the device is gone. She scans the empty Hazmat suit and detects a possible alien trace. Drake arrives wondering where the device is, and the worker tells him it's gone. Drake firmly demands the worker tells him where it is. Drake asks what June is doing here, but June asks him the same question as this is merely a city sanitation issue. He tells her that disappearance of state property is a very serious problem. June asks him how he heard about it so quickly, and he replies that he is "eternally vigilant".

In the chess room, Darius wakes up from his nap as the microbes clean his mess for him. He idoes not know he is being followed by microbes but uses the device to recapture them. Jorjie arrives, angry that she has been sent to help clean up. K9 and Starkey thank her for her assistance. When they arrive in the chess room, they are shocked to find it absolutely spotless. Darius says he cleaned it up and shows Starkey his cleaned clothes. Darius blames K9 for a flatulent noise but he says it wasn't him as Darius fully knows. Starkey and Jorjie ask what the thing under the red sheet is and he reveals the device. K9 detects an unstable cross species, ordinary yeast cells spliced with something "more sinister". Darius compares it to a simple vacuum, but K9 detects he is lying. K9 strongly advises that he remove the object from the house, but Darius tells the others this could make him a fortune and dismisses K9 as a "panic artist". Darius tells the others that the microbes are like very efficient cleaners. K9 scans the room and discovers there is not one living thing left in it, not even an ant, a spider, or a moth. When Starkey asks him where he bought it, Darius merely smiles.

At Department HQ, Drake tells the worker not to talk to anybody, especially June. He tells Drake something has changed the technology, and it's going to harm whoever has obtained it, but Drake tells him that they are criminals and deserve it. Jorjie demands that Darius takes the device back where he found it, but he argues that he has a window of opportunity. The device could become a household appliance and he would be rich. K9 complains that he isn't listening and whatever is inside the device is an unstoppable life-form that could get out of control. Darius insists "finders keepers" and says he is simply a "businessman trying to make some creds". When K9 asks him where he found it, Drake tells him he found it in the tunnels of Sector NE12. Starkey decides they need to return it there, and when Darius tells them that they're on their own, Jorjie furiously demands that since Darius created the problem he should help fix it. Darius doesn't understand the problem, considering it a simple genius household appliance. As he didn't buy it, K9 presumes he stole it, and asks if anything strange happened when he stole it. When Darius asks him what he means by strange, Starkey grows impatient. Gryffen walks in, shocked at the "miracle" of the chess room. K9 asks Gryffen to use his atomic spectrometer to analyse what's been at work here. Gryffen confirms that whatever it is, it's too good to be true.

Gryffen is shocked at the analysis, having never seen anything like it. On the sample of Starkey's shirt, the smaller microbes have been attacked by the bigger ones, hunted and consumed. When Darius thinks of the million creds he could have earned, Gryffen warns him that in the wrong hands this could be lethal; someone has been tampering with the microbe's gene coding. It has been crossed with microbes from another planet, possibly the vicious omnivores from Pluto, which are the most voracious bacteria in the known universe. It has been altered so that, unlike other microbes which are self-limiting and become dormant when their food supply runs out, these keep going. These microbes' dormancy gene has been turned off, so they are always hungry and could literally eat the whole world.

At Department HQ, June goes to Drake and tells him she has received an analysis of the microbes in the imploder. She knows of his project with the microbes, Black Hunger, closed down because it was too unstable. Drake tells her he's solved it with the use of the imploder, an electromagnetic containment device which stores and transports the Hunger. She reveals that her analysis tells her that he genetically altered the swarm and removed its self-limiting and dormancy characteristics. Drake tells her it's to make it more efficient and he refuses to believe it could get out of control. She tells him they don't know who has it, but Drake tells her not to panic. She warns him if the swarm gets out, it will be the end of his career.

As K9, Jorjie and Starkey move the imploder through the tunnels, a CCPC spots them. K9 decides to bluff their way out, saying he's taking them for a walk, describing them like dogs, and when Starkey and Jorjie start making dog noises, the CCPC leaves. At Department HQ, Drake says that the planet is constantly threatened from within by dissidents, anti-social undesirables and juveniles. June argues that the people aren't the problem and that the planet is surrounded by alien menaces which need to be defeated. Drake agrees but says that they need to find the alien technology to take control of the human problem first, revealing the true purpose of Black Hunger. He intends to use the hijacked Fallen Angel technology to control society, stating that future generations will thank him, but June argues that they'll curse him for taking away their freedom to be themselves. Drake tells her that people need rules, what to do, when to do it, who to be, otherwise it all becomes chaos. She tells Drake that the reason she has stayed in the Department is to make sure he doesn't succeed and that she doesn't want her daughter growing up in his world. Drake is determined to see her leave before he does, and she tells him to bring it on.

As the team go through the tunnels they spot a CCPC. Jorjie suggests the just drop the imploder but K9 says they should put it where Darius found it. K9 distracts one CCPC, who chases after him. As Starkey and Jorjie move on, another CCPC comes and chases them, but they hide behind some rubbish. They move on, and when their path is blocked by a pile of rubbish, Jorjie suggests going back but Starkey points out that CCPCs are guarding the pile. He decides to use the imploder to do some "spring-cleaning". The CCPCs report to Drake at Department HQ that intruders have been sighted: two juveniles and a robotic dog in Sector NW12. Drake orders a Department officer to set the imploder to self-destruct, and when he asks about the CCPCs and the two juveniles, Drake angrily orders him to proceed. The imploder is set to self-destruct in five minutes. As the team move the imploder, K9 suggests containing the swarm (which is moving across the walls) but a CCPC arrives and they move on. With two minutes to go, June arrives and when she asks who gave the order to secure the tunnels, Drake tells her that he has found the imploder and needs to make sure it is neutralised. The explosion will sterilise the area and take the people who stole the imploder with it. With one minute left, K9 detects that the imploder will detonate. Jorjie and Starkey put it on the floor and decide to run. K9 tells them they won't have time to escape and they have to defuse it. With thirty seconds to go, Starkey presses the buttons hoping it will deactivate. With fifteen seconds left, Jorjie deactivates it by bashing it with a piece of rubbish.

June asks the officer the status of the swarm, and he tells her it's still at large. She asks where the tunnel leads, and he tells her it leads into the River Thames. As Drake looks on, June gives him a furious look. At Gryffen's house, Gryffen tells Darius that after the swarm reaches the Thames, the Earth will be devoid of all life in lwss than a week. K9, Starkey and Jorjie make their way out of the tunnels cautiously as the swarm spreads. They find an exit protected by bars with the Thames just on the other side. Starkey tells K9 to blast through but he cannot let the swarm escape. K9 has an idea; he lets the swarm attack him, and then fires a beam which swallows the swarm. The Department officer reports that swarm activity has ceased and they have been completely neutralised. June tells Drake he almost killed everyone. He says calculated risks must be taken to protect society, but June tells that he almost destroyed society and will point this out in her report. Drake has gone too far this time, and June is going to take him down.

Later, June reports to Lomax that Operation: Black Hunger had been closed down because it was too dangerous, and Drake started it without clearance. June confirms that the situation has been resolved and they must be thankful for the intervention of K9. Otherwise it would have ended disastrously. Although Drake has been with the Department for many years, this is not Drake's first breach of orders and his most serious to date. Lomax decides Drake will be moved to other duties. June thanks Lomax for hearing her out and asks if she is taking over from Drake. Lomax tells her that Drake will be replaced by Inspector Thorne, who appears on the monitor and tells June he looks forward to working with her. June is shocked that Thorne is taking over.

Back at the house, Gryffen congratulates K9 on his "stroke of genius" of reversing his fuel cells to stop the swarm. He explains to the team that the imploder is basically an electromagnetic compressor, and that by overheating his fuel cells and reversing the polarity, he was able to perform the same task. K9 has the entire swarm in his stomach, sucking them all up like "slurping a milkshake" as Jorjie puts it. Gryffen expects Darius to apologise, but Darius suggests he and K9 could go into business together. K9 tells him not to push his luck, and Darius tries to convince him as the others cheerfully sigh at him. Gryffen asks K9 what he's going to do to the swarm; K9 intends to evacuate his fuel cells the next time he is on Atrios. Darius jokingly hopes there's no accidents on the carpet as the others laugh at him.

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
 * Thorne - Jared Robinsen
 * Worker 1 - Scott Tilly
 * Worker 2 - Anthony Kidd
 * Department Technician - Stephen Sourkis
 * CCPC - Josh Norbido
 * CCPC - Jason McNamara
 * CCPC - Dane Paltman
 * Lomax - Peter Kent

Production crew

 * Writer - Chris Roache
 * Director - James Bogle
 * 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

 * This is the first K9 episode to feature the death of a human.

Ratings
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Myths
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * Atrios appeared in DW: The Armageddon Factor.
 * Thorne previously appeared in K9TV: Liberation.
 * The Department officer in this episode previously appeared in K9TV: Curse of Anubis.
 * Part of K9's solution to the swarm was "reversing the polarity." This phrase, commonly referenced by the Third Doctor, was previously mentioned by Gryffen in K9TV: Jaws of Orthrus.
 * The brand of cola in the chess room is "Best". A box of biscuits from Best was previously seen in K9TV: Liberation)

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