Regeneration (TV story)

Regeneration was the first episode of K9, the Australian-produced spin-off series featuring K9 Mark 2. It was written by Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause, and directed by David Caesar and Mark DeFriest.

The episode first aired in the UK as a special preview on 31 October 2009. It was notable for featuring the original K9 Mark I, and his ultimate destruction and subsequent "regeneration" into his Mark 2 body. Though the Mark I model was a nod to the classic Doctor Who series, licencing issues would prove responsible for its regeneration into a different model, and henceforth, references to the classic series would be limited to avoid these issues.

Synopsis
In 2050 London, Starkey and Jorjie are trying to escape the police. They take refuge in a large detached house, the residence of reclusive scientist Professor Alistair Gryffen and a robot dog named K9. After the battle with the Jixen, K9 performs a costly sacrifice that forces him to regenerate into a brand new body, but his mind may not have weathered the process.

Plot
Two men arrive at the home and laboratory of Professor Alistair Gryffen to give him a case. The case holds technology from a "fallen angel", a downed alien craft. They tell him the Department wants a full report in twenty-four hours.

Elsewhere, a teenage boy named Starkey, who operates under the pseudonym of "Stark Reality," is by an outdoor public display board terminal. He hacks in to post a dissident message. As he finishes, a teenage girl named Jorjie arrives and proposes, once again, working together. Starkey refuses. When she refers to him as Starkey he is surprised she knows his real name. She says she hacked his criminal activity file. She admires his work and wants to help. CCPCs arrive and the two take off together. They end up in an alley with police at each end. They try doors until they find one unlocked.

Inside they find Gryffen's laboratory. They hide in the shadows and watch as he experiments with the space-time manipulator. When the youngsters try to leave, Starkey accidentally kicks the power plug from the wall and the machine goes haywire. Instead of the professor's lost family, four reptilian warriors come through the STM's beam. Starkey is hit with their mucus-like secretion. As Jorjie and the professor turn to aid him, a fifth being comes through the beam. It is a dog-like robot who, after distracting the aliens to allow Starkey to escape, informs the humans his power is running low and he must self destruct to destroy the four creatures. Starkey and Jorjie flee the building as Gryffen stays just outside the door, saying 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. They look inside to see the robot's parts strewn across the floor.

Starkey picks up an oval, palm-sized object that seems to be active. The surviving alien goes down the stairs. A boy arrives and asks what's going on. He notices Jorjie and introduces himself as Darius Pike, personal assistant and supplier of ordered goods, 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 pulses and floats into the air. 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 test flight as the police arrive. They arrest Starkey, informing him of a sentence of six months in virtual reality (VR) detention. As everyone leaves the lab, the lone surviving reptile warrior, which K9 called a Jixen, sneaks off into the shadows.

Professor Gryffen works with K9. K9 informs him his memory has been scrambled and he does not recall who he is. He also says the Jixen mucus is used to mark their enemies for 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 built from parts found in a fallen angel.

Starkey is in a barren room wearing VR goggles. He sees a plain white room with no details. Jorjie appears, having used her own goggles to communicate with him. With the computer system she shows him images of aliens locked up and experimented on in a secret Department facility. He says some of them might deserve it. She tells Starkey the reason she wanted to work with him was to expose this facility to the public. Starkey points out that he is in detention and can't help her.

Gryffen works on K9 and activates a piece of music which K9 doesn't recognise; the damage to his memory is too great. He tells Gryffen he retains only fragments. He asks why the space-time travel device is here. Gryffen says the Department wants him to get it operating properly. Gryffen explains 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 asks whether he will be able to return where he came from if Gryffen fixes the device. Gryffen hopes he will. As Gryffen works on K9, the robot makes a sound. K9 explains he was in his remote identification system. Once a sound is imprinted, he can hear it across dimensions.

Soon after, an intruder alert level 5 goes off in the detention facility. They trigger the end of the VR session and Starkey turns to see the Jixen enter his cell. After he is again sprayed with the Jixen's mucus, a CCPC enters and is attacked by the Jixen. This allows Starkey to escape.

Back at Gryffen's lab, Darius is tuning up Mariah, the professor's antique car. As Darius and the Professor discuss K9 and letting him stay there, Starkey enters the lab, 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 this crisis is averted, June Turner, Gryffen's primary contact with the Department, arrives to discuss the explosion in the lab and the robot "dog" seen in the vicinity. She asks if the professor has seen Starkey since his escape. June makes it clear that capturing the robot "dog" is a Department priority and 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 ended. It will be dismantled and given to a more co-operative researcher. Gryffen tells her there is no need to do that. 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. Darius agrees that the professor is a great guy. Starkey also thanks Darius for not turning him in. Darius tells Starkey there will be other chances. As Jorjie enters, K9 tells her about nearly "neutralising" Starkey. To apologise, K9 gives Starkey a special whistle that will call K9 to wherever Starkey is.

Cast
''Robert Moloney, Keegan Joyce, Philippa Coulthard, Daniel Webber and John Leeson are all credited in the opening of the episode and not the closing credits. With the exception of Leeson's credit, they are credited only by their name and not with their respective character's name attached.''
 * Professor Alistair Gryffen - Robert Moloney
 * Starkey - Keegan Joyce
 * Jorjie Turner - Philippa Coulthard
 * Darius Pike - Daniel Webber
 * Voice of K9 - John Leeson
 * June Turner - Robyn Moore
 * Department Field Officer 1 - Rob Horton
 * Department Field Officer 2 - Michael Thompson
 * CCPC #1 - Josh Norbido
 * CCPC #2 - Jason McNamara
 * CCPC #3 - Eugen Bekafigo
 * CCPC #4 - Michael Donnet
 * CCPC #5 - Tyler Rostedt
 * Jixen #1 - Janardan Kewin
 * Jixen #2 - Brennan Koryzma
 * Jixen #3 - James Smith
 * Aliens - George Pikusa, Jessica Field, Nick Burgess, Amy Verwayen, Hayley McFarlane, Vince Holland, Billy Shannon, Cathey Burgess

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
 * Executive producer, Network Ten Australia - Cherrie Bottger
 * Supervising producer - Dale Bradley
 * Co-Executive producer - Mark Blythe
 * With thanks to Sam Tromans
 * Line producer - Pam Collis

Key creatives

 * 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

 * Casting - Faith Martin and associates
 * Episodic casting - Lisa Maloney
 * Drama/Dialogue coach - Peter Kent

Scripting

 * Story Producer - Victoria Madden
 * Script Editor - Anthony Morris

Crew Department Heads

 * 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

Special Thanks

 * Space Furniture, ShredX, J. Barbour and Sons Ltd., Heath Williams at Firefly Lighting, VideoPro

Post Production

 * 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

Legal & Financial Services

 * Marshalls & Dent Lawyers - Shaun Miller, Bryce Menzies
 * Completion Guarantor - First Australian Completion Bond Company Pty Ltd

Cutting Edge Group in association with AirEdel.

Worldbuilding

 * Jorjie asks Starkey if he is a lone wolf.
 * Jorjie found Starkey's real name by hacking his criminal activity file.
 * K9 Mark 1 was one of the operational systems available to K9 Mark 2.
 * Channel 8 broadcasts television news.
 * K9 describes himself to Gryffen as a cybernetic construction containing quantum consciousness.
 * K9 also boasts of being "capable of logical deduction to within 1.47593 gigaflops".

Story notes

 * The day before this episode was broadcast in the UK, K9 Mark IV appeared in TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith.
 * Regeneration is the first part of a trilogy of episodes, followed by Liberation and The Korven.
 * Before his "regeneration", the K9 seen is identical to the models originally used on Doctor Who. According to K9 creator Bob Baker, this is meant to be K9 Mark I, last seen on screen on Gallifrey with Leela in TV: The Invasion of Time.
 * The regeneration unit has writing on it which reads "∂³Σx²" and "Ø>¯<Δ". In the 1972 behind-the-scenes book The Making of Doctor Who by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, "∂³Σx²" was given as the Doctor's name. Thus, the writing on the unit would seem to indicate that the Doctor installed it in K9.
 * When Professor Gryffen triggers a piece of music stored in K9's memory, K9 informs the professor he cannot name the tune. The three notes played are the first three notes of the Doctor Who theme song.
 * This episode was originally 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 the Channel 10 Network in Australia and Disney XD in the UK, June is the only supporting character to be credited. However, on its broadcast on Five, the supporting cast is credited as well.
 * Professor Gryffen's laboratory and home is in a disused police station which still bears the exterior appearance of its former purpose, such as a police lamp next to the front door, signage, and inter alia; the building is shown in The Cambridge Spy to have been an active police station as recently as 23 November 1963. This parallels the TARDIS' exterior appearance as a 1963 police box.

Production errors

 * When K9 gives Starkey the special whistle, he says to Starkey that it will "call you to my side.". The line should be "call me [K9] to your [Starkey] side."

Continuity

 * Gryffen receives a STM component from the fallen angel. (TV: Angel of the North)
 * Gryffen is trying to recover his lost family. (TV: The Fall of the House of Gryffen)
 * K9 Mark I dies by self-destruction to kill hostile aliens and save humans in London; K-9 Mark III met his end in a similar fashion in 2007. (TV: School Reunion)
 * K9's regeneration unit is labelled with ∂³Σx², which is stated in one account top be the Doctor's real name. (PROSE: The Trial of Doctor Who)

Home video releases
This episode is featured in the following DVD sets:
 * Series One complete box set, released in Australia on 29 September 2010.
 * A "vanilla" DVD called The Bounty Hunter, containing Regeneration, Liberation, The Korven, The Bounty Hunter, Sirens of Ceres and Fear Itself, released in Australia on 29 September 2010.
 * K9: Series 1: Volume 1, containing episodes 1–12, released in the UK on 31 January 2011 and in the US on 30 March 2011.
 * K9: Ultimate Collectors Edition, containing the full first series, released in the UK on 11 June 2012.
 * Series One complete box set, released in North America on 7 May 2013 by Shout! Factory.