Aeolian (TV story)

Aeolian marked the midway point in the first series of K9, and was perhaps most notable for advancing the romantic story arc present from the initial episode. Significantly, Jorjie finally admitted to Darius that she in fact liked Starkey — thus preventing Darius from admitting his true feelings for her. The episode left open for future stories what impact this would have on Starkey's already fractious relationship with Darius, or whether Starkey reciprocated Jorje's feelings.

Synopsis
London is being bombarded by strange sound-waves that cause mass panic. K9 and Starkey are on the trail of the alien. identified by Gryffen as the last of a race called the Aeolians. Darius desperately tries to rescue Jorjie as she is trapped by falling debris. Drake is conviced Gryffen has cause the catastrophe, not understanding the reason behind the Aeolian's musical soundwaves, sets out to destroy the creature and anyone in its path.

Plot
In Gryffen's House, As Darius plays his Guitar loudly, Gryffen comes in and asks if Starkey and K9 are back. The music is so loud that Gryffen has to type the question onto a notepad and show it to Darius, who shakes his head. Darius's Guitar sound dampens down, he suspects Gryffen has done something, Gryffen then tells him he hasn't. In Jorjie's bedroom, she listens to some music on her stereo as it encounters interferance and turns into a loud screeching sound. June walks in talking to Drake on the Communicator and tells Jorjie to turn it off. June tells her she has been called by Drake and has to go to work, She leaves as a storm brews.

Outside Gryffen's house Starkey sings a tune which annoys K9, although Starkey tells him he hummed it in his sleep. The Storm then rages sending paper flying all over the place, K9 then detects it to be a hurricane. They go inside and join Darius and Gryffen watching the news, reporting that the stormis raging across the whole United Kingdom and the North Sea, disrupting communications across the country. They barricade the windows, when Starkey wonders what's causing the storm. Gryffen has K9 analyse the soundwaves, Gryffen tells Starkey he thinks the hurricane is being caused by music, vocal music. He notes singing and music's similarity to weather. When Darius argues that music doesn't have the power to do this, Gryffen notes Sopranos can shatter crystal. As Jorjie tries to contact the others, her celling falls on her, trapping her.

Darius refuses to belive that the storm is being caused by music, Gryffen then repeats that music and weather are similar. K9 looks through his database to see what race could cause this and he finds one, the Aeolians, The Masters of amplification who were wiped out around a thousand years ago in the Centaurian Catastrophy. Gryffen manages to pinpoint the source of the soundwaves, the Holy Cross Cathedral, not far from the house. At Department HQ, Drake notes how their top scientists are baffled and how Thames Valley has turned into "Cyclone Valley" and that the Tornado has destroyed the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. Drake tells June he suspects Gryffen, as he almost single-handedly caused the Great Cataclysm. June argues that he was part of a group of scientists who all agreed with the experiment, a "crazy, irresponsible experiment" as noted by Drake. Exactly the same as the catastrophe affecting Britain. Drake then decides to arrest Gryffen for being a "Mad Scientist".

Jorjie is still trapped in her bedroom and desperately tries to reach her communicator. As Starkey sings in the house, Gryffen prepares Darius for his trip outside. As Starkey suggests that he goes through the sewers to be safer, K9 warns that Earth is the perfect planet of the Aeolians amplifictation abilities. Gryffen loads a schematic of the Cathedral for him to analyse, he finds it has the dimensions for the perfect resonating chamber. When Gryffen shows K9 the spiral, he compares it to the cone of a loudspeaker. As this is exactly how the Aeolians work, Gryffen suggests that one survived.

Cast

 * K9 Mark 2 - John Leeson
 * Starkey - Keegan Joyce
 * Jorjie - Philippa Coulthard
 * Darius Pike - Daniel Webber
 * Professor Alistair Gryffen - Robert Moloney
 * June Turner - Robyn Moore
 * Drake - Connor Van Vuuren

Production crew
to be added

Story notes
to be added

Ratings
to be added

Myths
to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * Daniel Webber's guitar fingering at the beginning of the episode doesn't match the music he's trying to play.

Continuity

 * K9 is again curious about Human emotions, as in Fear Itself. This time he inquires about the nature of love, but no one can give him even a rough idea of what it is.
 * This episode definitively establishes that K9 has some sort of on-board linguistic database, as he is able to talk to the Aeolians. 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.
 * Drake mentions Gryffen and the team of scientists who accidently caused the Great Cataclysm in an experiment, this group of scientists were previously mentioned by a soldier from 2618 as the creators of a device to cool the Earth that was misused.(K9TV: The Korven)
 * The Great Cataclysm was previously mentioned in K9TV: Sirens of Ceres.

Home video releases
to be added