Sirens of Ceres (TV story)

When Jorjie hits one of the robot police with a stone, her mother punishes her by sending her to the private school Magdalene Academy. But the Department are testing an alien mineral weapon, which they can use to control students in the academy.

Plot

Vibeka, an activist, is protesting CCPC violence when she is apprehended by two of them. K9, Starkey and Jorjie witness the arrest and Starkey records it to "publicise the violence". Jorjie decides to take action and despite Starkey's warning she throws a stone at one of the CCPCs. The three run as Inspector Drake arrives and takes Vibeka away. Two CCPCs corner them and a third confiscates Starkey's recording. Drake orders the CCPCs to use an unknown device, the Inhibitor, into which the CCPC puts an alien substance. The device fails, destroying the CCPC and sending K9 flying. Drake is angered at this and rips the tip off his cane.

At Jorjie's house, June is shocked to learn that Jorjie threw a stone at a CCPC. She is even angrier that Jorjie complains of a headache after nearly getting killed. Jorjie says the CCPC was using a strange weapon.

Back at the mansion, Gryffen repairs K9 and lectures Starkey on his "tomfoolery." At Department HQ, Drake suggests June send Jorjie to Magdalene Academy. Two weeks later. Jorjie arrives at the Academy, where she meets Vibeka, who warns Jorjie not to put on the bracelets worn by several of the students; they change people's behaviour. Jorjie takes her advice and doesn't join Melaina's study group. When she goes to the mansion and complains about the school, Starkey and Gryffen don't agree with her.

Gryffen analyses video playback of the explosion and finds the strange substance vaporises under pressure. K9 says the CCPCs used it to try to take control of him and it is an alien substance. When Jorjie returns to the academy, she finds Vibeka now wears a bracelet. She tells Starkey, who comes to Magdalene to investigate. Vibeka flirts with him.

Gryffen discovers the alien substance is cerulium. K9 describes the planet Ceres, and how lack of free will destroyed its civilisation. At the Academy the girls give Jorjie a bracelet and persuade her to wear it. She falls under its influence almost immediately and returns to the mansion, where she flirts with Starkey while K9 identifies the bracelet as cerulium. Starkey tells her to take off the bracelet, but she refuses until K9 destroys it with his laser cannon.

The next day she returns to school with a fake bracelet, asking where she can buy another one for her mother, June Turner. Drake realises that his plot is uncovered and the girls attack her, but K9 arrives and destroys all the bracelets. Melaina is the only one remaining. When Drake deactivates her, Jorjie reveals to the other students that she is a robot similar to the CCPC.

Cast

Production crew

Writer - Deborah Parsons
Director - Daniel Nettheim
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 producers - Mark Blythe, 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 Editor - Anthony Morris
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
Sound Mix - Ben Vlad
K9 Theme Music Recorded - Supersonic
The Postworks - Bob Blasdall
Marshalls and Dent Lawyers - Shaun Miller, Bryce Menzies
Completion Guarantor - First Australian Completion Bond Company Pty Ltd
Executive producer Network Ten Australia - Cherrie Bottger

References

Upon seeing Jorjie in her academy uniform, Darius comments that she looks "manga".

Story notes

Gryffen repairs K9 for most of the episode, making this episode similar to his appearances in Doctor Who or The Sarah Jane Adventures. K9's role is brief and the story focuses on other characters.
This episode aired on the same day as the Doctor Who episode The Beast Below.

Ratings

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Myths

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity

to be added

Home video releases

This episode is featured in the following DVD sets:

Series One complete box set, released in Australia on 29 September 2010. [1]
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. [2]
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. [3], [4]
K9: Ultimate Collectors Edition, containing the full first series, scheduled for release in the UK on 11 June 2011. [5]

Complete Boxset
(Region 4, Australia)
The Bounty Hunter
(Region 4, Australia)
Series 1, Volume 1
(Region 0, sold in UK and US)
"Ultimate Collectors Edition"
(Region 2, UK)

External links