Dream-Eaters (TV story)

An ancient stone obelisk is unearthed by the Department, unleashing an alien force that makes everyone sleep and dream. Starkey, Darius and Jorjie face their worst nightmares. Gryffen tries to communicate with the alien and stop the nightmares from destroying life on Earth. The Bodach feed on brain waves. What better entry than human nightmares?

Plot

Starkey is chased by a Jixen in a mysterious, misty place of plants and a strange stone obelisk. He finds Jorjie and then Darius, who is terrified. He points to a strange creature behind them, then wakes, but is still in the nightmare when he is attacked by a Jixen. He runs to K9, who identifies an alien threat. K9 is not talking of the Bodach, but himself. K9 fires and Starkey wakes up. K9 tells him it is the afternoon.

Starkey wakes Gryffen, who was talking in his sleep. Gryffen had a bad dream. Darius is dreaming he is in Mariah, surrounded by clowns, pleading with her to let him out. She says she is taking him to the circus. K9 spots Darius sleeping and begging to be let out of the car. At Jorjie's house, she is woken by her dog whistle. She has been contacted by K9, who remotely recalibrated the whistle.

Jorjie admits she had a nightmare. When she calls the gang clowns, Darius grows fearful. Gryffen tries to phone her mother, but she doesn't answer. No one does. Gryffen shows the gang a view of an empty street. Everyone is asleep. Starkey faints when he hallucinates that Gryffen has turned into a strange alien. K9 wakes him. Gryffen's psychrotron detects London is being bombarded by psychic energy. Everyone is being made to sleep and dream, save K9. As a robot, he does not sleep. Gryffen suggests wearing tin-foil hats to shield them.

On her way to the mansion, Jorjie sees people asleep on the street. She arrives but an alien is behind her. The alien keeps trying to get into the mansion, demanding the Eye of Oblivion. Starkey recognises the alien from his dream. It is a Bodach, come to feast. When Darius threatens to go out, the Bodach leaves. Gryffen looks up the Bodach. They feed on nightmares. Starkey recognises the stone obelisk in the book as the one in his dream, but he didn't see the eye, just the eye socket. Gryffen gets out a package holding Department Artefact 781 (the Eye of Oblivion). This is what is putting everyone to sleep.

K9 confirms the Eye's disturbance brought the Bodach to Earth and it wants it back. It takes control of everyone who has been walking in their sleep. Gryffen enters a hypnotic state to enter the dreamscape. The team finds the sleepwalkers at the door and K9 asleep. Starkey tries to use an alarm clock to wake K9 but fails. Darius starts to feel drowsy. K9 enters the dreamworld with Gryffen.

The Professor says that if the Eye is put in the obelisk, everyone on Earth will fall asleep. K9 suddenly leaves. Starkey and Jorjie try to keep the main door closed while Darius, now asleep and under the Bodach's control, opens the back door for it. Darius takes the Eye. Gryffen wakes up and notices it gone. Gryffen alerts Jorjie and Starkey to the Bodach, whose sleeping army surrounds them. Darius gives the Eye to the Bodach. K9 flies past and takes off its mask. It is June, in the same trance as the rest of the Bodach's army.

Gryffen says the Bodach have no physical form. They control others through their sleep. June is their avatar. She attacks K9 with the Eye. The army falls asleep when she departs. K9 goes to destroy the obelisk, the Bodach's link to Earth, but June puts the Eye in. K9 tries to ram the obelisk, but it is protected by a force field that knocks out his weapons.

Jorjie puts on the helmet and enters the dreamworld. She shows June a fake love tattoo for Darius. June grows angry and wakes. K9 tells June to remove the Eye and leave, then destroys the obelisk.

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
Jixen - Jarrod Grodecki
Harbinger - Tim Lamacraft
Mr Floppy Fun Pants - Paul Tams
Milkman - John Walkin
Department Inspector 1 - Noel Sheridan
Department Inspector 2 - Micheal Coglan
Bus Driver - Andrew Mudie
Man Child Sleeper - Robert Crampton
Old Man Sleeper - Bill Ferguson
Tall Man Sleeper - Gregory Pickup
Woman Sleeper - Deborah Thompson
Mob Sleeper - Chandra Narayan
Mob Sleeper - Anthony Manuel
Mob Sleeper - Naresh Morajka
Mob Sleeper - Raymond Smith
Mob Sleeper - Brian Hays
Mob Sleeper - Natalie Mitchell
Mob Sleeper - Supriya Bose
Mob Sleeper - Katya Melendez
Mob Sleeper - Bill Watson
Mob Sleeper - Eagle Kad
Mob Sleeper - Kent Hamblett
Mob Sleeper - Ann Bond
Mob Sleeper - Stacey Christensen
Mob Sleeper - Justin Sweetser
Mob Sleeper - Sallie Petersen
Clowns - Joaquin Povea-Gonzalez
Clowns - Deamien Bryant
Clowns - Jarrod Grodecki
Clowns - Manuel Sabie

Production crew

Writer - Jim Noble
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 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

References

In Darius' dream of being surrounded by clowns whilst being locked in Mariah, he pleads for her to let him out. She says, "I'm sorry Darius but I can't do that", a reference to Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that".
In the dream world, K9 encounters a sheep, which his scanner verifies as being "electric". This is a nod to the Phillip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Story notes

to be added

Ratings

to be added

Myths

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

Connor Van Vuuren is credited as Drake, even though he didn't appear in this episode.

Continuity

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.

In Darius' nightmare, alongside a human clown, three robotic clowns are seen. These robot clowns have a much larger role in TV: Robot Gladiators.

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 Alien Avatar, containing The Fall of the House of Gryffen, Jaws of Orthrus, Dream-Eaters, Curse of Anubis, Oroborus and Alien Avatar, released in Australia on 1 December 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]