Aeolian marked the midway point in the first series of K9. It was most notable for advancing the romantic story arc present from the initial episode. Significantly, Jorjie finally admitted to Darius that she liked Starkey, preventing Darius from admitting his true feelings for her. The episode left open what impact this would have on Starkey's already fractious relationship with Darius or whether Starkey reciprocated Jorjie's feelings.
Synopsis[]
London is being bombarded by sound-waves that cause mass panic. K9 and Starkey are on the trail of an alien, the last of the Aeolians. Darius tries to rescue Jorjie, trapped by falling debris. Drake believes Gryffen has caused the catastrophe and sets out to destroy the creature.
Plot[]
In Gryffen's house, Darius plays his guitar loudly. Its sound dampens. In Jorjie's bedroom, she listens to some music on her stereo as it encounters interference and turns into a loud screeching sound. June tells her to turn it off.
K9, Starkey, Darius and Gryffen watch the news. A storm rages across the United Kingdom and the North Sea, disrupting communications. They barricade the windows. Gryffen has K9 analyse the sound waves. Gryffen tells Starkey he thinks the hurricane is being caused by singing. As Jorjie tries to contact the others, the ceiling falls, trapping her.
Darius refuses to believe that the storm is being caused by music, but Gryffen insists that music and weather are similar. K9 consults his database and finds the Aeolians, masters of amplification, wiped out over a thousand years ago in the Centaurian Catastrophe. Gryffen pinpoints the source of the sound at the Holy Cross Cathedral. At Department HQ, Drake notes their scientists are baffled, Thames Valley has turned into "Cyclone Valley" and the tornado has destroyed the Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park. Drake suspects Gryffen, who he says almost single-handedly caused the Great Cataclysm. He decides to arrest Gryffen for being a "mad scientist".
Jorjie, still trapped in her bedroom, desperately tries to reach her dog whistle. K9 warns that Earth is the perfect planet for the Aeolian's amplification abilities. Gryffen loads a schematic of the Cathedral for him to analyse. It is the perfect resonating chamber. Gryffen suggests an Aeolian survived.
Jorjie reaches her dog whistle and contacts Darius, who is searching through the sewers with Starkey and K9. K9 asks Starkey to head on with him as Darius goes. Darius reaches her bedroom, tries to lift up the debris and calls for help. Jorjie is frightened. Darius holds her hand. June arrives at Gryffen's house where he hands her the sound wave readings. He tells her it's the mating call of a female Aeolian.
Darius calls Starkey for help; Starkey can hear Darius but Darius can't hear Starkey. Jorjie falls unconscious. Darius gets the two syringes Gryffen gave him and uses the red syringe. He comforts Jorjie as she reawakens. Gryffen and June are confused as to why the sound waves are so varied, as the mating call should be consistent like a bird's song. The weather briefly returns to normal. Gryffen determines that the Aeolian will feed back on itself and vibrate the planet to dust.
Jorjie tells Darius that when the ceiling fell on her, her life flashed before her eyes and she felt she has left many things unsaid. She says there are people she's gotten close to recently, a person she saw at the mansion whom she's fond of. Darius tells her he's had the exact same feeling. When Darius asks who, she replies, "Starkey", shocking Darius. When Jorjie asks the name of Darius' girlfriend he makes one up: "Jorjette", a really lovely French girl. The CCPCs arrive to help.
K9 decides they have to go to a tunnel which doesn't concentrate the sound. The CCPCs lift the debris off Jorjie. Starkey and K9 arrive in the cathedral, where the Aeolian plays the organ. She tells K9 that she lost her mate in the Centaurian Catastrophe, which left her alone in the universe. The music continues. This sound will smash the Earth like a hammer smashing an egg. When Starkey asks if there's any way to stop the feedback loop, she replies it can only be stopped if she is answered by her mate and she fears he is dead.
At the house, Gryffen detects an incoming signal from the Orpheus constellation: the Aeolian's mate. The female Aeolian has to get the exact sequence right or her husband won't recognise her. Drake and four CCPCs arrive. Drake orders the CCPCs to stun her. K9 tells Drake that the feedback loop hooks up with gravity; the Earth will shatter like a wine glass. Drake refuses to listen to a "robot dog and a juvenile delinquent". To contact the Aeolian's mate, Starkey plays the organ with the tune he's been humming. K9 threatens to "liquidate" Drake and his "gangsters". He orders them to stand down. The Aeolian's husband arrives. The Aeolian thanks Starkey for the music and leaves with her husband. The weather returns to normal.
References[]
- Gryffen mentions hurricanes in "Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire", which "hardly ever" happen. This is a quotation from the musical My Fair Lady.
- Gryffen refers to the storms as full of "sound and fury". This phrase comes from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
Story notes[]
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[]
- Drake mentions Gryffen and the team of scientists who accidentally caused the Great Cataclysm. This group of scientists was previously mentioned by Medowin as the creators of a device to cool the Earth that was misused.
- The Great Cataclysm was previously mentioned in TV: Sirens of Ceres.
- An Aeolian was one of the species depicted being conquered by the Anubians in the Anubian book in TV: Curse of Anubis.
- K9 says that the Aeolians were destroyed in the Centaurian Catastrophe, over a thousand Earth years ago. This may be related to the Anubian invasion, or to the destruction of Centauri by the Oroborus.
- The playing of a cathedral organ to save the day also occurred in TV: The Lazarus Experiment.
- K9 is curious about human emotions, as in Fear Itself. This time he asks about the nature of love, but no one can give him even a rough idea of what it is.
Home video releases[]
This episode is featured in the following DVD sets:
- Series One complete box set, released in Australia on 29 September 2010.
- K9: Series 1: Volume 2, containing episodes 13–26, released in the UK on 31 January 2011.
- K9: Ultimate Collectors Edition, containing the full first series, scheduled for release in the UK on 11 June 2011.
