K9 “Angel Of The North”

Man, they got the Professor out of his house…mostly because he and June were being kinda stupid.

See, it turns out the Professor didn’t invent that time machine thingee in his house.  It was found in the wreckage of a crashed spaceship.  He’s just been testing it for the Department.  But then there were some reports from the crash site that the missing piece of the time machine might still be there, and he’d like to go take a look.  Yeah, he can’t leave his house thanks to his agoraphobia, but he would think there’s a way.  June doesn’t think so.

Meanwhile, Inspector Thorne, known bad guy…is standing right behind June as she and Gryffen are having their conversation.  There’s some mention of an experimental VR suit that would allow the Professor to go outside while still tricking his mind and body into thinking he was inside, and even though it is still experimental, Thorne takes it to the Professor’s house to see if the two can go check for the missing part at the crash site, directions given to Thorne by his Mysterious Benefactor, the Shadowy Guy.

So…did everyone forget Thorne is, like, evil?

Never mind.  They all remember before the episode is over, mostly because he won’t really let the Professor look around, there are some pods that should be holding alien passengers but are clearly empty, and Thorne himself is a little surprised that more than one of them is open.  It probably doesn’t help that the Professor dropped the gadget he was looking for when the robocops grabbed him.

As such, it’s K9 to the rescue!  It is his show after all.  He’s more or less figured out how to set that time machine to transport him to where the Professor is, but he does emphasize no one should go with him.  And since people on this show don’t make intelligent decisions, Starkey follows him.

It turns out to be really cold on the other side of what I think they said was Northern Canada.  Possibly Jimmy’s backyard for all I know.  And no, Starkey didn’t pack a jacket or stop to think that zapping more people through the portal will wear out the machine’s charge faster.  However, the show itself forgot K9 loses power in the cold.

Anyway, K9, Starkey, and the Professor do get the gadget back, and they even run and hide from the aliens that, it turns out, were the guys who crashed the ship.  It was…the Korven!  K9 says they’re the most dangerous aliens he’s ever encountered!

OK, here’s where I would say this is a clear nod to the fact this show didn’t have the rights to any of the other Doctor Who related characters and concepts because I have a hard time believing the Korven are somehow more dangerous or deadly than the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Time Lords, and a whole host of other aliens that the Doctor encounters on a routine basis.  Eh, whatever.

Anyway, back at the manor, it turns out the lost tech resonates with the same frequency as K9’s regeneration circuit.  So…the Korven are responsible for a lot more than what we’ve seen so far?

Man, that sounds serious.  Unless the Daleks exterminate the Korven, but I’m probably not that lucky.