Robot Gladiators ( TV story ) Robot Gladiators was the twenty - first episode of series 1 of " K9 " . It contained the revelation that Thorne knew of K9 ' s regeneration unit even though the only people who had witnessed his regeneration were Starkey , Jorjie , Darius and Gryffen . Synopsis . Darius and K9 go undercover to expose a criminal using illegal robot technology in what he calls " destruct - entertainment " . K9 becomes a gladiator and has to face the evil Pain - Maker in a battle to the death . What is the sinister plan instigated by Thorne ? K9 also befriends the other Robot Gladiators he sees as cybernetic ancestors , basic android s who have a heart and spirit that touches K9 ' s superior consciousness . Plot . Darius is talking with Freddie " the Entertainer " Maxwell about what he calls " Destruct - entertainment " , Robot Gladiators for the discerning lover of mayhem . Freddie has the customers paying hand over fist for video uplinks of his robots fighting in the ring . Even if half of his technology is prohibited by the Department , he dismisses rules as " for the little people " . Darius agrees , saying he feels the same way . Freddie asks Darius if he still works for Professor Gryffen . Darius corrects him , saying he quit because Gryffen treated him like dirt . Freddie tells him he heard Gryffen is full of himself , but he has to admire his genius as there isn ' t one robot in the stables that doesn ' t carry a bit of his legacy . Freddie asks what Darius brought for him . Darius shows him something he took with him when he left Gryffen : K9 . Freddie laughs at K9 . Darius , annoyed , asks if he is interested . Freddie says he has a deal . " 24 Hours Earlier " In Gryffen House , Darius tells the team about Freddie Maxwell , aka " Freddie the Entertainer " , and calls him a two bit hustler . According to Darius ' contacts , he is the mastermind behind Crashclub , old robots modified and forced to fight in an arena for the entertainment of rich " toffs " . Gryffen congratulates Darius and hopes that at last he can put an end to the man who has made a mockery of his Thought Matrix , a revolutionary robotic brain that allows a robot to think for itself rather than to be programmed . When K9 doubts that the thought matrix is that revolutionary , Gryffen explains that while such sophistication may be common in the future , before Gryffen came along , robots were nothing more than wind - up toys . Robots moved on thanks to him and they would have moved on even further if the Department hadn ' t confiscated his technology . Jorjie suggests they alert the Department as Freddie is using banned technology . Gryffen has tried already , but according to June , the Department has got " bigger fish to fry " . Gryffen says that he worked long and hard on the technology and he did it for humanity , not to facilitate " revolting " entertainment . As he leaves , Starkey decides to do something about it - undercover work . " Over 24 Hours Later " While K9 communicates to Starkey from inside of a crate , Starkey tells K9 to think of his situation as a holiday . Darius says a really cheap holiday to a slave camp . K9 refuses to speak to Darius , calling him a " traitor " who gave him to a crook like he came from a flea market . Starkey tells K9 that Darius has to do this to find out where Freddie keeps the illegal technology and Darius adds selling him for a bargain made Freddie his pal . K9 needs to find evidence on Freddie if June is to take action . K9 ' s crate is opened by two robots modelled on clown s , Chuckles and Boris . K9 says there has been a mistake and he was supposed to be delivered to the gladiator pens . Chuckles tells him that he ' s in the pens and they , Chuckles and Boris , are the gladiators . Chuckles says that he and Boris used to be clowns , but since Freddie owns them now they are gladiators . A big powerful robot which Chuckles identifies as the Pain - Maker arrives as he and Boris retreat in fear . He says none of them stand a chance against him . The Pain - Maker pounds their fuel containers . Darius notes it ' s no second - hand rust bucket and Starkey adds that it ' s built for combat . Jorjie says that K9 would deal with him without raising a sweat . Chuckles and Boris show their new roommate , K9 , around the place . The walls are the only interesting feature . An alarm activates . Boris is wanted in the pit . He goes down to see Starkey . Darius claimed he is a robotic genius and Freddie hired him on the spot . K9 thanks him , but says it is completely unnecessary . Starkey tells him Darius is in Freddie ' s office . The minute he finds out how Freddie is getting this illegal technology , they will leave . Starkey tells him that he might like getting to know his ancestors until then . K9 compares it to Starkey being locked up with chimpanzees . K9 says that he can calculate the age of the universe with 98 % accuracy , while they struggle to avoid bumping into furniture . Starkey suggests there must have been a K9 which did the same somewhere long ago and that Boris and Chuckles are his past . K9 says he understands what they mean by the ' dim past ' . Darius tells Freddie he doesn ' t understand how he can swipe tech from the Department and run the place under their nose . Freddie gives Darius lesson 16 : " Always be prepared for a swift departure if needed " . K9 watches Boris blow up a balloon and let the air out over and over again . He asks Chuckles why he keeps doing it ; it ' s illogical . Chuckles thinks it perfectly logical and says that balloons were his act in the circus and kids loved it . Chuckles wants to go home to the circus . Freddie calls Boris into the ring . Freddie tells an unidentified person in his office that Boris is one of his best and is a real contender and should give his " boy " a challenge . Boris honks his horn as the Pain - Maker is brought into the ring . Freddie says that K9 should be the one fighting and asks the man if he wants to see K9 fight . When his guest is silent , Freddie addresses the viewers of the match . The Pain - Maker strikes at Boris , who evades the attack acrobatically . He cannot hold out , however , and is destroyed by the Pain - Maker . Freddie says it ' s not the match he anticipated and he still thinks K9 should have fought . He asks the man , who is Thorne , why he purchased him if he doesn ' t want to see him fight ? Thorne assures him K9 ' s turn will come . Starkey examines the wrecked Boris and K9 asks who did it . Chuckles tells him that he fought the Pain - Maker . When K9 tells Starkey he is changing the plan , Starkey tells him to use his head . They want to shut Freddie down for good and K9 can ' t arrest him . K9 says he could give him a " good zapping " . Starkey tells K9 to just keep up the act a little longer and any minute now Darius will find the evidence they need to shut down Freddie . At the house , Darius announces he quits . Starkey says he can ' t . The plan relies on him . Darius says no amount of sucking up to Freddie is going to give him any time to search his office . Gryffen says there has to be some way of exposing him . He tells Darius to think about what Freddie ' s weaknesses are . All Darius knows is that he likes peanut s and money . Gryffen decides to threaten his finances enough to get him out of his office . Starkey has an idea but needs another undercover operative , Jorjie . After changing into business attire , Jorjie says that the plan won ' t work . Starkey tells her to just act and speak like her mother . Gryffen advises her to keep the details vague and remember that if she believes it , she is it . Darius advises that if he does suss her , " Lose the heels and make a run for it " . Jorjie arrives in Freddie ' s office . He tells her to talk to her secretary because he has a fight to organise . She introduces herself as Carolyn Fincher - Jones of His Majesty ' s Revenue and Customs . He says she ' s very young to be a tax person , as she calls it . She interprets this compliment as an attempt to influence her . He says he has never given a compliment in his life . He says he ' s just looking after the office for a friend . She notes his name is on the front door and asks if he is currently engaged in a commercial enterprise . Freddie calls it a hobby . Jorjie asks for the receipts for VAT and threatens to call in more people tax people to investigate . Because of this threat , Freddie goes to get his receipts . Darius comes through the other door and congratulates Jorjie . In the pens , K9 is dressed up since Chuckles insists he look the part . K9 will not risk Chuckles fighting and being destroyed because he must protect his new friend . Jorjie searches for evidence . Darius decides there ' s only one place a criminal like Freddie would hide something : the one place he ' d never think to look himself . Jorjie finds a data chip under his bowl of peanuts . Starkey arrives as Jorjie uploads it to Gryffen . They hide under the table as Freddie and Thorne arrive . Freddie tells him about the tax woman who just arrived and describes her as trouble . As a CCPC closes the door , Thorne asks if he ' s sure it isn ' t Jorjie Turner . He asks about Starkey , and says she has a friend called Darius Pike . They come out from under the table . Thorne tells them not only did he know they were here , he knows everything they have been up to for the past two days ; he was setting a trap . Did they think Freddie would believe that Jorjie is a tax woman and Starkey is a robotics expert ? He confirms he is working with a known criminal using technology banned by the Department . Thorne announces it ' s showtime and Freddie addresses the viewers . K9 is going up against the Pain - Maker . When Darius and Jorjie assure him that K9 will defeat him , Thorne says he hopes so . He knows K9 can regenerate . This is an extremely valuable technology which could be of great benefit to the Department . To secure it , he will force K9 to regenerate . The Pain - Maker is laced with explosive solarmite . After one photon shot by K9 , everything inside the bunker will be destroyed except his regeneration unit . The Pain - Maker flashes Boris ' handkerchief , angering K9 , who prepares to fire . The gang try to warn K9 but Thorne says he can ' t hear them . The Pain - Maker attacks K9 but he hovers and evades every assault . K9 refuses to fight him . Starkey notes he is too decent to act the way Thorne would , much to Thorne and Freddie ' s dismay . Thorne starts the Pain - Maker ' s self - destruct sequence . It detonates . Thorne orders the CCPCs to recover anything they can find . K9 arrives having escaped the explosion . He explains that although solarmite would damage him , the only explosion capable of destroying him is his self - destruct . Freddie asks when he and Thorne are getting together to build his new arena . Thorne says he was never here . Thorne leaves and Freddie follows him . Darius offers K9 peanuts and he refuses . Back at the house , Gryffen finds no damage to K9 from the explosion . No one understands how Thorne knows about K9 ' s regeneration unit . K9 suggests Thorne has sources of information beyond what they know about him . Darius comes in with a call for K9 from Chuckles and Boris , who has been rebuilt . They are going back to the circus and he thanks them for shutting down Crashclub . At the Department Mobile HQ , Thorne speaks with Lomax . He assures him the Department will have no recorded connection with Crashclub . Freddie will take the whole fall . K9 knows of Thorne ' s intent to take his regeneration technology , which will make acquiring it harder , but not impossible . They will get it and their plans will succeed . Lomax orders him to use all the powers at his disposal . Thorne assures that he intends to . References . " to be added " Story notes . Ratings . " to be added " Myths . " to be added " Filming locations . " to be added " Production errors . " to be added " Home video releases . This episode is featured in the following DVD sets :