Alistair Gryffen Professor Alistair Gryffen was a Nobel Prize - winning scientist who worked in many fields , including alien technology , robotics , cybernetics and time - travel . He worked for the Department , an agency of the totalitarian government of 2050s London . He was one of K9 Mark 2 ' s friends . Biography . Early life . Alistair Gryffen was born in Canada in 2012 . ( TV : " Taphony and the Time Loop " ) He was at one point a full professor at MIT . ( TV : " The Custodians " ) His early work included the development of the Thought Matrix , a revolutionary robot brain . ( TV : " Robot Gladiators " ) Gryffen moved to London before his role in the Great Cataclysm , a disaster caused by him and other scientists who created a device to cool the Earth . ( TV : " Aeolian " , " The Korven " ) Alistair was married to Eleanor Gryffen and had two children , a daughter , Mina and a son , Jacob . In 2040 , when the family went on holiday , Gryffen stayed behind while his wife and children went on a walk and were lost . ( TV : " The Fall of the House of Gryffen " ) Gryffen never forgave himself . ( TV : " Liberation " ) When the CCPC s were activated in 2048 , Gryffen was moved by the Department to one of the last active police stations in London for his new workplace and home . ( TV : " The Last Precinct " ) He had agoraphobia , a condition that kept him from leaving his home and lab facility . Because of this condition , the Department delivered items of interest for him to investigate . He was also aided in his work by Darius Pike , the son of Harry Pike , a former police officer who used to work in the police station . At some point , Gryffen was awarded the Nobel Prize . ( TV : " The Custodians " ) Meeting K9 Mark 2 . In 2050 , his experiments with a Space - Time Manipulator to bring back his lost loved ones brough the Jixen and K9 Mark I to Earth . After K9 ' s regeneration into his new form , Gryffen worked on him and helped him to save Starkey . ( TV : " Regeneration " ) Gryffen let Starkey stay at the mansion to hide from the Jixen . When the Jixen went to Dauntless Prison , Gryffen monitored K9 as he made his way there . When K9 was disabled by the Department ' s defences , Gryffen reactivated him by making a familiar sound ( the sound of throwing a ball ) . ( TV : " Liberation " ) As he worked on the Space - Time Manipulator for hours on end , Gryffen dreamed of being reunited with his family and the limitless possibilities of time travel . When a Korven from 2618 came through the STM , he kidnapped the Professor to extract his knowledge of a Weather - Control device to convert Earth to Korven standards . Gryffen was saved by K9 and the rest of the gang . Later , he hacked into Starkey ' s Department file using a special encryption code clearing Starkey ' s criminal record . He also gave K9 and Starkey a room in the mansion . ( TV : " The Korven " ) Gryffen tried to restore K9 ' s lost memories . While K9 and Starkey were foiling a Department publicity stunt , Gryffen encountered Ahab , a bounty hunter who had come through the STM . Ahab told him K9 was wanted in the year 50000 for murder of Zanthus Pia , president of the Galactic Peace Assembly . Gryffen feigned ignorance but Ahab ' s voice analyser revealed that Gryffen was lying and he did know about K9 . Ahab saw a news broadcast featuring Inspector Drake of the Department telling the people about a dissident and a " mechanical dog " . Ahab went to the Department for help in tracking down K9 . Gryffen explained to Jorjie , when she asked why K9 was hunted in his new life , that K9 might have a new body but was still the same dog . ( TV : " The Bounty Hunter " ) One night , a trio of non - corporeal lifeforms came through the STM , taking on the appearance of Gryffen ' s lost family , and manipulating him into doing their bidding . Starkey convinced him that he , Darius and Jorjie were like family to him . Gryffen broke free of the apparitions ' control , sending them back through the STM . ( TV : " The Fall of the House of Gryffen " ) When Nehetka and Geb of the Anubian s , a race whom K9 had liberated , arrived on Earth , Gryffen was the first to fall under their hypnotic control . ( TV : " Curse of Anubis " ) An accident in the STM resulted in Jorjie being sent to 23 November 1963 . K9 and Starkey were sent to retrieve her . Gryffen , with June ' s help , was able to bring them back . ( TV : " The Cambridge Spy " ) When Korven agents stole the STM to use it to create a portal for their army to attack Earth , Gryffen overcame his agoraphobia , made his way to their base and shut down the STM , resulting in the device ' s destruction , although it also destroyed all hope of being reunited with his family . ( TV : " The Eclipse of the Korven " ) Personality . Alistair was a classic " absent - minded professor " . His work on the Space - Time Manipulator often took up most of his time . He was a friendly , kind - hearted , trusting individual ; he took in K9 and Starkey . He disliked lying , believing his role as a scientist " the pursuit of truth " . ( TV : " Lost Library of Ukko " ) He often used phrases referencing famous scientists to express shock , such as " Schrödinger ' s cat and kittens " , ( TV : " Oroborus " ) " blood of Pythagoras " , " what the Heisenberg " , ( TV : " Alien Avatar " ) and " Hawking ' s ghost " . ( TV : " The Last Oak Tree " ) Behind the scenes . Even though he is not a character on the parent show , Professor Gryffen is the first major Canadian character of either " Doctor Who " or its spin - offs . The actor who plays him is , likewise , Canadian .