The Custodians ( TV story ) The Custodians was the ninteenth episode of series 1 of " K9 " . It focused heavily on June Turner . Synopsis . " Little Green Men " is a new virtual reality game sweeping the nation , the brainchild of a company with designs on taking over the youth of the world . The game has a hidden secret : a link to a strange telepathic alien who turns human s into his own kind . K9 , Starkey and June race to save Darius and Jorjie from being turned into scaly , green creatures . Gryffen tries to save the youngsters as their condition worsens . Plot . At Gryffen House , Jorjie opens up her new VR game , Little Green Men , with its distinctive headphones . In the Department Mobile HQ , June listens to news of panic spreading around the country . The emergency services are swamped . The city is in chaos and huge queues are building up , making it impossible for emergency vehicles to reach the hospitals . June phones Gryffen , asking for the location of Jorjie and the boys . Gryffen tells June that Jorjie is doing her homework but goes to look for her when June asks him to . Gryffen walks in on Jorjie playing and says her mother wants her . She doesn ' t respond . He calls June and tells her to come by immediately . Gryffen tries to take the headset off , but thorns spring out and cut him . Gryffen then goes looking for Darius and finds him in Mariah with the same headset as Jorjie . He tries to remove Darius ' headset and thorns also spring out and cut him . Gryffen carries Darius in to the chess room and meets June there . K9 arrives with Starkey , who is fine . K9 scans Jorjie and Darius . They have strong vital signs and no tissue damage . Gryffen asks Starkey about the game . It ' s a networked virtual reality game and all the kids are mad about it . Gryffen warns what is happening to Jorjie and Darius could be happening to all the children playing it . K9 detects that out of the twenty - one million calls to the emergency services in the last thirty minutes , twenty million feature the keywords ' son ' , ' daughter ' , ' Little Green Men ' and ' VR Game ' . Twenty million children have been infected . K9 detects that the signal to the headsets weakens and June pulls the headsets off . Darius and Jorjie act as if their minds have been wiped clean . A signal is being transmitted by the game , disrupting their neural processes . K9 ' s database of twenty - two million systems of transmission from nine thousand worlds across ten thousand centuries doesn ' t include this one , so , he reasons , it must not exist . If it existed , the transmission would be of such power and sophistication its creator could not be unknown to him . June finds the game is made by Greenroom Entertainment . K9 , Starkey and June go to investigate . At Greenroom headquarters , they are told Senior Vice - President John is unavailable . June says she is from the Department and the doors open . Starkey recognises a tape of John as a Custodian . June warns he has thirty seconds until K9 levels the building . K9 announces his Doomsday weapon is online , and Armageddon mode is activated . John gives in and they go to the lift . June asks Starkey about the Custodians . They run juvenile detention centres and he was strapped to their VR education system . John tells them Greenroom Entertainment is aware of the situation and is working to resolve the problem ; normal programming will resume shortly . K9 detects an alien and goes to investigate . Starkey follows him . At Gryffen House , Jorjie ' s arm is turning green and lumpy . Gryffen contacts June , who tells John they have to go to level three and shut the signal broadcast down . Thorne arrives . Little Green Men is John ' s creation . K9 and Starkey spot an alien in a chair . K9 cannot identify it from his memory banks ; logically it shouldn ' t exist . Starkey asks if it ' s extinct . K9 says that the thought hadn ' t occurred to him . K9 has Gryffen examine one of the headsets for glitches . K9 tells Starkey he thinks he knows how the signal is delivered . The alien is an Etydion , the most powerful telepathic race ever . K9 didn ' t scan for a neural signal ; it was not known there was a living Etydion in the universe . K9 explains the Etydions willingly sold themselves and were once the most valuable commodity in the universe . With an Etydion in an armada , it could broadcast a wave of fear so intense the opposing army would drop their weapons and flee . The vanquished and conquered banded together to vaporise the Etydion homeworld . The Etydion has to be tied up . Etydions are receivers as well as transmitters ; if they transmit nothing , they have to be completely cut off from their senses . Gryffen contacts K9 . He has found a low level emitter in the middle digit of the claw attached to unidentified alien DNA . K9 tells him it is Etydion DNA to amplify the telepathic signal . Starkey receives a signal in his brain from the Etydion . The light goes on and Starkey and K9 hide . Thorne shows June the Etydion on the screen . June warns Thorne that anyone found abducting aliens , sheltering or harvesting secrets about technology from an extra - terrestrial can be tried and convicted secretly by the Department . John tells her he wasn ' t abducted . He offered himself to them . He was given the home he wanted . In gratitude , the Etydion gave Greenroom Entertainment a means to reach an audience they never dreamt possible . The target audience is children , the future . The VR games are clearly the first step in reaching them : a networked virtual reality broadcast , coupled with a mild telepathic signal to draw and hold the audience . This will produce the kind of children every educator and every parent wants : good children . Thorne tells June good and quiet children make good and quiet citizens . John signals the Etydion . Thorne tells June it ' s what they have been working for , a population that will be happy , content and untroubled . June protests that the children won ' t be able to think . Thorne calls it an " overrated pastime " . Despite K9 ' s warnings , Starkey decides to show himself and is followed by K9 . K9 tells the Etydion to release Starkey after Starkey is hypnotised . June is contacted by Gryffen , who tells her he ' s losing Jorjie and Darius . He says that this is far bigger than an invasion . They are being changed on a cellular level . Despite Gryffen ' s warning , she insists he shows her , breaking her heart . She shows Thorne what his broadcast is doing . Thorne gives in and tells John to shut the transmission down . When John doesn ' t comply , Thorne orders him . John asks him for the magic word and Thorne threatens him with violence . He tells Thorne and June he wants fifty million credits to end the transmission . He tells them to remember he is the only one who knows how the transmission works . Thorne refuses to give in since the Department will be bankrupt if he authorises the transfer . June explains the Department will not be needed if there is no human population to protect . She begs him to save Jorjie . As Gryffen returns to the chess room he finds the mutation has progressed . The children ' s skins have become greener and they are growing spines . Thorne gives in and announces the credits will be transferred once the transmission ends . When John delays , Thorne and June demand he ends the transmission immediately . He tells them he ' s trying to but something is wrong and the creature won ' t respond . K9 detects a massive neurological surge . Starkey , under the Etydion ' s hypnosis , pulls the wires connecting it . Now John has no control . John doesn ' t understand what ' s happening , but June does . He has been outsmarted ; the Etydion was tricking him . Neither John or Thorne were in control . As June goes to the presentation room , Thorne tells John he ' ll see his containment sectors from the inside . K9 tells the Etydion to free Starkey , who is no threat . K9 is a threat if Starkey is harmed . The Etydion releases him as June and Thorne arrive . K9 tells them the Etydion is irreplaceable as it is the last of its species . June tells Thorne he has to destroy it . K9 tells them the Etydion plans to make Earth its new home and populate it with its own kind . He is using the DNA in the headsets to amplify the signal . Thorne prepares to take action but the Etydion uses its mental powers and knocks him out . June tries to kill it , but is affected as well . K9 tells him his determination is threatening lives and he has no choice but to stop him . Starkey shoots K9 and disables him . June gets back up and K9 warns her not to use the weapon . He won ' t be able to protect her . She shows Jorjie to the Etydion and begs him not to take her away from her . Gryffen contacts June , telling her the alien DNA has stopped spreading . K9 explains the Etydion is a receiver and transmitter of emotions and is receiving very strongly . Darius and Jorjie return to normal as the Etydion dies . Gryffen contacts June and shows her Jorjie , restored to normal . 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 :