Series 1 (2005)
Episode title: The Long GameFeaturing: Ninth Doctor
Companions: Rose Tyler
First shown: 7th May 2005
Related articles: Jagrafess
Guide: In the year 200,000 the Doctor, Rose and Adam land on a space station orbiting Earth during the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Only, it isn’t the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, as the Doctor notices that activities on board the space station are inconsistent with the future that he knows should be happening. The Doctor decides to investigate the situation and uses his psychic paper to pose as management of the space station, Satellite 5. He meets Cathica and Suki, journalists on board Satellite 5 who tell the Doctor that the station broadcasts 600 news channels across the Empire. They also tell him that they hope to be promoted to management level on Floor 500 at some point. Meanwhile, Rose and Adam investigate food stalls around the TARDIS, but Adam becomes overwhelmed at the new experiences. Rose lends him her superphone to phone home. In a dark, icy room however, the Editor observes the trio through security cameras.
The Doctor, Rose and Adam are invited to watch a broadcasting session with Cathica and Suki. In the broadcasting room, Cathica opens a port on her forehead to process information directly into her brain before transferring it to chips in the other journalist’s brains. While Adam is amazed at the technology, the Doctor notes that humans should have surpassed it by now, while the Editor recognises Suki as an unauthorised presence in the room and promotes her to Floor 500. Suki says her goodbyes to the group as those who go up to Floor 500 are never seen again. Up on Floor 500, Suki is confronted by the Editor who exposes her as a member of the Freedom Foundation. Suki holds the Editor at gunpoint, demanding to know who is in charge and who is manipulating the news broadcast to the Empire. The Editor says he is but a humble slave to the Editor-in-Chief, who descends upon a screaming Suki.
Adam recovers his thoughts in an observation room, but then accesses a computer to gain information about the future, which he then stores on his home phones answer machine using Rose’s superphone. The computer limits his access and directs him to Floor 16, the medical facility where he could have a port similar to Cathica’s which would allow him access to the archives. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose try to get more information out of Cathica, but she just gives vague answers. The Doctor works out that something is holding the human race back both in technology and attitude, so he hacks into the computer systems and finds that all the heat from Floor 500 is being vented to the lower levels. Although the Editor is aware of the Doctor’s actions, he allows him to access the password to Floor 500, where he and Rose then go. Up on Floor 500, the Doctor and Rose encounter the Editor and Suki’s dead body, along with the bodies of everyone else who were used as slaves to keep the computer systems running on Floor 500. The Editor explains that through the use of Satellite 5, he and the Editor-in-Chief have been able to change the human Empire into one where humans are allowed to live by manipulating the news to install fear across the Empire. These actions have been helped by a consortium of banks along with the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (or Max, for short), who hangs above their heads.
Cathica changed her mind about going to Floor 500 and had followed the Doctor up, and listens in on the conversation between the Doctor and the Editor unobserved. The Doctor makes it known that the Jagrafess’ metabolism generates a lot of heat which is why the heat is vented to lower floors of the space station. Meanwhile, Adam has the port installed and tries to send information through it to his answer phone back home. The Editor is made aware of this and learns of the TARDIS through Adam’s mind. He decides to try and steal the secret to time travel from the Doctor when Cathica uses her link to sever Adam’s connection and reverse the vents, causing all of the heat to rise into Floor 500. As the Jagrafess overheats, the Doctor and Rose escape while the Editor tries to stop Cathica, but fails. Cathica then escapes and the Editor also tries but is held back by Suki’s corpse and ends up getting caught in the explosion of the Jagrafess. Back down on lower levels, the Doctor congratulates and thanks Cathica but is furious at Adam. He takes Adam home and bans him from the TARDIS after destroying his answer phone. He also says that Adam will now have to live a quiet life to hide the port in his head before he and Rose leave. Adam’s mother than comes home and is surprised to find her son also home. She remarks about how time flies and he comes and goes, snapping her fingers as she does so and causing the port in Adam’s head to open, which she stares at in horror.