The Long Game ( TV story ) The Long Game was the seventh episode of Series 1 of " Doctor Who " . It was narratively significant for being the first " Doctor Who " story in which a companion was kicked out of the TARDIS for bad behaviour . The rigours of producing this episode were particularly influential to the structuring of the production schedule in following series of the BBC Wales version of " Doctor Who " . Specifically this episode , perhaps more than any other in series 1 , pointed out the utility of double banking . The experience of producing " The Long Game " would lead directly to the introduction of the Doctor - or companion - lite episode that was a consistent structural element of future series . Synopsis . New companion of the Ninth Doctor , Adam Mitchell , takes his first trip in the TARDIS . The ship materialise s in Satellite 5 , a space station that broadcasts across the entire Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire . However , something is amiss : the Empire ' s attitude and technology are backwards , those who are promoted to Floor 500 simply disappear , humanity is possibly being manipulated by the news , and who exactly is the sinister Editor ' s employer ? Plot . The Ninth Doctor , Rose and new companion Adam have travelled forward in time to the year 200 , 000 and land aboard Satellite 5 , a space station in Earth orbit during the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire . Earth in this time period is at its height , covered with megacities , five moon s and a population of 96 billion , the centre of a galactic domain that stretches across a million planet s and species — or , at least , it is supposed to be . They make their way around the station , the Doctor telling Adam that he will enjoy this period as human culture is at its peak , with fine manners and cuisine . When the station comes to life with junk food vendors and people pushing each other around — and no sign of species other than human — the Doctor is puzzled , as this does not quite fit with what he knows of this period ' s history . He decides to investigate , suggesting that Adam and Rose go get something to eat . He uses his sonic screwdriver on a cash point , retrieving a credit stick which he gives to Adam . The Doctor meets Cathica and Suki , who are journalist s aboard Satellite 5 . The Doctor uses his psychic paper on them and poses as management to question them about the station . Cathica sees this as an opportunity to get promoted to management ' s " Floor 500 " , which is rumoured to have walls of gold . She answers the Doctor ' s questions , showing him that Satellite 5 is a news station , broadcasting 600 channels across the Empire . However , they are being observed suspiciously on security monitors by the Editor , a pale man standing in a dark , icy room . He orders a security check to be done . Meanwhile , Adam seems overawed by everything around him and says that he misses his family . Rose lets him use her " superphone " to call his family in the past , and he leaves a message for them on their answering machine . As the Doctor calls them over , Adam gets a thoughtful look on his face and pockets the superphone . The Doctor , Rose and Adam are taken into a room where other reporters sit arranged in a circle around a chair . Cathica sits in the central chair , engages the safety protocols and snaps her fingers , opening a port in the centre of her forehead through which her brain is visible . On her cue , the others press their hands to the panels in front of them and an energy beam spikes down from a hub above , streaming information directly into her brain . Cathica is acting as a processor for the computer systems that broadcast all the news from Satellite 5 , though she will not retain all that information once the link is severed . The Doctor explains that each reporter has a chip in his head as well , which receives the packaged information from Cathica and then transmits it to their separate channels . Adam is amazed at the technology , but the Doctor says that it is the wrong technology ; there is trouble afoot . The Editor ' s security check turns up nothing , but he is unconvinced . A second sweep reveals someone in the newsroom is having unauthorised access to the systems , and isolates the intruder as Suki . Her records have an encrypted , secondary biography attached to them . The Editor terminates the transmission abruptly , and reports obsequiously to something that growls unintelligibly from the ceiling of the control room . The Editor sends a message to the newsroom , saying that Suki has been promoted to Floor 500 . Adam is still feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that he is seeing , and tells Rose he is going to " acclimatise " by himself on the observation deck . Suki says her goodbyes to Cathica and gets on the lift . Cathica does not expect to see her again . Once you go to Floor 500 , you never come back . Floor 500 appears deserted and everything is covered in frost and snow . Wandering around , she is shocked to find a newsroom populated by shrivelled corpses . Following the light streaming in from an open door , she finds the control room and is greeted by the Editor . He displays her records on a holographic screen , and immediately concludes that her life story as given in her job application is a lie — she is actually the last survivor of an anarchist underground group called the Freedom Fifteen . Suki points a gun at the Editor , demanding to know who controls Satellite 5 . The Freedom Foundation has been monitoring the broadcasts and has discovered that the facts are being manipulated and that the system is corrupt . He introduces her to the Editor - in - Chief , up above . The unseen creature is impervious to Suki ' s gunfire , and she screams as it descends towards her . Meanwhile , the Doctor is asking Cathica more questions . She finally realises that the Doctor is not really management and asks him not to get her involved , but the Doctor points out that she ' s a journalist . There have been various vague conflicts and threats from all over the Empire that have somehow resulted in a complete lack of alien immigration aboard , and she has not questioned enough to notice . The Doctor says the Empire is stunted in both its attitudes and its technology . They should be more advanced and enlightened by now — something is holding it back , and has been for the last ninety - one years since Satellite 5 began broadcasting . At the same time , Adam is on the Observation Deck accessing a station terminal and learning information about the future ' s technology . He calls back to the past on the superphone , wanting to leave a message on the answering machine about what he has learned , but after a point , the computer denies him access , directing him to the medical labs on Floor 16 . There , a nurse informs him that he needs a chip to access the system . He can have a small , invisible Type I chip inserted that will give him basic access or the Type II port like Cathica ' s , which will link him fully to the archives . After some hesitation , Adam opts for the second option , using the credit stick the Doctor gave him earlier , which he learns has unlimited credit . While the Doctor accesses the station mainframe , the Editor orders a further check on Rose and the Doctor , discovering that according to Satellite 5 ' s records , neither of them exist . The Doctor and Rose try to convince Cathica that there is something suspicious going on in the station , but Cathica still wants nothing to do with this . The Doctor hacks into the computer , and discovers that something is venting a lot of hot air from the upper levels . The Editor secretly allows the Doctor to get the password key for Floor 500 from the systems and Rose and the Doctor travel up to 500 . There , they find the Editor waiting for them and Suki ' s dead body slaved to the computer systems . The Editor ' s men grab hold of the Doctor and Rose , and the Editor explains that the Empire is not really human — it is just where humans are allowed to live . For the past ninety years , humankind has been controlled and guided by his superior , the monstrous creature known as the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe ( or , as he calls it , " Max " ) and funded by a consortium of banks . By manipulating the news and creating a climate of fear , they have controlled the economy and kept the borders closed ; the human race does not even know that it has been enslaved . Those who suspect the truth are detected because of the chips in their heads , and the Editor gets rid of them . Meanwhile , Cathica has changed her mind , and uses the passkey to go to Floor 500 , where , unseen , she watches the Editor question the Doctor and Rose . The Doctor notices Cathica watching , and audibly observes that the Jagrafess ' s metabolism generates a lot of heat , which is why it needs to be vented from the upper floors . The station is its life support system . Down below , Adam , recovered from the surgery , enters the newsroom and activates his Type II port with the default command : snapping his fingers . He uses Rose ' s superphone to call his parents ' house again , leaving another message which he says will sound like white noise but he will translate later . He calls for the information spike , and begins recording it . Suddenly , the Editor gains the knowledge of who the Doctor is : the last of the Time Lord s , and Rose is his companion . The Doctor tries to deny it , but the Editor shows him Adam accessing the satellite ' s archives — when he did so , the Editor gained access to everything Adam knew . The Editor intends to gain the knowledge in the Doctor ' s head as well as his TARDIS , perhaps even rewriting history to prevent humankind from ever developing . Having heard all this , Cathica goes to the newsroom on Floor 500 , linking up , overriding the safety protocols and severing Adam ' s connection . She reverses the environmental systems , heating the floor up . The Editor tries to terminate Cathica ' s link but she fights back . The entire station shudders , and people start to run around in a panic . Rose gets free of her bonds , using the sonic screwdriver to release the Doctor . As the Jagrafess starts to overheat , the Editor tries to leave , but Suki ' s corpse somehow grabs hold of his foot , stopping him . The Editor screams as the Jagrafess expands above him and explodes . The Doctor and Rose find Cathica in the newsroom . He snaps his fingers and closes her connection port , smiling proudly at her — she used what she knew and what the Doctor told her to defeat the Jagrafess . The Empire ' s development can now get back on track . The Doctor is , however , furious at Adam ' s actions , and returns him to his own time in the TARDIS , at his parents ' house . The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the answering machine inside the building , setting it to overload the device until it explodes , destroying the phone and preventing any evidence of the future from being leaked to the past . The connection port in Adam ' s head , however , is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life — and something he will have to be careful not to reveal lest he be dissected . It will have to be a quiet and ordinary life , as all it takes is a simple snap of the fingers . The Doctor and Rose leave in the TARDIS as Adam ' s mother comes home . Adam ' s mother greets him happily as it has been six months since she saw him last . She muses on how time can pass just like that , snapping her fingers — and her expression changes to horror as the port in Adam ' s head opens . Story notes . Filming locations . " to be added "