The Long Game

162 – "The Long Game"
Doctor Who episode
The Jagrafess looms over the Doctor, Rose, and the Editor. The Jagrafess was intended to look like "a lump of meat on the ceiling" and behave like a shark.
Cast
Doctor Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor)
Companions Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) Bruno Langley (Adam Mitchell)
Others Colin Prockter – Head Chef Christine Adams – Cathica Anna Maxwell-Martin – Suki Simon Pegg – The Editor Tamsin Greig – Nurse Judy Holt – Adam's mother
Production
Directed by	Brian Grant
Written by	Russell T Davies
Script editor	Elwen Rowlands
Produced by	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Mal Young
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Production code	1.7
Series	Series 1
Length	44 minutes
Originally broadcast	7 May 2005
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Dalek" "Father's Day"

"The Long Game" is the seventh episode of the first series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 7 May 2005 on BBC One. It was written by executive producer Russell T Davies and directed by Brian Grant.

In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), having been joined by near-future genius Adam Mitchell (Bruno Langley), land on Satellite 5 in the far future. Satellite 5 is a space station that broadcasts news across the entire human empire. However, the Doctor notices that the station is suspicious: there are no aliens, and those who are promoted to Floor 500 seem to disappear. The Doctor and Rose discover that the Editor (Simon Pegg) and an alien are controlling the rest of humanity by way of the press. Meanwhile, Adam makes a mistake that forces the Doctor and Rose to take him home.

The concept of "The Long Game" was originally submitted by Davies to the Doctor Who script office in the 1980s. Davies had also been interested in doing a storyline about a failed companion. In addition, critics have pointed out that the story is a satire on the media. Production for the episode took place in November and December 2004, with some location filming in Coryton, Cardiff. "The Long Game" was watched by 8.01 million viewers in the UK and received generally mixed reviews from critics.

The Doctor, Rose, and Adam arrive on Floor 139 of Satellite 5, a space station orbiting Earth in the year 200,000. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to get Adam and Rose some credits to buy food while he looks around the station. The Doctor meets a woman named Cathica, a reporter who tells him that the station is a giant broadcast tower transmitting news across Earth. They are led to a room where she sits down in a chair located in the center of a round table. The reporters are connected to the computer via a special port installed directly into the brain. The Doctor believes there is a malevolent purpose to the station that is holding back human development. He learns from Cathica that a select few are invited to Floor 500, which is believed to be the highest promotion that can be earned on the station.