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Placebo Effect was the first serial of Season 34 of Doctor Who. It was written by Gary Russell, directed by Nicholas Briggs and starred Hugh Bonneville as the Ninth Doctor & Beverley Cressman as Abigail Norwood.

Synopsis[]

It's 3999. An artificial planetoid, Micawber's World, is hosting the Intergalactic Olympic Games, and athletes from all the worlds in the Galactic Federation are coming to take part. But when the Doctor and Abigail arrive, murders soon begin...

The Doctor finds himself drafted in to examine some bizarre new drugs that are said to enhance the natural potential of the competing athletes. But what is their real purpose? Why are members of the Security Forces disappearing randomly? And just why is Chase Carrington, manufacturer of the drug, so protective of his company's secrets?

Watching and waiting, at the very heart of Micawber's World, is a race of parasites the Doctor has fought before. The Wirrn have come to the Milky Way from Andromeda, determined to spread their seed throughout a whole new galaxy, and it seems to Abigail that the Doctor's hands are too full to pay their threat full attention...

Plot[]

To be added.

Cast[]

  • The Doctor - Hugh Bonneville
  • Abigail Norwood - Beverley Cressman
  • Kyle Dale - To be added.
  • Stacy Townsend - To be added.
  • Ssard - To be added.
  • Susan Dallion - To be added.
  • Chase Carrington - To be added.
  • Susan Dallion - To be added.
  • Duchess of Auckland - To be added.
  • Green Fingers - To be added.
  • Lukas - To be added.
  • Miles Mason - To be added.
  • Ritchie - To be added.
  • Sox - To be added.
  • Sumner - To be added.
  • Torin Chalfont - To be added.
  • Madox - To be added.
  • Jolyon Tuck - To be added.
  • Phillipa Iley - To be added.
  • Jean-Paul Cartwright - To be added.
  • Ed Salt - To be added.

Crew[]

To be added.

Worldbuilding[]

Organisations[]

  • There have been terrorist threats from Galaxy 5 and the Free Rasta VI.
  • Susan Dallion is Quartermaster Sergeant in the Space Security Service.

Planets[]

  • Livista, Tyrexus, the Phylox system, Coscos, Salostopus, the rimworlds of Golos and Vysp are all part of the Andromedan Galaxy.
  • Earth is the centre of the Galactic Federation.
  • Terrorists and criminals are imprisoned on the planet Desperus.
  • Liasici was destroyed in a war "years ago" by the Argolin.
  • Abigail mentions Mu Camelopides moon.
  • Kolpasha is the Fashion capital of the Federation.
  • Stacy Townsend is working in an office on the planet Antares.
  • Ssard works at the Martian Commission on Io.
  • Iota 9 is a small colony world on the other side of Sauron.

Religion[]

  • The Church of the Way Forward does not approve of inter-species breeding.

Species[]

  • The Foamasi can fit into human sized bodies despite their size.
  • Jadeans are genetically engineered, and cannot have their minds read by telepaths.
  • The Teknix are a cloned species, bald and very efficient.
  • The Foamasi Ambassador says he works for Martians, Pakhars, humans, Cantryans, Chelonians, the Tzun, Lurmans, and Vegans, but won't work with the Daleks.
  • Cows have been exported all over the galaxy.
  • Security officer Gar is a V'orrn.
  • Other species mentioned include Doradan, Hiind, Morrain, Parad and Saurian.
  • Morogs are squat humanoids from Pindant.

Notes[]

To be added.

Continuity[]

  • There are notes pertaining to the Seventh Doctor in the Galactic Federation database referring to Peladon, the Ancient Diadem and the planet Pakhar - events shown in TV: Legacy.
  • The Wirrn first appeared in TV: The Ark in Space.
  • The Foamasi first appeared in TV: The Leisure Hive.
  • The Doctor states, "I've never had a faith, as such. I had a House. (TV: Lungbarrow) And a birthsign. (TV: The Creature from the Pit) And a Chapter to be loyal to." (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
  • The Doctor states he saw the birth of mankind as single celled amoeba, which is probably TV: City of Death.
  • The Galactic Federation, Space Security Service and Guardian of the Solar System all first appeared in TV: The Daleks' Master Plan.
  • The Doctor mentions Victoria and Tegan as previous companions.
  • Doctor Mason sees several species at the Games which first appeared in The Dr Who Annual 1969 stories. He sees Saurians from Lords of the Galaxy, a species with red rooster combs on their heads from Valley of Dragons, Morogs and Cogwegs from World of Ice, and Hiinds as mentioned in Death to Mufl.

Home video releases[]

VHS[]

  • This story was first released on VHS.

DVD[]

  • This story along with the other stories in Season 34 were released as Doctor Who: The Complete Thirty-Fourth Season in 2006.

Blu-ray[]

  • This story along with the other stories in Season 34 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 34 in the UK.
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