Set somewhere, somewhen, The Doctor encounters a civilization which parallels Orwell’s “1984.” All decisions are made by the Registers. All control is given to the Processor. All in the name of community “well-being.” “The Processor knows what’s best for me.” Retro thoughts such as individualism and freedom are purged as counterproductive. Those who do not fall into line are deleted. Of course, none of this would be acceptable to a Time Lord who laughs in the face of authority. Yes, the world created is indeed a paradise. Nature in all its splendor. A community which knows no war or poverty. An ecosystem untouched by man’s polluted hand. But at what price? So controlled is the population that even the amount of oxygen consumed per person is regulated. Mating is by predetermined selection. Fun is an unknown word. And when the Doctor is mistaken as an important Program Verifier, he becomes caught up in a system so rigid that those who can not adapt are erased. Only a band of retros living in the undercity provide hope to a populace which knows no thought. Retros who live off the rats and perhaps each other as they struggle to survive. Can the Doctor unite them against the Processor?

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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