1. Warning Signs

2. Wonder drugs


3. Dopamine Hits


4. Big Pharma, Big Secret


5. Restless


6. Chasing Losses


16 February 2026


When Freddie's daddy Bill is detected with Parkinson's, his medication offers him a new lease of life. He starts ticking things off his retiree container list - travelling, sky diving, golf.


But then Freddie notifications that his formerly sensible father has begun behaving abnormally.


BBC Investigations reporter Noel Titheradge has actually invested more than a year speaking to people whose behaviour changed radically after taking a category of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists.


These drugs activity in the brain - they were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK in 2015 to deal with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.


But they have well recognized side effects - around 1 in 6 people who take them establish impulse control disorders, which can consist of hypersexuality, binge consuming, compulsive gambling and shopping.


If these adverse effects have been learnt about for years, why weren't some patients and their households properly alerted or kept an eye on?