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 father Bill is detected with Parkinson's, his medication gives him a brand-new lease of life. He begins ticking things off his retired person container list - taking a trip, skydiving, golf.


But then Freddie notices that his previously sensible dad has begun acting unusually.


BBC Investigations correspondent Noel Titheradge has spent more than a year speaking with people whose behaviour changed drastically after taking a classification of prescription drugs called dopamine agonists.


These drugs increase dopamine activity in the they were prescribed more than 1.5 million times in the UK last year to treat Parkinson's illness and other motion conditions.


But they have well recognized negative effects - around 1 in 6 individuals who take them develop impulse control conditions, which can consist of hypersexuality, binge eating, compulsive gambling and shopping.


If these side effects have been understood about for decades, why weren't some clients and their households effectively alerted or monitored?