Platform One

Platform One was an Alpha Class observation space station designed as an observation deck for various events.

Operation and use
The space station was controlled by a computer, Control, which in turn was controlled by "the corporation". In 5,000,000,000 it was orbiting Earth when some of the richest and most powerful people in the universe gathered on it to witness the destruction of the planet by the expanding Sun. It was moved between different artistic events.

Platform One was capable of berthing several shuttles. It used sun filters to shield it from the heat of the sun and a force field to protect it from the exploding Earth.

The shafts carried hot water, could be blocked and — depending on the area of the blockage — a suite could be left without hot water.

It had a suite called the Manchester Suite. (TV: The End of the World)

Law
The use of teleportation was forbidden on the platform under the Peace Treaty 5.4/cup/16. Weapons and religion were also forbidden on the platform. (TV: The End of the World)

Staff
It was staffed by the Steward and a large maintenance staff. The staff included plumbers to look after the air ducts, including Raffalo. (TV: The End of the World)

History
When the gravity satellites could no longer be funded to hold back the expansion of the sun towards the Earth, an event was held, sponsored by the Face of Boe, for the richest people to observe the destruction of the Earth.

During the event, Lady Cassandra gifted metal spiders through the Adherents of the Repeated Meme to infiltrate Platform One and profit from the compensation from a faked hostage crisis. The Ninth Doctor and Jabe thwarted this plan, so Cassandra fell on her back-up plan: to teleport away and deactivate the protective shielding on Platform One with her spiders, profiting from the shares of the doomed guests' rivals. The Doctor and Jabe rebooted the shields at the cost of Jabe's life, and Cassandra's teleport was reversed, causing her skin graft to break apart due to Cassandra's surgeons not being present to keep her moisturised. (TV: The End of the World) Her brain survived, however. (TV: New Earth)

As the satellite was breaking apart, all of the guests were too busy saving themselves for anyone to witness the Earth's destruction. (TV: The End of the World)