The Tardis lands on Pluto in the far future. Instead of being a lifeless rock, there's scented air, massive buildings, six suns, a human population subjugated by crippling taxes from a government called "The Company," and a man about to commit suicide.

The merciless Collector, who runs The Company, issues a bounty on the Doctor for his capture, while an already captured Leela is sentenced to public execution, via a steamer, for crimes against the company.