Early in 2025, BBC Investigations Correspondent Noel Titheradge published his first story about a category of prescription drug with unusual side effects.

People who take dopamine agonist drugs for conditions like Parkinson’s disease or Restless Legs Syndrome often report impulse control disorders - problems with gambling, compulsive eating or shopping, or hypersexuality.

He wasn’t expecting the response. After that first article was published more than 200 people got in touch - that’s me, they said, that’s my partner, that’s my dad.

So Noel started digging.

Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.

Andrew Malkinson’s wrongful conviction of a brutal rape in 2003 has been recognised as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK history. He’s angry and says the criminal justice and appeal systems let him down. Now that the right man has been convicted, he wants answers, and reform. So why did he spend all those years in prison while the perpetrator remained free? And what does his case tell us about the justice system that failed him? In Shadow World: Stolen Years, filmmaker and journalist Jemma Gander (co-director of The Wrong Man: 17 Years Behind Bars) follows the next chapter of this extraordinary case. As Andrew tries to rebuild his life, fresh questions emerge about the role of the police, the courts, and the institutions that failed him. “You don’t know what you’re capable of withstanding until you are forced to. But it’s just horrific”. Twenty three years later, a man is found guilty of the crime Andrew Malkinson was falsely accused of.

Impulse control disorders are a common side effect of dopamine agonist drugs - it’s generally accepted that they will affect around 1 in 6 people taking these drugs for Parkinson’s.

So why are these side effects so hard to talk about? How can people get past their guilt and shame to access the support they need?

And if subtle changes in the activity of chemicals in our brain can cause us to behave so differently - what is personality?

Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor.

Presenter: Noel Titheradge Producer: Lucy Burns Editor: Matt Willis A BBC News Long Form Audio production