The Wire

The Wire was first seen in The Idiot's Lantern (Series 2 : Episode 7) after escaping to Earth in 1953 following a sentence of execution for crimes on its home planet, Hermethica. Following its execution by its own people, the Wire managed to survive as an energy being and escaped through the communications device being used to illegally record the execution by one of its executors. Concealing itself in television signals, the Wire transferred itself from set to set, feeding of the mental signals of human brains, paralysing them and sucking out their energy with electrical tendrils. This process would leave the victim faceless as well as mindless, though the victims consciousness remained intact, as seen when the Wire showed the Tenth Doctor a selection of its victims on the television sets in Magpie's shop. When conversing with other beings, the Wire took on the image of a female BBC continuity announcer and hoped to use the energy it fed on to manifest itself a corporeal form once more.

The Wire using an image of a BBC Continuity Announcer in The Idiot's Lantern

When the Wire managed to get near Magpie, it stole his face as he owned the electrical shop, Magpie Electricals. It gave Magpie back his face on the condition that he worked for it, doing as it bid. Under the Wires command, Magpie built a portable television, small enough to be carried in one hand, as well as sold cheap television sets in the North London area prior to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second. In return, the Wire promised Magpie freedom after the completion of its plan. The second phase needed Magpie to connect the Wire to the television transmission tower at Alexandra Palace on June 2nd, 1953. When connected to the tower, the Wire could transmit itself to the three million estimated viewers of the coronation watching in the vicinity as well was transmit back energy that it could then use to re-constitute its corporeal body. However, the Tenth Doctor, with the help of Tommy, managed to trap the Wire on a homemade makeshift video recorder using a Betamax tap. The Wire's victims were then restored to their normal selves, including the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler. The Doctor appeared confident that the Wire would remain trapped on the Betamax tape, but he said that he would tape over it just to be on the safe side.