The Scorchies were a species that had no form of their own but took the form of puppets that arrived on planets to destroy or enslave their populations.
Biology
After their bodies were destroyed, the Scorchies were left as incorporeal beings. The Scorchies then inhabited puppets. (AUDIO: The Scorchies)
The Scorchies naturally generated a psychic induction field, which forced those around them to sing. (AUDIO: Comeback of the Scorchies, Encore of the Scorchies)
Scorchies fed on emotion to survive. Some Scorchies lived on joy from their performances, (AUDIO: Encore of the Scorchies) while others fed on negative emotions such as disappointment and fear. (AUDIO: Comeback of the Scorchies)
They had the ability to turn other lifeforms into Scorchies. (AUDIO: Comeback of the Scorchies)
History
The Scorchies were not always known as "Scorchies". Before they were turned into puppets, they were ordinary life forms. The path to becoming Scorchies began when an inventor who would later be known as Professor Baffle invented television, which quickly became very popular Among his people. When their planet was invaded by aliens, the people were too glued to their TVs to stop the invaders. They quickly turned to Professor Baffle for a way to save themselves. He made a device to let them escape to another planet using television waves, but he got the compression algorithm wrong and they were left without bodies.
The Scorchies then divided into at least three distinct groups. The most infamous of these was a group led by Mr Grizzfizzle. Taking their revenge on the universe, they toured The Scorchies Show around the universe, hypnotising planets and then burning them. These actions led to the entire race of puppets being known as "Scorchies". (AUDIO: The Scorchies)
Another group of Scorchies were led by Maggie. They hired bad musicians to perform concerts and fed off the disappointment of the audience. Iris Wildthyme once signed an exclusive contract with them. (AUDIO: Comeback of the Scorchies)
A third group of Scorchies wanted to get their bodies back. (AUDIO: Encore of the Scorchies)
In either his first or second incarnation, the Doctor landed on a planet which was being invaded through the television by Mr Grizzfizzle's Scorchies. (AUDIO: The Scorchies)
Invasions of Earth
After landing on Earth in the 1890s, two of the Scorchies that wanted regain bodies called Mister and Missus stole bodies from humans. This enabled them to live like ordinary people, but they soon realised they needed a lot of mental energy to maintain and utilise their bodies. (AUDIO: Encore of the Scorchies)
In December 1894, they approached Henry Gordon Jago and impressed him with their singing. (AUDIO: The Wax Princess) For the next few weeks, the held nightly performances at the New Regency Theatre. They tried to hypnotise hundreds of audiences in New Regency Theatre to use them as source of mental energy for Mister and Missus. But when Jago and Litefoot figured out their plan, Ellie Higson burned the scorchies with fire. (AUDIO: Encore of the Scorchies)
There were automata of scorchies in Carruthers Summerton's Museum of Curiosities, in memory of this adventure. (AUDIO: The Museum of Curiosities)
The Third Doctor and Jo Grant later encountered Mr Grizzfizzle's Scorchies on Earth, eventually defeating them and sending their consciousnesses back into space. (AUDIO: The Scorchies)
In 2015, Iris Wildthyme and Edwin Turner encountered Maggie and her Magic Mice in Margate after a Brian Bonamy concert. They offered Brian fame. (AUDIO: Comeback of the Scorchies)