Vardan

The Vardans were a telepathic race with the ability to mentally travel along any form of broadcast wavelength, even thought.

Physical characteristics
A humanoid race, the Vardans were able to manifest without their humanoid forms in an electronic "cloudform" that appeared as a shimmering, man-sized cloud of light with tendrils. In this form, an energy fired at them would be reflected directly back. When materialised, their helmets and uniforms were beige and green.

They were also telepathic, but this had limits. Lead acted as a shield to their telepathic powers; otherwise they could "broadcast" themselves, travelling from place to place at will. (TV: The Invasion of Time) They were independent but all Vardans could be affected by a single act, such as being drawn into a time loop or a standing wave. They could travel down telephone lines and cables, and could also communicate with each other over long distances. While they could travel at light speed as a beam, (PROSE: No Future, Return of the Living Dad) they still used spacecraft since lightspeed travel would use up the energy they were composed of. (TV: The Invasion of Time, AUDIO: The First Wave)

A Vardan could kill with an electrical charge, and could take over a human and absorb their memories and personality. They can also tailor the appearance of their humanoid forms to suit their needs, allowing them to impersonate humans. (PROSE: No Future) They could absorb the data within a mind, either killing the individual or transforming them into a Vardan. A Vardan's energy could be unravelled, causing them to fall apart unless they returned to Varda. If they attempted to materialise to survive they would appear as a transparent humanoid. (AUDIO: The First Wave)

Culture
The Vardans put great emphasis on discipline and judged other races by their lack of it. For their invasion of Gallifrey they needed papers of surrender to be signed. For the purposes of survival, they remained in their cloudforms until they were certain a place was safe, after which they would manifest in their natural humanoid forms. (TV: The Invasion of Time) They were a militaristic race with a very spartan society. They lived by the principles of martial meditation and survival of the very fittest. Genetic rejects and weaker individuals were left to die. The race, or at least the Army, was run by Vardan High Command. Some Vardans had a sympathetic attitude and wished to end the military. They tended to ally themselves with other races or individuals. (PROSE: No Future) They were also obsessed with obtaining data. (AUDIO: The First Wave)

Technology
The Vardans made use of starships for travel. In addition, they utilised the Mediasphere, a sort of "easy access" Land of Fiction made from the same technology. Though they didn't create it, they could live there to enter the subconscious of other races. (PROSE: No Future)

History
At some point, there was a Vardan Civil War. (PROSE: No Future)

The Vardans became aware of Earth once they began receiving the radio and television signals that were beamed out. Attracted by this, they planned an invasion of Earth around Steven Taylor's time (long after the 22nd century but long before the 41st century), before they were repelled by the First Doctor. Entering his mind, they learned of time travel and nearly grasped the location of his home planet, gaining only the first few co-ordinates. (AUDIO: The First Wave)

They later contacted the Fourth Doctor to ask him to assist them in taking over Gallifrey, the home planet of the Time Lords. The Doctor nominated himself, and was elected Lord President before he could trick the Vardans into materialising in their humanoid form. Once they had, K9 was able to identify their home, Varda, and place it in a time loop. Immediately, Gallifrey was invaded by Sontarans who had used the Vardans so that they themselves could invade when a hole appeared in the transduction barriers. (TV: The Invasion of Time)

Bernice Summerfield, and possibly others of the 26th century, laughed at the Vardans for being the only race to have ever been outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans.

The Monk used Artemis the Chronovore to release Varda from the time loop that kept them reliving the same few seconds. Very grateful, the Vardans allied with the Monk to invade Earth in 1976 by inhabiting electronic media through the Mediasphere. This affected humans with aggression and lead to increased anarchism and terrorism. The Monk planned to broadcast a pop concert to a billion viewers, allowing Vardans to beam directly into humans and take them over. This invasion was defeated by the Seventh Doctor, who trapped their Army in a standing wave between a satellite and a station antennae before beaming them back to Varda. (PROSE: No Future) At least one refugee Vardan remained peacefully on Earth after the invasion. (PROSE: Return of the Living Dad)


 * According to this timeline, the Vardans invaded Gallifrey and became time looped between the 22nd and 26th century, meaning their 1976 invasion involved time travel. So when the Doctor beamed them back to Varda they were still in the past, unless their lightspeed travel returned them to their own time.

Behind the scenes
For the 2008 release of The Invasion of Time on DVD, 2|entertain produced a new effect for the Vardans' intermediate form.