The Preachers were a group of people originating in Pete's World who investigated the true intentions of John Lumic of Cybus Industries and his creation: the Cybermen. They fought in the Battle of Battersea Power Station.
History[]
The Preachers included their leader Ricky Smith, Jake Simmonds and Mrs Moore. (TV: Rise of the Cybermen) Pete Tyler, under the codename Gemini, passed information to them covertly - an accident on his part, as he thought he was passing information to the security services. After Ricky died, his counterpart from the Tenth Doctor's universe, Mickey Smith, took his place. Mrs Moore had also died in the meantime. (TV: The Age of Steel) According to a telling of one source, "ChatGuest1" assumed that the readers of Defending the Earth! knew who the Preachers were, upon being asked. (GAME: Cybus Spy [+]Joseph Lidster, Defending the Earth! (BBC, 2006).)
Arthur King and Charlie Haughton were commanders of the Preachers and helped them to destroy the Cybus factories across the world, sending in soldiers to disable the emotional inhibitors. Jake Simmonds supported King and Haughton by sending them messages. (GAME: Cyber Assault)
When they found out what the Pete's World version of the Torchwood Institute were doing, the People's Republic took control and the Cybermen infiltrated the institute, using the technology to travel to the Doctor's universe. Mickey Smith was the first to follow them, using one of the medallions developed by Torchwood. He infiltrated Torchwood One disguised as a lab technician, and investigated the Void Ship. Mickey incorrectly believed it contained the ultimate Cyberman leader, such as a CyberKing. The Void Ship actually contained the Cult of Skaro. (TV: Army of Ghosts) Jake Simmonds and Pete Tyler soon followed Mickey and the Preachers aided the Doctor in his battle with the Cybermen and Daleks in his universe. In the end, the Preachers returned to their world while the Doctor and Rose Tyler banished the Cybermen and Daleks into the Void. (TV: Doomsday)
Harriet Jones combined the Preachers with Torchwood in order to create UNIT. (AUDIO: The Siege of Big Ben)
Behind the scenes[]
The Preachers' emblem, a circled "P", was seen in the Doctor's universe. It was seen as faded graffiti on rusty bins outside Bernie's flat in Cardiff (TV: Ghost Machine) and inside the Ritz. (TV: Captain Jack Harkness)