Korky Goldsmith Korky Goldsmith , born Kappaban on the planet Byulna , was one of the original three members of the Common Men . He was known by his band mates for being incredibly generous . He and the other two in the group — also from Byulna — were brought to Earth as part of the selfish schemes of Lenny Kruger , who planned to use their popularity to render himself the most powerful man in Mutter ' s Spiral . Biography . Kappaban came from the Wheel of Contract on Byulna . His father was one of the ambassadors there . As a child , he never got to see anyone except other ambassadors ' kids . Kappaban was kidnapped at a very young age by Lenny Kruger , who brought him to 20th century Earth , where he grew up in Liverpool as Korky Goldsmith inside a flesh suit , thinking himself human . In 1957 , he got together with two other locals , Mark Carville and James O ' Meara , and formed the Common Men . The band was not particularly popular , and — by the suggestion of the Fifth Doctor — became the backing group for Aubrey Waites in 1963 . This new alliance , adopting the name John Smith and the Common Men , became hugely popular within weeks , and quickly rose up to # 2 on the British charts , just below the Beatles . Korky never found out he was an alien . Alternate timeline . In an alternate timeline created by Lenny Kruger , the Common Men became the most popular band in the world in the Beatles ' place . They met Nyssa in 1950s Hamburg , and let her stay in their hotel for a few nights . He was immediately attracted to her , offering to sleep on the floor so that she can get the bed . Soon , though , Nyssa noticed weird patterns on his skin , and , through a blood test , discovered that he wasn ' t human . Together , they tried to track Lenny down so that Nyssa could return to the Fifth Doctor in 1963 . Lenny eventually caught " them " , though , and induced amnesia on him before returning him to his hotel . He never spoke of Nyssa again , because she ' d been erased from his memory . He then encountered the Doctor proper on 31 October 1963 , when he and the boys arrived in London after a plane ride , only to find hundreds of fans screaming for them outside . The Doctor warned them of Lenny walking through the crowd with an impulse laser , and James invited him for a drink . The group met the Time Lord once more in 1967 . They were at the time in a small Welsh town , promised a free private seminar with the guru Paravatar . Paravatar , secretly a retire d time travel ler hypnotised the musicians into revealing their true identities . After waking up , the Common Men were finally approached by Lenny , who quickly became their new manager . According to James , when Korky once wrote a song that Mark refused to work with them on . He separated himself from his band mates after they split up in the late 1960s . By 1970 , he aspired to become an actor instead . Lenny , upset that the group disbanded and James died , further manipulated in time . In yet another timeline , the Common Men got back together . After the Doctor explained the situation to them , they agreed to help pretend that Lenny killed James , thus spreading bad word about him throughout the world . Lenny , soon to die because of this , finally let the Doctor restore the original timeline , and Korky ' s world returned to normal . ( AUDIO : " " )