Bannermen The Bannermen were a humanoid criminal group led by Gavrok . They waged a genocidal war against the Chimeron s that led them into confrontation with the Seventh Doctor . Biology . While it is unclear what species the Bannermen were , they were humanoid figures with increased strength who were able to smash equipment , and had purplish blood ; Arrex , however , commented that a car was a primitive mode of transport only fit " for a humanoid , " implying Bannermen were something else . Gavrok was known to have earned his reputation in " a few short aeon s , " though whether that was through time travel or long lifespan s was uncertain . ( PROSE : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) Culture . The Bannermen were so - called because many of their shock troops wore red and black triangular banners , the insignia of their empire , along with their black , uniform jumpsuits , helmets or hats , and red - slit glasses . Gavrok believed that showing mercy was a sign of weakness , ( PROSE : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) and when cheering in victory , Bannermen would stick their tongues out and hiss . ( TV : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) Technology . The Bannermen ' s primary weapons were guns with various settings , including small projectiles akin to bullets , flares , and violently explosive projectiles . They used high - impulse beams to detonate devices such as radio transmitter s , ionising the victim . They also made use of booby traps like sonic cone s . The Bannermen Warfleet was composed of large , three - engined cruisers or fighters . Their scanners could search for high - level technology , and were capable of time travel . ( TV : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) History . The Bannermen existed outside of the Mutter ' s Spiral some time after 1959 . After polluting the rivers and atmosphere of their own world , ( PROSE : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) the Bannermen attacked Chumeria in an attempt to take it from the Chimeron s who were unaccustomed to war . They killed everyone except for Delta , the last Chimeron Queen , who escaped with an egg . They followed her to toll port G715 , where she evaded them by boarding a Nostalgia Tours bus headed for Disneyland , Earth , 1959 . Gavrok put a price of one million units for information about the Queen . A bounty hunter on the bus contacted Gavrok when it crash - landed in the Shangri - La camp in Wales , only to be killed with a high - impulse beam after the Bannermen locked onto his signal . They scanned the area for high technology and located the camp , slaughtering the entire Navarino tour craft in the belief Delta was on board . When that failed , they held Melanie Bush and camp director Burton as " bait " for the Seventh Doctor and Delta . The Doctor and Gavrok faced off after the latter ignored a white flag of truce , unconcerned at the threat of facing trial and justice , believing the Doctor could not defeat him . He was then allowed to leave with his friends , in order to lead the Bannermen to Delta ' s hideout , with a sonic cone device placed around the TARDIS to atomise the Doctor should he attempt to escape . However , the Doctor found and removed their tracking device and rigged the former hideout : setting a trap , the Bannermen fell into honey and attracted Goronwy ' s bee s to attack them . The Bannermen re - organised and moved to attack the camp , but by this point the maturing Chimeron princess used her attack singing to send them into disarray , causing Gavrok to fall within the perimeter of the sonic cone . The remaining Bannermen were taken prisoner aboard their own ship , commandeered by Delta , the Princess , and Billy who would help to rebuild the Chimeron race after reaching the brood planet . ( TV : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) After dropping Delta and the Princess off , Billy took the Bannermen to the galactic prison star to await trial , while the Bannermen had already decided , since they were leaderless without Gavrok , that if they did get a chance to redeem themselves they would start a looming circle and weave blankets . ( PROSE : " Delta and the Bannermen " ) Other realities . In a parallel universe in which Britain was a fascist state known as the Republic of Great Britain , two of the Bannermen spacecraft were captured by the Republican Security Forces and mined for technology by the British government , allowing them to enhance two experimental space shuttles with gravity - control and a much faster drive . ( PROSE : " The Face of the Enemy " )