The 2024 Doctor Who Christmas Special marks the return of an iconic villain. The episode, Joy to the World, pits the Fifteenth Time Lord against one of his most formidable opponents: the Villengard.
However, Villengard is not a villainous person or a group; instead, it is a planet. Situated at the center of the universe, the planet harbors several weapon factories that benefit from wars. Instead of supplying arms and weapons for defense, the planet promotes wars for profitability.
In the Doctor Who Christmas Special, Villengard is at the center of the narrative. The factories have decided to plant a star seed in the Earth’s past, which could lead to the destruction of all life. The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, then takes it upon himself to fight Villengard's evil motives and save Earth.
Villengard is a planet harboring weapon factories in Doctor Who
The Villengard planet is located at the center of the universe and is infamous for its massive weapons factories, called the ‘Nightmare of the Seven Galaxies.’ These factories make powerful arms like sonic blasters, as seen in earlier episodes of Doctor Who.
The planet's strategy is not to win wars but to keep them going to make more money. Villengard has gone through some massive changes over time. During the Last Great Time War, the War Doctor teamed up with Dorium Maldovar to stop the Daleks from taking control of Villengard’s factories.
Using a special bomb, the Doctor turned the entire weapons facility into banana groves. This became a running joke later in the series, with the Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, telling people to carry bananas instead of weapons.
Despite the destruction of its factories, Villengard did not disappear. Steven Moffat, the former showrunner and the writer of Joy to the World, has brought the planet back in several stories.
In the first season of the revival series, Villengard’s weapons were mentioned in the episode The Doctor Dances when the Ninth Doctor spotted Captain Jack’s sonic blaster.
Later, in the 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time, the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, visited Villengard’s ruins, where Rusty had set up a base. Villengard’s darker side was then explored in the season 14 episode Boom.
It was revealed that Villengard’s powerful computer algorithm decided who lived and died during battles and tricked armies into endless fighting for profit. The Fifteenth Doctor then once again has a run-in with the planet in the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas Special.
Villengard’s role in the Doctor Who Christmas Special
In the 2024 Doctor Who Christmas Special, Villengard poses a major threat to Earth with its star seed project. The seed is supposed to grow into a powerful energy source but is extremely dangerous, as if it becomes unstable, it can destroy Earth.
Villengard plans to plant the seed millions of years in the past using the Time Hotel so it can grow throughout Earth’s history. The Doctor learns about the plan when a Villengard briefcase begins controlling people’s minds.
The Doctor and Joy Almondo, a grieving hotel guest, then try to stop the seed and protect Earth. Episode writer Steven Moffat talked about how he frequently incorporates Villengard in his stories in an interview with TVLine.
The writer said:
“Villengard was in my very first story and when I was writing what I thought was going to be the last one I ever did, which was Peter Capaldi’s last episode, I put Villengard in again. I thought, right, that’s some kind of bookend.”
“So I thought then I thought, well, I’m writing, ‘Boom,’ I better stick Villengard in again. Then Russell gets me to do Christmas, I think, oh well, Villengard in again. So it’s solid Villengard to the end of time now I think.”
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Doctor Who: Joy to the World is now streaming on Disney+.
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