Doctor Who's Villengard Explained: Who Is The Doctor's "Old Enemy?"

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas special, "Joy to the World."every actor to play the Doctor has had a run-in with Villengard, the show's timeline strongly suggests that the Time Lord has been at odds with the villainous body for a very long time. In the real world, 2024 marked a huge upturn in how prominent Villengard had become in the saga.

After first being mentioned at the beginning of Doctor Who's Disney era when the BBC formed a new partnership with the international streaming platform in 2023. The name "Villengard" may have seemed like a new introduction for those who decided to start watching at the start of Ncuti Gatwa's reign as the Doctor, but existing fans with an eye for detail will have been well aware of who was being referred to.

What Villengard Is In Doctor Who's Universe

Villengard is a planet and a company name

Villengard is the name of a planet within the world of Doctor Who, but it's not the planet itself that poses the threat. Its surface is littered with weapons factories. The facilities manufacture advanced weapons in huge volumes and distribute them very far and incredibly wide. The arms-dealing organization shares the name with its place of origin: Villengard. It's considered the biggest operation of its kind in Doctor Who, which explains why the famous Time Lord has such a distaste for Villengard. However, famous characters like John Barrowman's Jack Harkness and even Alex Kingston's River Song own Villengard firearms.

Villengard tech isn't just about winning wars - it's also about prolonging them for as long as possible with their customers' knowledge.

Villengard's success revolves almost entirely around how many weapons they sell, but also associated tech that may be required on the battlefield. For example, the ambulance in Doctor Who season 14, episode 3, "Boom," is a Villengard product - as well as the mine that the Doctor stands on. The Villengard ambulance is a perfect example of just how unethical the organization's practices are. In short, if the fighting stops, then Villengard's financial takings will also take a hit. So, Villengard tech isn't just about winning wars - it's also about prolonging them for as long as possible with their customers' knowledge.

Villengard Has Been A Recurring Feature Of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who

The former Doctor Who showrunner introduced Villengard in 2005

One of Steven Moffat's best episodes of Doctor Who is responsible for the show's first mention of Villengard - Doctor Who season 1, episode 9, "The Empty Child." The installment doesn't go into much detail, but it begins a decades-long trend of Moffat bringing the villains back several times. Villengard weaponry has threatened the Doctor and his companions throughout the modern era of Doctor Who, but it came to the forefront when Moffat took over from Russell T. Davies as the showrunner in 2008.

ROSE: What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?

DOCTOR: Nothing.

(Jack's blaster disintegrates the lock.)

DOCTOR: Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon Factories of Villengard?

JACK: You've been to the factories?

DOCTOR: Once.

JACK: Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical. Vaporized the lot.

DOCTOR: Like I said. Once. There's a banana grove there, now. I like bananas. Bananas are good.

- Doctor Who season 1, episode 10, "The Doctor Dances."

"The Empty Child" was the first episode of Doctor Who Moffat wrote, and before he was showrunner. Poetically, he also folded Villengard into the story of a script that could have been his final effort before he stepped away as the show's leader - 2017's Doctor Who Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time." When he was asked to return by Davies to write a script for Gatwa's Doctor, Moffat wasted no time in including Villengard again in "Boom." Furthermore, Villengard is also pivotal to the script of the 2024 Christmas special, "Joy to the World," which is also a Moffat story.

The First Doctor visits Villengard with Peter Capaldi's Twelfth in "Twice Upon a Time."

Villengard is never mentioned in Doctor Who's classic era, but Moffat has retroactively made it so that the First Doctor has had a Villengard adventure. Played by David Bradley in 2017, the First Doctor visits Villengard with Peter Capaldi's Twelfth in "Twice Upon a Time." However, by the rules of multi-Doctor stories, the First Doctor would then forget the events of the episode until a later point in the timeline.

The Doctor Has Supposedly Defeated Villengard Already

The Time Lord may have been mistaken

In "The Doctor Dances," the episode that concludes "The Empty Child," Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor reveals he has destroyed the factories of Villengard, seemingly bringing a close to the conflict between the organization and the show's main character. If so, then the use of Villengard in later episodes could be described as a plot hole, but not in shows like Doctor Who. Instead, it's far more likely that the Doctor was falsely convinced he had defeated Villengard, and they rebuilt after his departure. Alternatively, Villengard could be operating from somewhere in the timeline from before its downfall.

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The fate of Villengard has been directly addressed in other Doctor Who media, but never in the show. For example, John Hurt's War Doctor used a molecular fruit bomb in the comics to turn the weapon factories of Villengard into a harmless banana grove. This is certainly an unconventional way to deal with such a bloodthirsty enemy, but the fact it happened in a Doctor Who comic brings into question just whether it happened within the main canon, as the TV shows take precedence in this respect. However, this could for Nine's banana comment in "The Doctor Dances."

Villengard's Role In Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas Special Explained

"Joy to the World" has Villengard as a huge threat

After barely surviving his run-in with the Villengard landmine in "Boom," Fifteenth is thrust back into the action in "Joy to the World." This time, the Earth is under threat - the planet that's saved so often by the Doctor that it has long become something of a specialty. Villengard's presence on Earth is something new for Doctor Who, as the threat is often lurking at some distant point of the universe rather than in the heart of human civilization. Villengard's goal is to grow a star seed to harness its energy, which isn't as harmless as it sounds.

Growing a star seed comes with a tremendous amount of risk, as any instability can cause a chain reaction that would kill all life on Earth.

Growing a star seed takes time; far longer than humans have been around. Villengard wants to plant the star seed on Earth via a Time Hotel, but as the Doctor points out, it needs to be planted around 65 million years into Earth's past - which is then confirmed by the presence of an angry T-Rex. Growing a star seed comes with a tremendous amount of risk, as any instability can cause a chain reaction that would kill all life on Earth. So, Doctor Who's main character is tasked with preventing humanity from being expunged from the timeline.