December 23, 2024
“There’s a corporation [...] and they just can’t stop themselves...”
Known across the far reaches of the universe, and a name whispered with fear, respect and intrigue, the Villengard Corporation’s rise and fall spans centuries, leaving behind a trail of mysterious and dangerous projects and a legacy the Doctor cannot ignore.
The central enemy of Season 1’s Boom is back in Joy to the World to wreak more havoc across the cosmos - but who are this mysterious and dangerous conglomerate, and where have we met them before?
Who are the Villengard Corporation?
Villengard was a planet located at the centre of the universe. Beginning as a small firm specialising in advanced weapons systems and biological resources, they became infamous across the universe, becoming the biggest weapons manufacturer in recorded history.
According to the Twelfth Doctor, the Weapons Forges of Villengard were once known as the “nightmare of the seven galaxies” before they were reduced to ruins. In Boom, whilst on Kastarion 3 in the year 5087, the Fifteenth Doctor said that Villengard had supplied all sides in conflicts in that sector over the last two centuries.
The Villengard Corporation specialised in tech such as Smartmines and Automated Ambulance Units, technology harnessing biodata and utilising the Villengard Algorithm to maximise profits by prolonging conflicts.
Casualty rates were pushed to their acceptable limits, executing injured soldiers whose recovery might be too expensive. The Doctor managed to defeat the algorithm on Kastarion 3 through the AI reconstruction of John Francis Vater, a deceased soldier who wished to save his daughter.
Weapons produced by the Villengard Corporation were so prolific that they could even be found being used by the Doctor’s allies - both Captain Jack Harkness and River Song have been seen to own a blaster created by them.
The Corporation’s devices include: Smartmine, which rewrote the DNA of anyone who stepped on them and turned them into an explosive (a device which the Doctor was unlucky enough to step on in Boom); Vacuum Drones which cleared the atmosphere of a planet to make it easier for soldiers to shoot one another; and guns which locked if anyone attempted to use them against the Automated Ambulance Units.
The Villengard Corporation have funded multiple wars, produced many terrible weapons and care only about profit - making them a formidable enemy.
The Doctor and Villengard
Villengard was first mentioned in The Doctor Dances, the second part of Steven Moffat’s debut Doctor Who story. The Ninth Doctor recalls destroying their weapon factories and replacing them with a banana grove - justification for why Captain Jack Harkness should use a banana rather than a blaster.
The effects of this action are seen in Moffat’s last story as showrunner, Twice Upon a Time. When travelling to Villengard, the First and Twelfth Doctors discovered the planet to be a desolate wasteland complete with ruins of the weapon factories. Rusty, whom the Doctor previously met in Into the Dalek, had set up a home there, destroying all Daleks who had travelled to the planet to kill it. In doing so, the planet became overwhelmed with Dalek mutants.
The Doctor’s defeat of the corporation in the future, although comforting, doesn’t mean they’re not still a threat - in old timey-wimey tradition, the Doctor’s enemies have a way of coming back defeat after defeat, in time period after time period.
Joy to the World
In a clip from this year’s Christmas special, the Doctor once again encounters the Villengard Corporation, and tells Joy that they are old enemies of his.
This time, they’re attempting to grow their own star, giving them a practically limitless source of energy - potentially spelling doom for planet Earth, and perhaps the universe as a whole. The Villengard Corporation are characteristically unconcerned, viewing this as a “collateral sacrifice” made by species helping them in their current project. As in Boom, they also use an AI interface, using the consciousness of a Silurian Joy has already met to convey their intentions.
The Villengard Corporation seems to have also gained the ability to cover 65 million years of history - as demonstrated when a T-Rex attacks the Doctor and Joy!
Remember, if you encounter any remnants of Villengard technology, be cautious. Time, as the Doctor knows all too well, can be a dangerous thing to meddle with.
Will the Doctor defeat the Corporation again? As always, only time will tell this Christmas...
Watch Joy to the World on Christmas Day, premiering at 5:10pm GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ where available.
