A little under a year ago, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor debuted under extraordinary circumstances in the last of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials, and then fans with a Disney+ subscription saw him return a few weeks later for the Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road.” Now the time is fast approaching for him to go on another holiday season adventure, with “Joy to the World” seeing Gatwa performing alongside Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan. It’s now been revealed that a long-time adversary of The Doctor will be present in the next episode of Doctor Who to watch, and it’s making me even more worried for Coughlan’s character.
Rather than “Joy to the World” pairing the Fifteenth Doctor back with Ruby Sunday following the events of the first Disney+ season’s finale, the Time Lord protagonist will instead be paired with Coughlan’s Joy, a woman who checks into a hotel chain that, as revealed by writer Steven Moffat, uses time travel to “sell all the unsold nights in their own hotels in history.” Now thanks to a new “Joy to the World” clip that’s been posted, we know that this chain has ties to Villengard, the biggest arms manufacturer in recorded history. See for yourself:
Like The Doctor said, Villengard, also the name of the planet where these weapons factories are located, is one of his oldest enemies, and folks who’ve been watching Doctor Who’s revival era have been hearing about this company since it began in 2005. The Ninth Doctor mentioned having destroyed those factories while he was speaking with Jack Harkness in “The Doctor Dances,” and then in “Twice Upon a Time,” the Twelfth Doctor to the ruins of the planet to meet with the Dalek known as Rusty. However, last season’s “Boom” was Villengard’s most prominent “appearance” in Doctor Who yet, as the episode was about The Doctor stepping on a landmine that was not only created by the company, but in the middle of a war engineered by them too.
As far as “Joy to the World” goes, The Doctor and Joy learn that Villengard want to make a star and use it as “a customizable energy source which is functionally infinite.” The problem is that if a star seed explodes on Earth at any point in history, it will burn every living thing. The Doctor also points out that although using these timey-wimey hotels as part of the star creation process, human history’s only a few thousand years long, and one would need to check into one of the hotels 65 million years ago. As it turns out, Villengard had that covered, as The Doctor and Joy are in a location set up just that long ago, and the clip ends with them about to be gobbled up by a T-rex.
Obviously The Doctor and Joy will somehow avoid being be that dinosaur’s next meal, but the inclusion of Villengard has me more worried for Nicola Coughlan’s character. It’s one thing for the villain to be a sole entity or even a handful of aliens, but an entire corporation dedicated to making weapons and now close to destroying Earth just to make a star energy source? Ok, so we also know Earth will be safe in the long run and that Joy will probably make it out alive, but still, you can’t blame me for being concerned about her welfare. I’m also now wondering if, like the Pantheon villains, Villengard will end up being recurring adversaries of the Fifteenth Doctor.
“Joy to the World” premieres December 25 on the 2024 TV schedule, and then Doctor Who Season 15, or Season 2 of the Disney+ era, will follow sometime next year. Those of you who like watching Nicola Coughlan in Bridgerton will have to wait even longer for her to reprise Penelope, as that show’s fourth season won’t arrive until 2026.
