Historical figures are nothing new in Doctor Who. William Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code (2007), Queen Victoria in Tooth and Claw (2006) and HG Wells in Timelash (1985). This story sees the second story written by a comedy writer. Richard Curtis is obviously known for writing Blackadder, Mr. Bean and Vicar of Dibley. To be honest I did have reservations. Could a comedy writer who is known for slushy and at time sickening romantic films be disciplined enough to write a science fiction drama. Like most people who are considered geniuses, Van Gogh was a laughing stock and derided by people around him. The Van Gogh we get in this story is someone who is quite tortured by him mind and at times is very sad to watch however due to Tony Curran’s acting its not depressing for me to watch.
The story is quite a simple yet enjoyable one. Whilst visiting a gallery in Paris, The Doctor and Amy notice a monster in one of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings. They visit him just before he’s about to paint the picture. However there is an invisible creature lurking around the town that only Van Gogh can see. This is essentially the B plot where the conclusion is that the monster is killed by Van Gogh. The A plot is about Van Gogh and his involvement in this story and also how he was trying to battle his demons. There is also a lot of excitement between the Doctor and Amy about meeting a cultural legend. There are a few references about how he died and the fact he committed suicide which I think is a bold thing to do in a family drama. There is also a reference about how he cut of his ear but once you hear about his suicide then self mutilation is just something else that went bad in his life.
The idea that the monster was invisible might seem like a budgetary thing because obviously an invisible monster is cheap but ultimately this meant that Van Gogh was more instrumental in the story. I thought that the picture of the first and second Doctors was another nice nod to the classic series. This is the third time that Hartnell has made an appearance in this series (The Eleventh Hour and Vampires in Venice). Not that it’s a bad thing.
Tony Curran looks so much like Vincent Van Gogh its quite scary. The scene towards the end of the episode where Dr. Black talks about Van Gogh and seeing Van Gogh get teary eyed was quite a lovely moment. Curran might have used his Scottish accent instead of adopting a perhaps weak Dutch accent was perhaps the right thing to do. That wasn’t really something that I considered whilst watching the episode. Tony Curran should win any award that involves best guest star of the series because he looked the part and more importantly gave the performance that was mesmerising.
To be fair to Richard Curtis, this is a very good script. It was a very slow building story but it doesn’t get boring and builds to a fitting conclusion and there is a little time left to take Van Gogh in the TARDIS and to the art gallery. There is a nice bit with the art posters stuck all over the TARDIS and when the TARDIS arrives in Paris the posters have burnt off and there are a few bits burning away which I thought was quite nice. Curtis has made Van Gogh and interesting character which shows what a talented artist he was but how he suffered and was tortured by his talent. I think if you start wondering about what impact taking Van Gogh to see his work then you just start dismantling the story to a rather dull point.
Vincent and the Doctor is beautifully shot and beautifully written piece of drama and whilst Britain’s Got Talent which is going to be the most watched show of the year (for some reason) has dance acts and grannies that can sing quite well, Doctor Who has emotional and powerful characters. I’ll take Doctor Who over Simon Cowell’s waste of time anytime.
The story is quite a simple yet enjoyable one. Whilst visiting a gallery in Paris, The Doctor and Amy notice a monster in one of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings. They visit him just before he’s about to paint the picture. However there is an invisible creature lurking around the town that only Van Gogh can see. This is essentially the B plot where the conclusion is that the monster is killed by Van Gogh. The A plot is about Van Gogh and his involvement in this story and also how he was trying to battle his demons. There is also a lot of excitement between the Doctor and Amy about meeting a cultural legend. There are a few references about how he died and the fact he committed suicide which I think is a bold thing to do in a family drama. There is also a reference about how he cut of his ear but once you hear about his suicide then self mutilation is just something else that went bad in his life.
The idea that the monster was invisible might seem like a budgetary thing because obviously an invisible monster is cheap but ultimately this meant that Van Gogh was more instrumental in the story. I thought that the picture of the first and second Doctors was another nice nod to the classic series. This is the third time that Hartnell has made an appearance in this series (The Eleventh Hour and Vampires in Venice). Not that it’s a bad thing.
Tony Curran looks so much like Vincent Van Gogh its quite scary. The scene towards the end of the episode where Dr. Black talks about Van Gogh and seeing Van Gogh get teary eyed was quite a lovely moment. Curran might have used his Scottish accent instead of adopting a perhaps weak Dutch accent was perhaps the right thing to do. That wasn’t really something that I considered whilst watching the episode. Tony Curran should win any award that involves best guest star of the series because he looked the part and more importantly gave the performance that was mesmerising.
To be fair to Richard Curtis, this is a very good script. It was a very slow building story but it doesn’t get boring and builds to a fitting conclusion and there is a little time left to take Van Gogh in the TARDIS and to the art gallery. There is a nice bit with the art posters stuck all over the TARDIS and when the TARDIS arrives in Paris the posters have burnt off and there are a few bits burning away which I thought was quite nice. Curtis has made Van Gogh and interesting character which shows what a talented artist he was but how he suffered and was tortured by his talent. I think if you start wondering about what impact taking Van Gogh to see his work then you just start dismantling the story to a rather dull point.
Vincent and the Doctor is beautifully shot and beautifully written piece of drama and whilst Britain’s Got Talent which is going to be the most watched show of the year (for some reason) has dance acts and grannies that can sing quite well, Doctor Who has emotional and powerful characters. I’ll take Doctor Who over Simon Cowell’s waste of time anytime.
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