Vincent and the Doctor (5 Jun. 2010)

Visiting a museum, the Doctor and Amy are especially excited with the gallery for Vincent van Gogh. Many of van Gogh pieces are displayed, including "The Church at Auvers (1890)". However ... See full summary »

Director:

Jonny Campbell

Writer:

Richard Curtis

Stars:

Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Tony Curran

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Matt Smith	...	The Doctor
Karen Gillan	...	Amy Pond
Tony Curran	...	Vincent
Nik Howden	...	Maurice
Chrissie Cotterill	...	Mother
Sarah Counsell	...	Waitress
Morgan Overton	...	School Child
Andrew Byrne	...	School Child

Storyline

Visiting a museum, the Doctor and Amy are especially excited with the gallery for Vincent van Gogh. Many of van Gogh pieces are displayed, including "The Church at Auvers (1890)". However there is something irregular discovered on the painting - a small alien image within a window pane. The Doctor quickly takes Amy back to 1890 where they locate the troubled artist that upsets the locals, cannot pay his bills, and is able to see an invisible monster that no one else is able to see.

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Plot Keywords:

1890s | vincent van gogh | invisible monster | mental illness | art museum | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 2010 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Croatia

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Embassy Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first two images that the Doctor gets out of the printer after testing it on himself are of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.

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Goofs

The action is supposed to take place in Provence but the church that Van Gogh paints is in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris.

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Quotes

The Doctor: Amy, only one thought, one simple instruction: don't follow me under any circumstances.
[Runs off]
Amy Pond: I won't.
Vincent Van Gogh: Will you follow him?
Amy Pond: Of course.
Vincent Van Gogh: I love you.

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Connections

References Field of Dreams (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Doctor Who Theme"
(uncredited)
Written by Ron Grainer
Arranged by Murray Gold
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales

User Reviews

A Decent Narrative Would Have Been Nice...

I approached this particular episode of Dr Who with some degree of cynicism and as I finally discovered, my initial cynicism was well founded...

Richard Curtis is fine with light comedy laced with a little bit of drama, but when faced with the sort of fast-paced, witty drama, mixed with clever plotting that a show like Dr Who demands, this where the writing and Curtis' lazy approach to narrative fall badly apart.

He takes an idea that had been floating around in his head for some time, then shoe-horns this into a Dr Who plot that never really works, clearly in this particular type of genre Curtis' is out of his depth - and it shows.

The 'monster-of-the-week' didn't work because this isn't really what Curtis was interested in and seems hastily inserted into the story as an after thought, or maybe at the behest of Head Writer/Executive Producer Steve Moffat, either way, it simply doesn't work.

The upside to this episode is the acting - from a lovely Bill Nighy cameo, to the charming Karen Gillan, to the sometimes variable Matt Smith and last (but not least) to the finely-tuned performance from Tony Curran, everybody seemed at their best in this story - and it is this fine standard of acting that elevates a fairly mediocre entry in the Dr Who canon to a higher level giving the substandard writing a strong emotional boost.

PG.