From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: GourmetWhip{at}yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Vincent and the Doctor: my review

In article <3596508f-9529-40ef-9356-731e3ffc80c2
{at}v17g2000prc.googlegroups.com>, jphalt{at}aol.com says...
> THOUGHTS
> 
> Vincent and the Doctor is an unusual episode. While watching, I spent
> more than half the episode feeling at a distance from what I was
> seeing. I definitely was finding it one of the weaker ones of the
> season. Then I reached the scene in which Vincent links hands with the
> Doctor and Amy and shows them what the night sky looks like through
> his eyes. And at that point while viewing, the episode finally started
> to click into place for me.
> 
> This is a smaller, quieter episode, with a number of lovely little
> moments. The "monster chase" is only a minor subplot, a justification
> for the Doctor and Amy to get involved with Van Gogh. The creature
> does tie in with the Doctor, Amy, and Vincent thematically. A creature
> that, like Amy's sadness, is there even though it cannot be perceived,
> save by the mad. It is itself a victim, and both the Doctor and
> Vincent are suitably morose at having to destroy it.
> 
> But the monster chase is honestly the weakest element of this episode,
> and the scenes involving the creature (which probaby occupy less than
> a third of the running time) throw the middle of the show off-kilter.
> Given how easily this episode could have been rewritten to jettison
> the monster, with the Doctor and Amy simply leaving the art gallery
> with a whimsical desire to see the real Van Gogh and then discovering
> their emotional connection with the man himself, it seems a pity that
> just this one time the series couldn't have had the courage to just
> make a "pure," monster free historical.
> 
> The good news is: Once the invisible monster is dispensed with, there
> is still a fair chunk of episode left. The last 10 - 15 minutes are
> just sublime. That scene in which Vincent shows the Doctor and Amy the
> night sky is one of most beautiful scenes in all of Who. Vincent's
> trip to a modern-day art gallery is more overtly manipulative,
> particularly with a pop song playing overtop of it... but it works,
> particularly when we see Vincent's reaction to hearing Bill Nighy's
> docent sum up what the artist's work means to him.
> 
> Speaking of Bill Nighy, it's very nice to finally see him in Doctor
> Who, if in a much smaller role than was rumored back in 2004. The
> docent is a tiny part, basically a cameo, and Nighy goes unbilled. But
> he really does make a mark in the episode, and he particularly sells
> his big speech about what Van Gogh means to him.
> 
> One of those episodes that gets better with distance from it, oddly
> enough. Not everything works when viewing it, but that last 15 minutes
> is just wonderful, and it's an episode that leaves you thinking
> afterward. It's been a few days now since I viewed it (I've actually
> finished the season now, and am fleshing out reviews of the last few
> episodes), and it's one that my mind keeps coming back to. That in
> itself is enough for me to bump its score up at least one point from
> my first inclination.
> 
> 
> Rating: 8/10.

I didn't like the episode's ending at all. I agree that the episode 
would have probably been much better without the monster, and the scene 
where Vincent shows the Doctor and Amy the night sky was wonderful, but 
the part where he saw his exhibit seemed to be a good idea poorly 
executed. Maybe it was just the pop song, but I remember thinking it 
felt very cheesy and overdone.

I really do feel like I should watch the episode again though, reading 
this.

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