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

VINCENT AND THE DOCTOR

1 episode. Approx. 43 minutes. Written by: Richard Curtis. Directed
by: Jonny Campbell. Produced by: Tracie Simpson, Patrick Schweitzer.


THE PLOT

Amy and the Doctor are visiting a Van Gogh exhibition, when the
Doctor's eye is caught by one of the paintings. A painting of a
church, with a monster visible in one of the windows. The monster
isn't anything the Doctor recognizes... but he recognizes it as evil,
and decides that they need to go back to Van Gogh's time to
investigate.

Vincent Van Gogh (Tony Curran) is a drunk, pretty much universally
hated by the townspeople. He is unstable, euphoric one moment, a
sobbing wreck the next. When he begins attacking the air, the Doctor
assumes that he is having some sort of fit - until he is thrown
through the air by an invisible monster. A creature only Van Gogh can
see.

Now Amy and the Doctor must use the artist to set a trap for the
invisible beast. But to do so means putting one of history's greatest
artists in jeopardy, just at the point in his life in which most of
his greatest masterpieces are about to be created!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: He is being extremely kind to Amy, taking her to all the
dream spots that he always promises his companions but only
occasionally delivers. He has a certain kinship with Van Gogh, a
madman who pushes away others only to ache with loneliness at the
thought of being on his own. In an amusing bit, we also see how very
badly the Doctor deals with boredom. As they wait at the church,
Vincent paints and Amy waits patiently. But the Doctor becomes
restless and frustrated. "Is this how time usually passes?" he grumps.
"Very slowly, and in the right order?"

Amy: Amy may not remember the loss she's suffered, but she does know
that there's something strange about the Doctor's newly solicitous
treatment of her. When she asks him half-jokingly about it, and he
responds by becoming genuinely defensive, she can't help but pick up
on it. Also, while she may not remember Rory's loss, she does feel it
on some level without being aware that she's feeling it. Just as Van
Gogh is able to see the invisible creature, he is also able to see
Amy's sadness.


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.

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