Doctor Who S5e10 "Vincent & The Doctor" [Spoilers]

[Lord Woodlouse]

Yeah, it's like the Daleks escaping. He knows they're a threat, and he knows he's going to have to deal with them later down the line, but aimlessly searching all of time and space isn't going to find a solution any faster.

I liked the episode. It was very sentimental, but to me it worked very nicely rather than feeling rammed down my throat. There's no denying the chap was a genius of his field, the fact that his genius did not go toward making vacuum cleaners, wind turbines or anti-bacterial sprays does not change that simple fact. Would have been nice for some kind of explanation of why he can see the creature, but... hey-ho... I don't think the creature was the main point of the story.

[Asdeed]

If the Doctor could speak to the thing, presumably through TARDIS translation, how come nobody could understand what it was saying? Oh right, they could finally make out what it was saying just as it was about to die. Give me a break.

Other than that I still enjoyed it, so meh.

[Teebs]

If the Doctor could speak to the thing, presumably through TARDIS translation, how come nobody could understand what it was saying? Oh right, they could finally make out what it was saying just as it was about to die. Give me a break.

Other than that I still enjoyed it, so meh.

I got the impression that before it was dying it wasn't meant to be saying anything it was just growling in a crazed way.

[PREDATOR490]

Yeah, it's like the Daleks escaping. He knows they're a threat, and he knows he's going to have to deal with them later down the line, but aimlessly searching all of time and space isn't going to find a solution any faster.

Aimlessly WANDERING all of time and space is exactly what the Doctor does so having him ask questions when he arrives in a place about such things would at least make it appear he is interested in finding them.

Instead, the Doctor relies on the Daleks showing up when THEY feel like it and as per usual have their master plan ready to kill everything. No doubt resulting in several deaths which the Doctor always moans about. Despite that he STILL dosent take the initiative to actually hunt them down.

As for the TARDIS piece being found, well thats just fucking retarded to ignore or not go after. Sure, ignore FIVE Daleks but for fuck sake, you have a time crack thing that is causing epic amounts of damage and your clue is the TARDIS has something to do with it.
Sure, lets just keep aimlessly wandering rather than try and figure out how to prevent it. It's not like one of the Doctor's own companions got hit with it for him to care.

Rory ? Whos that ?

We get to see the Doctor trying to cheer Amy up instead... although why not try and figure out a way to undo that crack eh ?
Then she will remember who Rory is or even re-write events to bring him back for a happy ending.

I liked this episode for the most part but the unsubtle hints of Amy having issues with Rory being gone annoys me. Either she remembers him or she dosent, none of this 'Sad but I dont know why' bullshit. Especially, when the Doctor is standing in the background listening to her and not doing a thing to remind her / fix it.

Next Week:

Yay, more romance bullshit and the Doctor just randomly appearing in someone's life.

[Themightytom]

I loved this episode probably because it ties together the work i do with the mentally ill, with one of my favorite artists. Van Gogh's use of color is a foundational inspiration for my own work. The character of the museum worker was enjoyable to me, and I saw some parallels between himself and Van Gogh,

I enjoyed his description of van Gogh's influence and especially Van Gogh's reaction because the Museum worker seemed taken aback at the appreciative response he received from Vincent. If you spend your life trying to expound upon an artist you deeply admire to a generally disinterested public that just wants to look at a pretty picture, it must be amazing to discover you actually touched someone on an emotional level, MORE so as the worker tried to process what he was seeing when he realized who he was talking to or a second.

Ultimately he couldn't accept it, which was an underlying theme here, perception. Van Gogh's perception filetered through his emotional state, as well as his literal ability to percieve a creature no one else could see. The doctor percieving as evil ac reature that was only scared, Amy's inability to percieve what she had lost, while the doctor was fully aware of it etc.

Van Gogh spent his life surrounded by people who couldn't see him for what he was, and ironically travels to the future and meets an expert on him who can't accept that he's standing right there

This was an emotional Dr Who Story that really only gave brief acknowledgment to its genre as science fiction, which is why it probably won't be a favorite for most people. its a little further down the whovian spectrum towards fantasy than science fiction, though I like that Dr Who pulled out his little apparatus. Someday someone needs to explain to me how things survive in a TARDIS that is constantly reshaping itself. Amy got clothes from somewhere, the Doctor has little keepsakes etc.

The doctor seemed strangely unable to influence Van Gogh's mood. usually he can make people trust him, follow him, admire him etc, but Van Gogh curled up in his bed wasn't taking any of the Doctor's shit.

I also liked that the TARDIS got plastered with leaflets.

[Lord Woodlouse]

Aimlessly WANDERING all of time and space is exactly what the Doctor does so having him ask questions when he arrives in a place about such things would at least make it appear he is interested in finding them.

Instead, the Doctor relies on the Daleks showing up when THEY feel like it and as per usual have their master plan ready to kill everything. No doubt resulting in several deaths which the Doctor always moans about. Despite that he STILL dosent take the initiative to actually hunt them down.

Hunt them down through all of time and space? Do you realise how daft that sounds? Generally the Daleks are only found when either they want to be found or they actively do something that makes them detectable. Asking every tom, dick and harry if they've seen a floating cylinder of death is frankly ridiculously redundant.

As for the TARDIS piece being found, well thats just fucking retarded to ignore or not go after.

Go after what? They're already in the bloody TARDIS, the epicentre is clearly the thing they're actually flying around in only in a different time under different circumstances. There's literally nothing the Doctor can do to find that except to continue to exist.

We get to see the Doctor trying to cheer Amy up instead... although why not try and figure out a way to undo that crack eh ?
Then she will remember who Rory is or even re-write events to bring him back for a happy ending.

The implication is that the Doctor has no method at hand or in mind to "undo the crack" (presuming such a thing is possible, and that such a thing would have the effect you believe likely).

[Gramzamber]

I guess you have to like Van Gogh to really appreciate this episode.
If on the other hand you don't particularily care for his work you're left out in the cold. This is why I dislike episodes like these.
Moreover it's not enough that they're a historical figure, they have to be SPECIAL in some way our puny human minds cannot understand!

On Rory. While I normally hate reset buttons at this point I say they better damn well bring him back. Not only was his death pointless and the way they treated it absurd with Amy forgetting him just so she'll continue to fart around with the Doctor and the Doctor's like "Gee... my first outright companion death since Adric and he was eaten by a time crack my TARDIS has caused... LET'S CONTINUE TO WANDER AROUND TIME FOR NO REASON! WOOHOO!".

And don't tell me killing Rory was ballsy either. If they were ballsy they would've killed Amy.

Go after what? They're already in the bloody TARDIS, the epicentre is clearly the thing they're actually flying around in only in a different time under different circumstances. There's literally nothing the Doctor can do to find that except to continue to exist.

Yeah, except he knows the time it's going to happen since the angels two parter and despite everything that's happened since he continues to do no research into that whatsoever.

[hongi]

And don't tell me killing Rory was ballsy either. If they were ballsy they would've killed Amy.

That's not a bad idea, even if Amy got resurrected later on. Rory has (had ) shown himself to be no pushover and he criticises the Doctor when he deserves it. So I imagine Rory would be very, very bitter and angry. The partner dynamics would be really interesting, whereas now Amy doesn't even remember anything so it wiped out her whole character arc from Amy's Choice.

[Plekhanov]

3. Bringing Van Gogh into the future scene

Its like the writer is a fan of Van Gogh and is somehow trying to compensate for the lack of recognition Van Gogh received in life. This scene is self indulgent like David Tennant's ending montage in "The End of Time." At least Tennant's Doctor had been with us for several years so it was nice to tie up loose ends and one could argue he deserved a sort of homage. Van Gogh was just a character of the week even if he was a famous artist.


4. Doctor can't come up with a plan

Does it not occur to him to try and douse the creature with paint? Did not being able to see a person stopped him against those Exxilon's serving the Daleks? Did it stop him against the "Invisible Enemy." Yeah didn't think so.

But don't worry, Van Gogh saves the day.

Remember those fan fics we criticise where a character who just sooo happens to have the same name as the author appears and shows up the regular characters. While I wouldn't call Van Gogh a mary sue / gary stu, it is leaning towards that way. That does not make good writing.


There are a few nice twists, like the fact the creature is blind, however the episode was let down by lots of other things.

It said "by Richard Curtis" in the credits and you could tell it was him as well, he's really turned up the sentimentality since the Black Adder & No the Nine O'clock News Days.

I don't understand why this episode was made at all, if Curtis wants to make a program about how wonderful Van Gogh is given the clout his track record has given him I'm sure he could have, it just seems entirely unnecessary to do so in the guise of a Doctor Who episode. Something Curtis himself seems to have felt given that it was barely an an episode of Doctor Who at all with Curtis vastly more interested in Van Gogh than anything else. The perfunctory monster plot was incredably half arsed (which Van Gogh apparently could have dealt with without the slightest assistance from the Doctor) & seemingly shoved in because well there just has to be a monster of the week.

[TC Pilot]

What is it with artsy types on Doctor Who that attracts oversized, monstorized versions of common animals? Oh well, at least this time the "greatest artist ever" wasn't English.

Even though I liked the last two, this episode is a definite improvement, almost like they're climbing out of a rut. Not quite, but they're getting there. Good of them not to just forget about Rory, but I can see that getting annoying in later episodes.

[Themightytom]

What is it with artsy types on Doctor Who that attracts oversized, monstorized versions of common animals? Oh well, at least this time the "greatest artist ever" wasn't English.

Even though I liked the last two, this episode is a definite improvement, almost like they're climbing out of a rut. Not quite, but they're getting there. Good of them not to just forget about Rory, but I can see that getting annoying in later episodes.

I think it was telling that the doctor accidentally mentioned Rory, if they didn't intend for his situation to be readdressed, and possibly for Rory to return at some point, they would have just swept him under the rug and moved on like they did with most of the other companions.

When was the last time the doctor said "Harry get me my... oh sorry Mickey."

[Captain Seafort]

When was the last time the doctor said "Harry get me my... oh sorry Mickey."

Probably Castrovalva (I think he called Tegan Victoria), which somewhat proves your point, given that he was in the middle of a regeneration crisis at the time.

[Hillary]

Good God - just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. We are now reaching depths not seen since Bonnie Langford.

I could happily watch a documentary on the great Vincent (the stuff about his use of colour and how he saw the world was the only worthwhile part of the 42 minutes) but this?

I'm seriously coming to the conclusion that Moffat is no script editor. It's his fucking job to ensure that the episodes are consistent, that, although we have different writers for each story, the main players are not having to change their characters every bloody week. He wrote some of the best stories under RTD, but he is struggling badly in his new role. Richard fucking Curtis, for crying out loud - how on earth did that ever seem like a good idea.

He had a REAL oppotunity to revitalise the series. A new Doctor, a new assistant, a new TARDIS even, but he's tiredly repeating the same formula that got old 3 years ago.

Highly unimpressed.

[Patrick Degan]

I'm an admirer of the work of Van Gogh. But this whole story just sounds... stupid.

Why are the current writers having the Doctor fawning so much over human playwrights, writers and artists? In the classic series, he knew several of them, was friends with some of them, but apparently wouldn't hesitate to point out their flaws or give them a "push" in the right direction if he felt they needed it ("...or to take arms against a sea of troubles —'Take arms against a sea of troubles'? That's a mixed metaphor! I told him that was a mixed metaphor but he would insist."). They've instead got the Doctor acting just like they are: anoraks (the English term for fanboy). It's painful to watch or even to just read about.

[Crazedwraith]

Except he was chatting exactly that way about other artists in the grave yard painting scene. "I told him to pay attention; two eyes one nose, was it that difficult?" He's not really fawning over Van Gogh in this episode. Not compared to his treatment of Shakespeare or Agatha Christie in past series.

[J Ryan]

We also seem to be forgetting the point where he called him not a proper painter (just not to his face).

It seems more the fawning wasn't his art, just his unique look on life, which is something the Doctor can relate to.