DOCTOR WHO 5.10 – "Vincent And The Doctor" WRITER: Richard Curtis DIRECTOR: Jonny Campbell GUEST CAST: Tony Curran, Nik Howden, Chrissie Cotterill, Sarah Counsell, Morgan Overton & Andrew Byrne [SPOILERS] The renowned Richard Curtis make his long-anticipated debut on the series with one of the so-called "historical celebrity" episodes, which aim to merge a traditional Who adventure with a real person or event from history. "Vincent And The Doctor" started with The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) perusing Van Gogh art in a gallery, before noticing a monster in one of his paintings and deciding to investigate why the famous Dutch artist would have included something like that. Travelling back in time to meet with the tormented artist, it soon became clear that an invisible monster is stalking Provence in 1890; a beast that only Vincent (Tony Curran) can see with the naked eye... I enjoyed the first half of this episode a lot, seeing The Doctor and Amy mix with Vincent and struggle to contain their excitement with being in his company and seeing all his paintings – something he couldn't understand because everyone considers him a failure and nobody ever buys his work. Tony Curran is a good likeness for Van Gogh and certainly managed to bring the character to life very well, even managing to make you forget the curious decision to give him a Scottish accent (which was amusingly alluded to when he mistakenly thought Amy's accent is of Dutch origin, too.) The problem with the episode was simple: at its heart, taking away all the surprisingly effective nods to Vincent's art, back-story and reputation throughout the episode, this was another painfully simple hunt-the-monster episode. And while it started out imaginative and intriguing (loved The Doctor's chest-mounted rear-view mirror gadget that could reflect the invisible creature), it didn't take us anywhere interesting with Vincent as a character. He has a few heroic moments fighting the beast, but it would have been better if there'd been a closer tie between Vincent's suicide and the alien, or for the creature to have been responsible for the infamous loss of the painter's ear. Understandably, Curtis found it hard to tell a story that took full advantage of Van Gogh's mental state and tragic end in the context of a family show airing before 7pm. The feelings Vincent had for fellow red-head Amy was a great idea, but poorly developed during the story, meaning the pay-off at the end didn't have any emotional weight to it. A stronger Amy/Vincent romance could have been very interesting (certainly something we haven't seen happen with one of The Doctor's companions), but for whatever reason it wasn't something Curtis wanted to give a lot of time to. Or couldn't make it work amongst all the goings-on with the alien threat. However, I did like the referenced to the fact Amy's fiancé Rory has been erased from history, as it was mentioned that The Doctor's guilt has manifested in giving Amy lots of luxurious trips in the TARDIS recently, and a scene where Vincent notices Amy's quietly crying without even knowing why. Overall, "Vincent And The Doctor" was entertaining and the way Curtis peppered the story with famous scenes and buildings from Van Gogh's oeuvre worked very nicely, particularly when the denouement in the Musée d'Orsay gallery suddenly reminded us that the whole episode's been something of a "tour" through his pieces – from his bedroom, a church, and a piece called "Starry Night" (which we saw transform in Vincent's imagination from a real night sky into swirls of paint). The Good Tony Curran. Scottish accent or not, he looked the part and did a commendable job giving us a flavour of Vincent's crazy personality within the confines of a Doctor Who episode. Bill Nighy. A fun cameo as a curator, poking fun at the fact he was rumoured to actually succeed David Tennant in the role of The Doctor because his character, Doctor Black, shared a fondness for bow ties. Scenery. Wonderful scenery and sets, again filming in Croatia. CGI. It helped that it wasn't seen all that often, but the "turkey-dinosaur"-like creature was a great design and impressively rendered. The Bad It was a shame the story seemed to end, only for the adventure to continue as a ten-minute denouement. It made the episode feel a bit too small for its running time. Could nobody even attempt a French accent? Amy's character. I mean, does she really have a passion for Van Gogh? Really? I would never have put her down as an art gallery lover. Quite a lot of her behaviour here felt in service of the story and nothing more. And her affection for Vincent, like Rory, fell flat. I liked the synergy of Amy's unstable personality with Vincent's, but the acting let a good idea down. The decision to play sentimental pop-music over the final scenes. The story was ultimately rather typical and predictable. The Doctor's usually such a stickler for the laws of time, etc, so why attempt to change history by showing Vincent his future as a successful artist? And why didn't it work anyway? The Geeky Of course, writer Richard Curtis is the award-winning creator of many British sitcoms like Blackadder and The Vicar Of Dibley, who became world-famous thanks to writing/directing movies such as Four Weddings & A Funeral, Notting Hill and Love, Actually. Bill Nighy makes an appearance as Doctor Black, having been linked to the role of The Doctor for a number of years. Filming of this episode actually took place in Croatia, alongside "The Vampires Of Venice." The First Doctor (William Hartnell) and Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) appear on the view-screen of The Doctor's gadget, identifying him as "The Doctor". The TARDIS apparently gets very hot on the exterior when it travels through time, as evidenced when posters stuck to it in Provence became smouldering embers after a trip into the future. Curtis became involved with Doctor Who because his family were watching the Christmas Special "The Next Doctor" when Curtis' son noted that their neighbour, actor David Morrissey, had a prominent role and wanted his father to do something on the show. Rating: 3.5 / 5.0 Doctor Dan

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