Doctor Who, "Vincent and the Doctor"

Doctor: “Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly, and in the proper order?”

“Vincent and the Doctor” was a lovely episode, full of great moments, and the tone felt appropriate after last week’s loss of Rory. Amy is in mourning though she doesn’t even realize it, and she finally makes a human connection with Vincent that I think has been lacking for her all season. As the Doctor joked, a child produced by Amy and Vincent would have been the ultimate ginger…

Written by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, etc.), this episode was able to move easily between clever dialogue, comedy, and sentiment. The Doctor takes Amy to the Musee d’Orsay to visit the van Gogh exhibit, where they notice a sinister face peering through a window in The Church at Auvers. The Doctor asks the museum’s van Gogh expert, Dr. Black (wonderfully played by Bill Nighy) for some background info, they admire each other’s bow ties (“Bow ties are cool”), and they’re off.

They quickly find and befriend van Gogh, but also discover that villagers are being attacked by an alien creature, and van Gogh is the only one who can see it. The Doctor identifies the alien as a Krafayis and decides that they’ll stay with van Gogh until he paints the church, where he knows the creature will appear. One thing that this episode does extremely well is the exploration of van Gogh’s mental state and his view of the world, and it’s interesting to present his madness as a result of his heightened senses. Tony Curran does a wonderful job with this role, and I loved the explanation for his Scottish accent.

There was a nice balance of comedic moments about Amy and the Doctor’s excitement over hanging out with van Gogh and the serious issues created by his mood swings and depression. After suffering a breakdown at his home, Vincent recovers and joins Amy and the Doctor on the way to the church. If Amy can soldier on, so can he, Vincent explains. “I can hear the song of your sadness,” he tells her. Amy is confused as a tear rolls down her cheek.

Vincent: “It’s alright. I understand.”

Amy: \”I’m not sure I do.”

After being trapped in the church with the Krafayis, the Doctor finally realizes why the creature was left behind by the rest of its group: it’s blind. It had not meant to attack people, it was simply lashing out in fear. Vincent protects Amy and the Doctor by wielding his easel, and he accidentally impales the Krafayis. As the creature lays dying on the ground, the Doctor comforts him and translates his final words: “I am afraid.” Vincent is horrified; he never meant to harm the creature and he realizes now that it was only lashing out the way the villagers lash out at him. It was a touching moment that could have veered into the overly sentimental, but proved to be an example of the kind of sentiment that Doctor Who does well.

The rest of the episode served as a sort of love letter to van Gogh. The three of them lay down on the grass, hands linked together, and they look up at the sky. As Vincent describes the color and movement he sees, the sky transforms into The Starry Night.

Doctor: “I’ve seen many things, my friend. But you\’re right—nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see.”

“I will miss you terribly,” Vincent tells them. As the Doctor and Amy prepare to leave, the Doctor decides to give Vincent a parting gift. He invites Vincent into the TARDIS and takes him to the Musee d’Orsay in 2010. In a rare use of pop music on Doctor Who, the scene is scored to “Chances” by Athlete (though I’d be interested to hear what Murray Gold would have done). Vincent stares at his paintings on the walls, and the Doctor asks Dr. Black to speak about Vincent’s work. The whole thing is very moving and uplifting, and you really can’t blame the Doctor for potentially messing with van Gogh’s timeline.

Vincent is returned to his time, his mood bolstered by the knowledge that his work will be appreciated someday. The Doctor and Amy give their final goodbyes, and Amy asks to return to the museum immediately. She expects to see new paintings by van Gogh, a celebration of his long life. Instead, there is no new work; he still committed suicide at the age of 37. Amy is crushed. “We didn’t make a difference at all,” she says. The Doctor reassures her that they added to the pile of good things in Vincent’s life, and if they look closely enough, there may be differences after all. The Krafayis’ face is no longer present in The Church at Auvers, and Sunflowers has a new inscription: for Amy.

JULY 10: After taking the holiday weekend off, Doctor Who returns with “The Lodger,” in which the Doctor poses as a human and gets a roommate in a proper flat. It will surely be hilarious.

Screencaps from Sonic Biro.