Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

The epitome of Doctor Who & outstanding art

This has to have been one of the most emotional episodes of Doctor Who I’ve ever seen. Following the heartbreaking episode of “Cold Blood” (31.09) and the loss of Rory, “Vincent and the Doctor” deals with the tragic life of Vincent Van Gogh on one level and acknowledges Amy’s loss on another as the Doctor spots a monster in a Van Gogh painting and goes to the rescue.

I always think it’s a risk inviting a big name to write for an established show. While their talent is never in question, whether they can really capture the style and essence of the show is another altogether. Richard Curtis of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Hurts[and Blackadder! – Ed.] fame just hits it out of the park. The episode is just stunningly brilliant. It is a curious mix of what makes Doctor Who so compelling as a concept and Curtis’ own gift at capturing the heart and soul of human emotion through screen-writing.

I want to begin with the former. Doctor Who’s original conception was as a children’s show designed to provide educational material about science and history in an engaging way. This episode beyond any other I’ve seen since the reboot really takes that to heart. It introduces the work of Van Gogh to every child who watches it; it tackles the issue of his depression and mental illness in a gentle yet uncompromising way. History isn’t changed: Van Gogh still commits suicide.

Of course, its educational value wasn’t the reason why Doctor Who became so successful — that is down to two reasons in my opinion: the Doctor and the idea that you can travel anywhere in time and space. This story allows the Doctor in many ways to shine as he displays his intelligence, his heroic nature and his compassion. Matt Smith’s comic delivery is just perfect — the scene where he first tries to get an identity for the monster in the TARDIS with his godmother’s present is just brilliantly done (loved the touch of the machine identifying the Doctor first with William Hartnell’s picture). But Smith is equally deft at the emotional scenes, and his genuine sorrow at the death of the monster is touching as is his quiet look of grief as Vincent talks about Amy’s inner sorrow.

If the Doctor is brilliant in this episode so too is the use of the time travel aspect which is used to do its usual thing (for the Doctor to go travel in time and tackle monsters), but also to create something so spectacularly special – to show an artist who never achieved greatness in his own life time the impact of his work in the future. This kind of wonderful use of the TARDIS is exactly the reason why you would want to step into it in the first place.

The scene with Van Gogh in the museum, seeing the display of his work and how it is admired, hearing the words of the professor speaking of his brilliance as an artist, is so moving I can’t describe it. It feels as though you are Van Gogh; that you see his bewilderment; feel his joy and happiness, his wonder. And it’s just pure emotion. Some of the credit for that scene has to go to the direction and the camera shots which just put you in Van Gogh’s shoes; some to Tony Curran who delivers an outstanding performance throughout as Vincent; some to the powerful music that underscores that scene but most has to go to Curtis who just writes such moving lines for the character of Doctor Black (Bill Nighy) in describing the importance and genius of Van Gogh.

Curtis has his own genius in being able to create scenes and words which reach out of the screen and touch the audience. One of my most enduring memories is the funeral scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral which so accurately captures grief. Here, the scene in the museum is so powerful: you really wish Van Gogh had been given the chance to travel in time and see the impact his work has made. It is a moment worthy of a feature film in a TV show. But it’s not just this scene. I loved the scene in the meadow where Van Gogh, the Doctor and Amy lie on the ground and look up at the stars, all clasping hands. There in that scene, there is love and beauty and wonder. Simply stunning.

If Vincent’s story is the primary story, the loss of Rory is movingly and touchingly included in small but meaningful ways. I love that Van Gogh sees through to Amy’s soul and sees her pain and sadness at losing Rory despite her physical inability to remember him — after all, we know how his death devastates her — we’ve seen both in “Cold Blood” and in “Amy’s Choice” (31.07). The ‘not the marrying type’ note and the Doctor’s own slip in calling Vincent ‘Rory’ also provide a subtle reminder of Rory. Indeed, as Amy mourns Vincent, there is a sense too that she mourns Rory. It’s great to see that Rory’s death is given importance from a series’ perspective.

In conclusion

I truly love this episode from start to finish. It’s not a typical Doctor Who but it takes everything that is so wonderful about the show and just takes it to another level. This is what you want when a guest writer of the stature of Curtis picks up the gauntlet: something which itself is a truly outstanding piece of art.