Vincent and the Doctor (TV story)

Vincent and the Doctor was the tenth episode of the fifth series of BBC Wales Doctor Who.

Synopsis
During a visit to an art gallery with Amy, the Eleventh Doctor's interest is caught by a painting of a church by Vincent van Gogh; there's a face in the church's window – a curious, shadowed, creepy face with a beak and nasty eyes. The Doctor is sure he has seen the face somewhere before. There is only one thing for it: a trip in the TARDIS to 1890, so the Doctor can find out from the artist himself.

Plot
The Doctor and Amy are at an art gallery, admiring the paintings of van Gogh. The Doctor notices something strange about one. Amy asks if it is a face at the church window and the Doctor tells her that it is, and not a nice face. Dr. Black, the tour guide, says it was painted between the first and third of June in 1890. The Doctor grabs Amy's hand. They must talk to Vincent van Gogh.

The TARDIS takes them to Auvers-Sur-Oise. While looking for Vincent, the Doctor and Amy arrive at a café. The Doctor asks the waitresses about van Gogh. He is a mad drunk who never pays his bills.

A man follows the owner out of the café, trying to bargain with him. The owner says the painting is no good; pay or get out. The Doctor offers to pay for van Gogh's drink or to buy the painting. Van Gogh tells him him off, says that Amy is cute and returns to haggling with the owner until Amy announces she will buy the wine and share it with whomever she wishes. Van Gogh agrees to this.

The Doctor introduces himself, but van Gogh believes that he is a doctor sent by his brother. Amy and Vincent flirt until someone screams. In the street, a girl has been killed. Her mother pushes her way forward. She blames Vincent for her daughter's death. The crowd throw stones at him, so the Doctor, Amy and he leave. Vincent asks where the Doctor and Amy are staying, which the Doctor takes as an invitation to stay at his studio.

In Vincent's studio, the Doctor asks about the church. Vincent tells him the world offers much more than the normal eye can see. Soon Vincent is talking wildly about colours and how he can hear them, and how he thinks. A scream comes from outside.

They rush outside to find Amy on the ground. Vincent howls and grabs a pitch fork. The Doctor tries to calm him down, but Vincent runs towards him. Amy and the Doctor dodge and van Gogh tells them to run. Thinking him in the throes of a fit, the Doctor tries to calm Vincent, but something large knocks him off his feet. He gets up and grabs a stick to help Vincent fight it. Vincent and Amy watch as the Doctor swings his stick around. Vincent says the creature has gone. They return inside.

Vincent draws the creature over one of his paintings, to the Doctor and Amy's horror. The Doctor takes the painting and returns to the TARDIS. He finds a device to identify alien species. After testing it on himself, he tries the new painting. Unfortunately, the machine fails to correctly identify it. The Doctor resigns himself to the fact that Vincent will have to redraw the animal. As he leaves the TARDIS, the alien appears behind him, triggering the device's identification. The Doctor reads the details on the creature, a Krafayis, before noticing it is directly behind him. He hides behind a corner. He uses the mirror to see the creature charging him and runs again. The creature hits its head on an archway. The Doctor hides behind another corner and sees the creature fleeing. He breathes a sigh of relief, before turning the corner and screaming at the sight of Amy. Amy apologizes. She was bored of Vincent's snoring.

The next morning, the Doctor wakes Vincent. Vincent gets up and looks out the window to see Amy surrounded by sunflowers. She suggests he paint the flowers, but Vincent says that they are not his favourite. He finds them complex, half-living and half-dying, a little disgusting, but a challenge. The Doctor tells Vincent he is sure he will rise to the challenge and tells him of the Krafayis; they travel in space as a pack and are a brutal race; if one falls behind, the rest do not return for it. This particular one has been left behind, and like the others abandoned across the universe, it will kill without mercy until killed, a challenge, given its invisibility. Nnetheless, they can stop this one if Vincent paints the church. Vincent agrees and the Doctor tells him he and Amy will no longer bother him after the next day. In private he epxresses his concerns to Amy about Vincent's state of mind.

The Doctor knocks on Vincent's door. He finds Vincent on his bed crying. Vincent tells the Doctor that he and Amy will leave as everyone leaves him; he will be left with an empty heart and no hope. The Doctor tries to console him, but Vincent gets angry and tells him to get out. The Doctor leaves. The Doctor says he and Amy must go to the church and hope that the Krafayis turns up. Before they can leave, Vincent appears at the door, fully clothed and ready to go.

Amy asks the Doctor if he has a plan. He doesn't. Vincent sets up his easel. The Doctor makes sure that he will be told when the creature appears. Vincent says he is mad, not stupid. The Doctor says he may not actually be mad, just deeply depressed, but Vincent tells him to shush. He is working. Eventually, Vincent sees the Krafayis in the church window. The Doctor decides to go in, leaving Amy and Vincent outside.

The Doctor fights with the creature and gets the worst of it. Amy and Vincent head inside to help. The Doctor recovers and tries to stun the Krafayis. He and Amy hide in a confessions box. The Krafayis attacks the box.

Vincent fights the mobster, first with a chair, then with his easel. The Doctor figures out that the Krafayis is blind. Vincent runs forward as the creature charges; he stabs it with the easel. He didn't mean to kill it, and the Doctor comforts it as it dies.

Amy, Vincent and the Doctor lie in a field. Vincent asks the others to see the world as he does, describing the night sky. The Doctor tells him that he has seen nothing as wonderful as what Vincent has. Vincent tells the Doctor and Amy that he will miss them when they are gone. The next morning, Vincent tries to give the Doctor his self-portrait as a gift, but the Doctor refuses. He takes Vincent to Paris 2010, outside the Musée d'Orsay, the three go into the museum, the Doctor explaining when and where they are.

The three enter the van Gogh exhibition. Vincent looks in awe at the number of people looking at his work. The Doctor asks Dr. Black to tell him where van Gogh stands in the importance of the history of art.

Dr. Black says van Gogh is the finest painter of them all, the most popular painter, who transformed his pain into beauty. He was not only the world's greatest artist but also one of the greatest men of all time.

On hearing these words, Vincent begins to cry. He kisses, hugs and thanks Dr. Black. Dr. Black walks away, but pauses for a moment. The Doctor returns Vincent to his own place and time. Vincent tells the Doctor that he will be a new man and the Doctor tells Vincent that it has been an honour. Amy hugs Vincent as he jokes about her marital status. The TARDIS departs and Vincent walks off.

Amy and the Doctor return to the Musée d'Orsay, Amy believing that there will be hundreds more paintings. In the gallery, Amy finds no new paintings. Dr. Black still says that van Gogh committed suicide at age thirty-seven.

Amy thinks that they didn't make a difference to Vincent's life at all, but the Doctor explains to her although good things can't remove the bad things, the bad things can't spoil the good things, and that they certainly added a large amount of good things to Vincent's life. The Doctor also shows Amy that they did make a couple of minor changes, such as the non-existence of the evil face in the church window.

Amy walks towards another painting, one of sunflowers. It is dedicated to her.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Vincent van Gogh - Tony Curran
 * Dr Black - Bill Nighy (uncredited)
 * Mother - Chrissie Cotterill
 * School Children - Morgan Overton and Andrew Byrne
 * Maurice - Nik Howden
 * Waitress - Sarah Counsell

Real world

 * Among the posters covering the TARDIS are those for the cafe Au Tambourin at 27 Rue Richelieu in Paris, which was the first place to exhibit van Gogh's artwork in Paris.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor refers to having met Michelangelo and Pablo Picasso.
 * The Doctor mentions receiving a gift from his godmother who had two heads.
 * The Doctor expresses frustration with van Gogh's 'impressionist' style when attempting to identify the invisible monster (though van Gogh is considered post-Impressionist by art historians), suggesting that this would "never happen with Gainsborough, one of those proper painters." The Doctor recalls how he tried to coax Picasso into painting a symmetrical face. While this suggests the Doctor's affinity for some notion of 'scientific accuracy' over emotive artistic expression, he later humbly tells Vincent that while he has seen many things, "you are right, nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see." He also claimed that Michelangelo had a fear of heights.
 * The Doctor references Field of Dreams, "If you build it he will come", when he tells Vincent, "If you paint it, he will come".
 * The Doctor tells the museum guide "bow ties are cool". He also said this to Amy in The Eleventh Hour.
 * The Doctor's self-hatred is seen again when the device prints out pictures of his first two lives.

Paintings

 * The episode makes numerous direct and indirect references to van Gogh's most famous works, though artistic liberty was taken in regard to their chronology and the locations in which they were painted. While the setting for the episode was ostensibly Auvers-Sur-Oise, the last place of residence and resting place of van Gogh, where he painted Church at Auvers, inspiration for the set decoration of his home and the cafe he frequented (or rather was frequently thrown out of), came from works he produced while living in Arles several years before (Bedroom in Arles, Cafe Terrance at Night). Also, while the episode suggests Amy Pond inspired van Gogh to paint sunflowers, particularly Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, which he 'dedicated' to her, they were, in fact, painted in 1887 and 1888.
 * Van Gogh works referenced in the episode include: Church at Auvers (1890), Bedroom in Arles (1887), Cafe Terrance at Night (1888), Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888), Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890), The Starry Night (1889), Wheatfield With Crows (1890), Vincent's Chair with His Pipe (1888), Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887).

People from the real world

 * Amy briefly handles a knife in Vincent's rooms but sets it down suddenly, as if recalling the incident where Van Gogh cut off his own ear.

Story notes

 * The episode was incorrectly entitled, Lend Me Your Ear. However, no mention or reference was made in the episode regarding van Gogh's ear at all, beside the holding of a self portrait such that the ear is covered by van Gogh's hand.
 * Unlike most stories in this series, this story focuses much more on characters than plot, and has hints and references to van Gogh's struggle with bipolar disorder and suicide, something the series has not explored deeply before. A message and phone number for the 'BBC Action Line' was broadcast following the 'Next Time' trailer, for those wanting more information on 'issues raised in this program.'
 * Pictures of the First and Second Doctors are printed on the TARDIS' typewriter.
 * This is the second story in the series to lack any cracks, silence, or other foreshadowing of the series' finale (the first being Amy's Choice). However, it does tie in to Rory's death and establishes that, on some level, Amy is aware he has died.
 * Although originally believed to be standalone, spoilers make this story involved with the series arc, some mentioning van Gogh's paintings, one of which is Dr. Gatchet, relating to the finale. Dr. Gatchet appears in the final episode. Others include van Gogh communicating a disturbing prophecy to the Doctor in the finale through one of his paintings, and a van Gogh reference in DW: The Lodger.
 * Bill Nighy was not credited for his role.
 * Numerous positive or affirmative references were made in the episode to van Gogh and Amy's hair colour, perhaps in a conscious effort to address the accusation by some viewers of the program being 'anti-ginger' (the so-called 'ginger' controversy).
 * The song used for the scenes of Van Gogh in the museum is "Chances" by Athlete.
 * This is the only episode since 1963 to end on a cut to black.

Ratings
Overnight viewing figures were 5.0 million.

Offical viewing figures was 6.29 million viewers.

Filming locations

 * National Museum of Wales
 * Trogir, Croatia
 * Roald Dahl Plass, which is supposed to double for the Musée d'Orsay in Paris

Rumours

 * It was rumoured that either the Timoreen, the Ha'rik or the Skarkish would appear. The monster was a Krafayis.
 * It was rumoured that Vincent van Gogh would stab a yellow monster. He stabbed the Krafayis which wasn't yellow.
 * Howard Lee plays a character called "Dr. Gachet". . Dr. Gachet was van Gogh's real doctor, who nursed him during his final years. He was mentioned in this episode but he did appear in DW The Pandorica Opens 
 * Nighy plays a van Gogh expert, with similar fashion tastes to the Doctor himself. This turned out also true. He also wore a bowtie.
 * Steven Moffat stated in an interview that the controversial topic of the regeneration limit for Time Lords would be "addressed in a very, very cheeky way by an old friend of mine" at some point in Series 5. It was thought the "old friend" could very well be Richard Curtis, and that the issue might be addressed in this episode. This turned out to be false for this episode.
 * As a Vincent van Gogh painting will feature in the events of "The Pandorica Opens", it was likely that this story would bring more developments to the main story arc of the series. This was not the case, with the episode being more or less a stand-alone story, but a painting of the TARDIS exploding, by van Gogh, played a large part in the finale.
 * It was rumoured that Vincent will propose to Amy or ask the Doctor to travel with them because in the preview clips, he shows a large interest in Amy and the Doctor and even tells Amy that he loves her. This turned out true.

Production errors

 * When running through the streets with his mirror, the Doctor screams "Ahh", but his mouth is not synced with his screaming.
 * For most of the episode, Amy is wearing tights. During the church scene, when van Gogh starts painting the Church, they've gone. Later on when the group are hiding from the monster, she's wearing them again.
 * When in the chapel looking for the monster, the Doctor switches the mirror from his left to right side while holding his sonic screwdriver. For each change, the camera angle also changes, and the sonic screwdriver changes from being in closed mode and extended mode.
 * At the beginning, when looking at the painting of the church, the Doctor scratches his head. When the camera is behind the Doctor, he uses his right hand but when the camera cuts to in front of him, he is using his left hand.
 * When the Krafayis first appears in the visual recognition system, it is directly behind the Doctor, who is next to the TARDIS. When the Doctor runs away, it is heard chasing him. The Doctor hides behind a wall and using the mirror sees the creature, but it is still beside the TARDIS.
 * When in the chapel running away from the Krafayis, the Doctor is attacked by the monster, knocking him off his feet and into a nearby wall. For one shot, the wire that lifts Matt Smith off his feet and into the wall can be seen clearly.

Continuity

 * The Doctor and Dr. Black compliment each other's bow ties, the Doctor saying again that "bow ties are cool". (DW: The Eleventh Hour, Amy's Choice)
 * The Doctor mentions that he had a godmother with two heads. Before his ninth regeneration, he declared that he might have ended up with two heads. (DW: The Parting of the Ways) Although it seemed like a joke at the time, this statement suggests that a Time Lord might in some case actually have an extra head. It may also be a reference to the Aplans. (DW: The Time of Angels)
 * The first and second Doctors are pictured.
 * The Doctor finds his species identifier device by rifling through a chest in the TARDIS' alcoves. This plot device for providing artefacts and tools was utilised in several of the previous incarnations' series, e.g. the Second Doctor finding a holy Tibetan bell and Jamie a set of bagpipes (DW: The Abominable Snowmen) and the Tenth Doctor retrieving an Agatha Christie novel (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp).
 * The Doctor once again mentions that he is aging mentally, in contrast to his physical appearance. (DW: Time Crash, The End of Time)
 * Amy mentions that the Doctor took her to Arcadia. The planet was featured in NA: Deceit, and the "fall of Arcadia" was mentioned as one of the events of the Time War in DW: Doomsday.
 * The Doctor mentions Rory, to which Amy asks "Who?" Amy also says that the Doctor is being extra kind to her, as unbeknownst to her he is feeling guilty about Rory's erasure from Time. Van Gogh also sees that Amy is crying, although she doesn't know why; he theorises that she has lost someone. After receiving a half-joking marriage proposal from Vincent, Amy tells him that she's "not the marrying kind". (DW: Cold Blood).
 * This marks the fourth episode this season which opens on a nature shot. (DW: The Time of Angels, Amy's Choice, The Hungry Earth) All these episodes open on beautiful, wide-open fields on bright, sunny days.
 * Vincent van Gogh is the second historical figure in the new series to have romantic feelings for one of the Doctor's companions and the third to have such feelings for a member of the TARDIS crew. Previously, William Shakespeare made advances towards Martha Jones, and Madame de Pompadour fell in love with the Tenth Doctor. (DW: The Shakespeare Code, The Girl in the Fireplace)
 * Amy attempting to get Vincent to paint 'The Sunflowers' is similar to Rose Tyler trying to get Queen Victoria to say, "I am not amused." (DW: Tooth and Claw)

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: DYD: The Coldest War
 * This story occurs before: VG: City of the Daleks

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four was released on Monday 6th September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray, featuring Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang.