Hello,
I'm Josh and some forumers may know me as PenguinJosh. This is the first of many reviews I hope to write! You can follow me at www.twitter.com/JoshuaAJB
Enough of the formalities, onto the review of Doctor Who - Episode 5.10 - Vincent and the Doctor
The Artwork of Gogh
If there's one thing Doctor Who likes to do, its visit old famous people. In Season One we had Charles Dickens in 'The Unquiet Dead' (S01E03), Season Two had the (admittedly less familiar) Madame du Pompadour in ‘Girl In The Fireplace’ (S02E05), Season Three brought us William Shakespeare in 'The Shakespeare Code’ (S03E03) and Agatha Christie in Season Four’s ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’ (S04E08). Much like its predecessors (with the exception of the phenomenal ‘Girl in the Fireplace’), ‘Vincent and The Doctor’ failed to truly impress.
Never Meet Your Idols
As we tend to learn in these episodes, our idols are never quite as amazing as they may seem to be. We see Van Gogh as a poor, drunk man begging for a drink. Not quite what Amy might have expected. Yet we quickly learn as we always do of the true talents of the famous person in question. And one that art history books will not have record of is his ability to see invisible monsters that only a special mirror can see (though I have not seen the classic Who seasons, I appreciated seeing the first two Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton – not the first time this season have the faces of previous Doctors been seen; the influence of head writer Steven Moffat no doubt). I was pleased with Tony Curran’s portrayal of Van Gogh; he really brought the emotion in the final scene in the Musee d’orsay and portrayed his depression well. Like Shakespeare in Season Three, we also saw how the Doctor and his companion’s influences led to what we know today; in this episode, the Doctor pointed out the starry sky and, more obviously, Amy with the sunflowers.
“I know evil when I see it”
The monster of the week: the Kafrayis. While the CGI this week was certainly a little more believable than in past weeks (the water in ‘Vampires of Venice’ for one), the monster this week didn’t feel particularly unique or memorable.
Loss
I was irritated at the beginning of the episode than Amy appeared to be entirely nonplussed about the loss of Rory and did not appear sad one bit; the fact she was questioning why the Doctor was treating her made her seem a bit dense. Her actions with Van Gogh seemed very flirtacious, which was outrageous considering how recently Rory (her boyfriend of over 2 years) had died. Fortunately, the issue was indeed addressed later on in the episode with Van Gogh explaining how Amy was crying on the inside. I have to say, however, that Gillan’s performance never particularly gave me this impression. I’m still undecided on Amy Pond; I prefer her to Martha Jones, but she can never compare to Rose Tyler or Donna Noble in my eyes. I am also increasingly undecided on Matt Smith’s Doctor. Though it was humorous when the Doctor was fighting with nothing, it made him appear a fool and not the all-knowing, time and universe travelling being we know he is.
Update: Thanks for people reminding me that Amy forgot about Rory... how could I possibly forget that!
On the subject of universe travel
I tire of Earth. Having been treated to exotic locations such as The Impossible Planet, New Earth, Planet of the Ood, Midnight and the end of the universe, it would be nice to see other planets. This season we have been treated to one spaceship and the caverns of the Weeping Angels, it would be nice to see some more exotic locations rather than Earth over and over and over again. We hear mention of ‘Arcadia’ in this episode, where the Doctor recently took Amy... why can we not see that?
In summary
Richard Curtis gave us a fun and occasionally emotional episode, however the storyline was poor. The Doctor showing Van Gogh the love people today have for him does not equate to him later committing suicide. I also thought that the monster might be the one to take off Van Gogh’s ear. However, this episode was much better than the past two, very weak, episodes and truly felt like a normal Doctor Who episode.
You can view my season-by-season episode breakdown of Doctor Who on the SpoilerTV forums here http://spoilertv.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=10586&start=45#p349921 (scroll down to see the later seasons).
