 This story was written by Richard Curtis who is more famous for writing classics like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love, Actually. His television credits include Mr Bean, The Vicar of Dibley and the Blackadder series. This is his first full Doctor Who story. However, this is not his first involvement with the show. In 1999 he was the Executive Producer of the Comic Relief Doctor Who special "The Curse of Fatal Death" which ironically was written by Steven Moffat – who is Executive Producer and lead writer of this season.
"Vincent and The Doctor" has The Doctor and his travelling companion, Amy Pond, going back in time to meet Vincent Van Gogh - the famous Dutch artist. Vincent Van Gogh only ever sold one of his paintings in his entire life. However, after he died his works became appreciated and he is now recognised as one of the world's greatest ever artists.
Most of Richard Curtis's ideas for "Vincent and The Doctor" made it into the final version, but one element was dropped. In his original script it is made clear that certain people with remarkable perception can see monsters that are invisible to others. The idea was that great artists such as Picasso and Vincent himself are gifted with this ability and that monsters are more common than we may think...
This marks the fourth story this season which opens on a nature shot. "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone", "Amy's Choice", "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood" and this story all open on beautiful, wide-open fields on bright, sunny days.
Unlike most stories in this season, this story focuses much more on characters than plot, and has hints and references to Vincent Van Gogh's depression and suicide. The part of Vincent Van Gogh, in this story, was played by Tony Curran.
The part of Doctor Black is played by Bill Nighy - a BAFTA winner and star of films including The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Bill Nighy was not credited for his role in this story.
Doctor Black is heard to state that the painting that grabs The Doctor's attention in the museum was painted on 2 June, 1890. Interestingly "Vincent and The Doctor" received its premier at the BFI Southbank, exactly 120 years later, on 2 June, 2010.
The painting that alarms The Doctor in the museum is a version of The Church at Auvers which Vincent Van Gogh painted in the last year of his life. The painting is an oil on canvas work and resides in the Musee d'Orsay, Paris. The version seen onscreen was painted by John Whalley and took about a day and a half to create.
Other Vincent Van Gogh paintings featured in the episode include Wheatfield with Crows, Sunflowers, The Starry Night, Cafe Terrace at Night, Prisoners' Round, Bedroom in Arles, Self-Portrait with Straw Hat, Berceuse and Portrait of Dr. Gachet.
At one point Vincent is heard to mention his brother. Theo Van Gogh was Vincent's younger sibling, an art dealer whose financial assistance enabled Vincent to devote so much of his life to art. Tragically, Theo died aged 33, only a few months after Vincent had passed away.
Much of this story was filmed in Trogir, Croatia. The first Doctor Who story that included an overseas shoot was the 1979 Fourth Doctor story, "City of Death". Like "Vincent and The Doctor", that story also revolved around artwork, with The Doctor travelling to Paris and becoming embroiled in a plot involving the Mona Lisa. "Vincent and The Doctor" was filmed alongside "The Vampires of Venice" which was also directed by Jonny Campbell and shot in Croatia (where Trogir stood in for 16th century Venice).
Amy is heard commenting on the places The Doctor has taken her to see recently, including Arcadia. This planet featured in Virgin Book’s The New Adventures story "Deceit", written by Peter Darvill-Evans, and the ‘fall of Arcadia’ was mentioned as one of the events of the Time War in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday".
The Doctor and Doctor Black are heard complimenting each other’s bow ties, The Doctor exclaiming again that ‘bow ties are cool’ as he has done previously in "The Eleventh Hour" and "Amy's Choice".
Look out for the scene where The Doctor is inside the TARDIS. Images of the First Doctor and the Second Doctor are displayed on a screen and printed then printed off.
The Doctor is heard to mention Rory saying something about his intended marriage to Amy. Amy though asks ‘who’ Amy also says that The Doctor is being extra kind to her – another reference to events that occurred at the end of the previous story, "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood", where he fiancée was killed and then consumed by the crack in the universe that erased his existence from the timeline.
It had been rumoured that Vincent would propose to Amy. This did not happen but he did show a large interest in Amy and he is even heard telling Amy that he loves her.
The song played while The Doctor and Amy show Vincent his paintings in the museum is ‘Chances’, by the British band Athlete from their album ‘Tourist’.
Look out for the continuity error during the church scenes. For most of the story, Amy is wearing tights. However, when Vincent Van Gogh starts painting the church, she is no longer wearing them. Then later on when the group are hiding from the monster, she is wearing them again.
This is the first story in Season Thirty One (New Series 5) not to include any mention or elements of the seasons’ story arc, (e.g. no cracks, silence, cliff-hangers etc.). However, it has been revealed that some of the paintings seen in this story do have a connection to the finale.
Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the tenth chapter of the fifth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "A Brush With Genius" which looked into the making of this story and Vincent Van Gogh. It was presented by Alex Price.
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The Firsts:
The first story in this season not to include any mention or elements of the seasons’ story arc,
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Richard Curtis.
Emma Freud's first involvement in the show as Script Editor.
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(Position = 3 out of 10)
(Position = 27 out of 241)
