Doctor Who: Vincent And The Doctor Review

Doctor Who is a show that right now does need our help due to bad ratings however there once was a time when that wasn't so. With the episode that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today coming from a time in the shows history when ratings for the show were sky high with the episode itself being one of the more emotionally driven episodes of this new modern era of the show and so then me as I review the episode that has perhaps the saddest ending to any Doctor Who episode ever made with the episode in question being called simply just "Vincent And The Doctor" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when visiting an art gallery in Paris The Doctor and Amy discover a hidden monster in one of Vincent Van Gogh's painting and so they have ton travel back in time to save him from this monster and possibly something hidden from deep within the artist himself. Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as it was a plot that not only gave us a lesson on just who Vincent Van Gogh was an artist but also as a human being as well all while still being a typical Doctor Who episode with this being something that does make this episodes plot standout all the more as alot pf the plots from this same period more often that not fantasied any historical figures thus making them seem less then human and yet with this plot we get to see just how tortured that Vincent really was as an artist with the plot it self being at times a genuinely fun episode to watch but at other times being a really heartbreaking episode to watch as well which was something that was unavoidable given just who one of the characters in this episode is with even his death being something that's tied to Amy's character arc for this series as well with it being helped by the fact that this episode was written by Richard Curtis with him being someone who knows how to written good stuff and having his name to this episodes script does make the episode seem all that much more better due to the pedigree that he brings as a writer with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is House Of The Dragon star Matt Smith as The Doctor and Guardians Of The Galaxy star Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. Also starring in this episode is Defiance , Blade II and The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn star Tony Curran as Vincent Van Gogh , Nik Howden as Maurice , Chrissie Cotterill as A Mother , Sarah Counsell as The Waitress and Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz star Bill Nighy as Dr Black.

Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes actors turning in some really good performance which is something that really does make alot of sense as all you have to do is just see who is starring in this episode o know that all of this episodes actors are a bunch of really good and talented actors in there own right with all of them showing us the audience just how good of an actor that they all can be in this episode and while it would have been very easy to say that either Matt Smith or Karen Gillan are the best actors in this episode the fact is that the best actor in this episode is quite clearly Tony Curran as he gives a truly heartbreaking performance in this episode with his portrayal of Vincent being one that at times can be up lifting , funny and charming but then at the drop of a hat can be utterly heartbreaking and devasting with his performance in the last scene of the episode being a good example of that as he hears just how loved not only his artwork is today but also how well loved he is not only as an artist but as human being and without any words from Vincent being spoken you get to see just how much that that all very truly meant to him and that is why Tony Curran is the best actor in this episode with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the episodes script is just so good that all this episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.

Doing the CGI for this episode is the legends and the greats that are currently over at The Mill and Real SFX. Now then in of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad given the time that this episode was being made in but at the same time tho you can quite clearly tell that this episodes CGI has aged pretty badly and while granted Doctor Who and bad CGI go hand in hand together and while this episodes CGI doesn't detract from the overall story it is something that does take you out of the episode as all it does is remind you that your watching something that doesn't have that big of budget with the episodes monster Krafayis looking pretty good for the time period but at the same time tho you can see the limitations of the time with the character lacking any good looking textures and mainly being seen at night which is something that could have been done to hide the effect but with that being said tho the creature does look alot more better then what it really had any right to as by all means this is a creature that should have have looked really badly just due to what technology that they had available to them at the time and while yes granted the creature does look bad in some shots for the overall majority of the time he does look really good it's just those few times where he doesn't look good that make the rest of the episodes CGI look more cheaper then what it already was in the first place.

How this episode treats Vincent's bouts of depression is something that makes this episode all the more impactful. As Vincent himself doesn't really recognize it in himself and yet he'll see when someone else is feeling the exact same way that he does even if they don't know it and even showing things such as hi not being able to get out of bed in the morning to then suddenly be up and happy is something that alot people with Bi-Polar also struggle with and knowing that he was a severely depressed person only added fuel to that fire as he truly believed that he and his art works was meaningless because of the fact that those around him and who lived in the same village as him told him so which is something that does make it all the more tragic as that's what Vince is he's the very definition of the phrase "tortured artist" as it pained him to see the world in his unique way with the only way that he could think of to express how he saw the world being in his painting which he believed that no one loved and that he thought no one would ever love and yet in this episode we see that Amy is a huge fan of his so much so that the two do have a rather playful relationship with each other which it could argued does help to bring joy and laughter back into Vincent's life much like how The Doctor brings hope back into it and while he always wants more from his friendship with Amy she only saw him as a friend which while this was done in a way to protect herself from his future it was something that could have brought Vincent happiness as we see all throughout the episode he doesn't really have a friend to speak off and so when someone does show him positive signs of affection he of course might take it to mean more then that because he doesn't know how to handle those things.

One of the few things that this episode rather rightfully got alot of hate for was the fact that it's central villain the Krafayis isn't that threatening of a villain. Which yeah it is kind of hard to argue that point as the villain feels like that it was in the script just because of the fact Richard Curtis is writing for Doctor Who and we need a villain for the story and that's really it as the character doesn't really do anything for large portions of the story only to attack the characters once or twice and that's really it which isn't enough to make the creature a threat as all it does is make it look like that it's an afterthought which is something that does make sense as the episode does have alot of things going on already and so of course there will be somethings that do fall threw the cracks of the episodes script but what makes this worse is the fact that the makers of this episode could have found away to tie the monster to how either Vincent is feeling or how Amy is feeling instead of just having it be on Earth in this tie period for no reason with the episode not even bothering to explain why Vincent is the only one that can see the creature nor why the creature keeps on coming after our heroes since there is a village filled to the brim with people that it can feed on something which The Doctor explains is in the creatures DNA to do so as the episode straight up says that the Krafayis is a bloodthirsty killer and yet we don't see it attack or even kill anyone in the episode and yet by showing it going after one of the villagers it would have upped the threat of the episode and made the creature itself all the more threatening as now not only will we the audience be able to think that any of the main characters can now die but the creature will also seem all the more threatening because of it.

It would be impossible to do a review of this episode and not talk about the highly emotional ending as it's something that does work really well. With the first half of the ending being Vincent's realization that he is not only a really loved artist but as Dr. Black himself states he is one of the best human's ever to exist due to how uniquely that he saw the world and seeing everyone there in the art gallery just looking at his works works which he was told is either ugly or terrible that is more then enough to bring Vincent back from the edge for a just little bit and while that would have a fine highly emotional ending in it's own right what really does sell us the audience on it is what happens after that speech in the Paris art gallery as Amy finds out that they didn't cause him not to kill himself which is something that does destroy her with The Doctor then coming in to say that you can't save everyone and then seeing that Vincent had painted the sunflowers like Amy had asked him to all throughout the episode only this time it's been dedicated to her it does show her that even tho he still take his own life because he was battling his own monster she still did manage to make a difference to him and in his life just by being there for him and that was a nice touch to include in this episode as it would have been very easy just to have Vincent change his mind but it also would have made the episode alot less impactful to watch as well as Vincent didn't get over his depression and it also would have been very historically inaccurate which in this case would have been as being a very bad thing as everyone knows that Vincent did kill himself when he was young and that's something that be talked about and was talked about in this episodes ending.

Now then his episode has / had an exact grand total running time of forty six minuets and thirty six seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstanderd running time for this show during this time period with this episode really having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho this episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episodes plot is a bit on thin side of things due to it not really being that well developed with the episode instead choosing to focus alot more of the character of Vincent Van Gogh which is fine but at the same time tho there still should have been alot more focus and time dedicated to the actual plot of the episode with the episode not even taking the time to develop alot of it's characters as due t the events of the last episode Amy has now forgotten all about Rory and yet aside for one line of dialog from Vincent it's never brought up not even in ing when something that's not only this important to the character of Amy but also the series finale it is something that should have been discussed inbetween The Doctor and Vincent even if Vincent has no idea what there actually talking about as Rory is also meant to be The Doctor's friend as well and yet by not bringing that up in anyway shape or form it does a disservice to the character of The Doctor and makes it feel like that the makers of this episode were taking a huge step back in of development with this version of the character when what they should have been doing is going to great lengths to making sure that this version is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that Amy is OK but I really will it that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action thats actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. However at the same time tho this episodes action isn't all that good as all this episodes actin is is the characters quite literally hitting sticks at nothing and that's really it and there's only so long that you can see that before it starts to get boring which in regards to this episode happens to be quite quickly but it is impressive to see Matt Smith doing his own stunts for this episode with those parts of the episodes action looking really good with the episodes best looking action scene being the one in the church as we get to see just how deadly that the Krafayis is with the creature using it's brain just as much as it uses it's brawn with it even being during that scene in the church where we the audience find out that the Krafayis is blind which is a unique thing for a villain to be and yet the episode doesn't really do all that much with it aside from showing that it has really good hearing which is something that it does put to great use during the episode which was something that added tension to all of this episodes action but what made the attack on the church really stand out was the fact that it put The Doctor on the backfoot as he was forced to think on his feet which was something that we didn't get to see all throughout this episodes action in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall while this episode doesn't have the best story or action there's no denying the fact that this episode has a really emotional ending that really will make people cry due to how good that it is with this episode being one that whilst it might not be a fan favourite episode is still a really good example of just how good that this show could be when it's really at it's best in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co Uk , the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with really alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and really all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.