Still a few hours till the episode airs (at 18:40 this time), but the thread is already here. Spoiler: plot synopsis The Doctor and Amy learn more about the art of terror in this new adventure where they meet Vincent Van Gogh! The TARDIS travels back in time but terror lurks in the cornfields of Provence and only a sad and lonely painter can see it... The Doctor and Amy join forces with Van Gogh but can the three of them defeat a powerful and deadly alien?
Well that was...fillery. And not particularly good filler. ETA: Why have there been unexplained cricket chirps all season?
Absolutely loved it; best D11 episode thus far. I had a tear in the corner of my eye for the last few minutes! Tony Curran was excellent.
Hard to call because while I felt the monster of the week story was weak, the chracter driven moments were typical Curtis and were fantastic. The last 10 minutes in particular was just simply superb writing/directing and acting. In the end I'll prob say Average but a strong Average due to the character driven moments.
Wow. The kids will be bored, the monster was silly (if well-rendered) and it felt a bit too message-heavy in places (especially Bill Nighy's speech about Van Gogh's place in the history of art, and with the post-show ad for an advice line) but.... Easily the best episode of the season, and best "celebrity historical" of Nu Who. Mainly because of a) Curtis' script having a mix of a good grasp of the subjects and some lines that play differently depending on whether the viewer is following the arc, and b) Tony Curran as Van Gogh, who was bloody amazing (couldn't we keep him? Or at least cast him in a "proper" biopic about Vincent?) I suspect it won't win any season polls, but fuck it, no, this was *quality* even when it was being just Dr Who with a monster. 10/10
A great character piece and certainly different, loved Smith running about with the mirror contraption, its was so reminiscent of Troughtons Who.
Thought it was a good filler episode. I thought Tony Curran was brilliant has Van Gogh he made me feel really sad for Van Gogh.
Every time I see Matt Smith's Doctor, I see something different in him. I can't pin down what it was about his performance this week, but I loved him even more.
Excellent. This year's Father's Day, a wonderful human-interest tale. It was also visually sumptuous and eminently quotable. Richard Curtis, you had me at "contrafibulator".
I have to agree with regards to Tony Curran. I've only seen him in a couple of things before and he was great in this
I reckon there's going to be a few people who didn't like that at all. I thought it was really good. The monster was damn good CGI, real step above the Lazarus one. Loved the Doctor's contraption and Curran was wonderful. This season's filler eps have all been superb. I'm almost persuaded the next one will be good as well. 'I'll be back before you can say ooh where's he got to?' 'NOT QUITE THAT FAST!!' 'Still very fast though.'
Yeah, it was a very touching end, and nice to see depression tackled in a family show. I went from being unimpressed to thinking it was brilliant by the end.
Most people have said what I'd say: I kept looking for the connection to the Great Story Arc - and in the end when it wasn't there I didn't miss it. The Beastie was mediocre, and the solution of it being more scared than malicious was a tad preachy. But the portrayal of Van Gogh and his 'madness' was stunning. And as for the ending... THAT'S what I'd do if I had a time machine.
Good episode, and Curran was great. Yes, the monster was a bit crappy, but they had to have some reason to meet Vincent, didn't they? Anyway - Curtis' skill is with people, so that's where the good stuff was. And it certainly went all... Curtis-y near the end. Funny, that. Hehehe. The syrup was laid on a little thick for my liking at that point, but I did like how they actually took him into the future - how many times have we wished that would happen with a guest star? Glad they did it. So - on the whole, I enjoyed it. And Bill Nighy was great. But then again, he always is.
I think that there will probably be a lot of people who write this one off as boring but I loved it. The alien of the week storyline really didn't matter a jot, it was just there as a framing device for a wonderful character piece with some absolutely top notch acting. I've been loving Matt Smith from the get go but this is the first time I've enjoyed Karen Gillan's performance so much. And as others have said Curran was wonderful. Did Curtis pile it on a little thick there at the end? Absolutely! But if you didn't feel the slightest little wibble of your bottom lip during that scene you have a heart of stone.
There were so many wonderful moments in the episode. I really loved the moment when Vincent thanked Bill Nighy's character was wonderful for Nighy's reaction. Did he know who he had just met? It's a fabulously ambivilent moment for me. I thought I'd got it all figured out at the beginning of the episode: oh, the monster will represent Van Gogh's madness, I thought. I'm so glad I was proved wrong. I don't really like "message tv" and Richard Curtis has pissed me off big time in the past for it, but I thought it was well done here.
Me too, and I don't think that "If you're effected by the issues raised in this episode" message at the end was part of laying it on thick with the message, either, it's just something PSB TV does with anything like that. I thought it was nice to actually have someone with mental illness not be portrayed as wacky, or very strange... especially in a family show.