Vincent and the Doctor



Seeing as Doctor Who is a bit of a hot topic on my blog at the moment, I thought that I would talk about what is (in my opinion,) one of the finest episodes since Matt Smith stepped in to the role of the Eleventh Doctor and Steven Moffat became Executive Producer. In Vincent and the Doctor the Doctor and Amy travel back to 1890, where they meet Vincent Van Gogh. There is some fantastic interpretation and retelling of the life of the troubled artist (apparently his mind was the only one powerful enough to see the alien that was tormenting the town,) and followed by a wonderful ending. Amy and the Doctor take the poor and struggling artist for a ride in the Tardis to 2010, where they show him the impact that his art had on future generations. The concept is an incredible one. Showing a troubled artist, who lived in poverty and took his own life, just how great he truly was and how his work would live on. And naturally, after the episode went to air, YouTube was flooded with fan made tributes to the episode (like this wonderful one, above).

I think what is so wonderful about the last ten minutes or so of this episode is that it captures perfectly how many of us feel about our work sometimes, whether we be painters, writers, musicians or performers. It shows the worst part of being an artist--the many, many hours of hard work that go unnoticed and those heartbreaking moments when the rest of the world fails to understand what is being said. It also shows the ultimate dream. For ones work to be loved and appreciated well after their death.

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