Why the Doctor Who Episode "Vincent and the Doctor" will always be remembered

[TheGamingNewsGuy]

For context, Council of Geeks is a reveiwer show that takes a look at Doctor Who as a series and analyises it and today he came out on a episode on the Doctor Who Episode - Vincent of the Doctor and details what it means to him as well as how fantastically written it is as an episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6kbZwtHeV0

As for my own personal thoughts on the episode, like COG - i will freely admit that i have never had depression in my life but i have known pepole that have suffered through it and deal with it. When i first watched this episode - i liked it - i thought the beautiful episode but i think as this episode has gotten even better with age especially with the current age of the internet and how Doctor Who tackles depression. I think it's a fantastic episode that will always be a touchstone in Matt Smith's Run as the Doctor.

I am wondering what you think of the episode and if you think it is a good telling of Vincent Van Goph and his life story.

 

[Platy]

My headcanon is that Van Gogh commited suicide BECAUSE the doctor showed him the future and he feel disolated to be trapped in a place and time that hated him and didn't had an awesome museum

 

[TheGummyBear]

Fun fact about Vincent and the Doctor: It's the first episode of Doctor Who that the BBC aired that carried a helpline number over the end credits. I'm not sure if it's the only one anymore, I think there was an episode in series 11 that carried a helpline number too. But it really demonstrates how ambitious the episode was, tackling a serious subject matter that you wouldn't really expect to find in a family adventure show.

It's also one of the main reasons I had to snort in derision at anyone in 2010 who claimed Series 5 was the death of the show, and there were a lot of people claiming that at the time.

 

[wrowa]

Frankly one of my favourite Who episodes.

 

[Proteus]

One of my favourite episodes of all time.

That entire season was fantastic. The absolute height of New Who.

 

[Sweeney Swift]

Easily one of my favorite, and most rewatched, episodes ever. Not just of the show

 

[Menome]

I disliked it then and time hasn't helped soften it to me at all. It doesn't help that I just don't enjoy anything Richard Curtis has written since the late 1980s, and this fell straight into his now usual overly-mawkish tedium.

As someone with depression it didn't speak to me, and I certainly would never want it to speak for me.

 

[TheGamingNewsGuy]

Fun fact about Vincent and the Doctor: It's the first episode of Doctor Who that the BBC aired that carried a helpline number over the end credits. I'm not sure if it's the only one anymore, I think there was an episode in series 11 that carried a helpline number too. But it really demonstrates how ambitious the episode was, tackling a serious subject matter that you wouldn't really expect to find in a family adventure show.

It's also one of the main reasons I had to snort in derision at anyone in 2010 who claimed Series 5 was the death of the show, and there were a lot of people claiming that at the time.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, honestly Series 5 i would argue is one of the best seasons of New Who in retrospect

 

[Masquerader]

I disliked it then and time hasn't helped soften it to me at all. It doesn't help that I just don't enjoy anything Richard Curtis has written since the late 1980s, and this fell straight into his now usual overly-mawkish tedium.

As someone with depression it didn't speak to me, and I certainly would never want it to speak for me.

Click to shrink...

Completely agreed as someone who was in an especially dark place at the time, it was merely OK at best for me, mediocre at worst. It's also got probably the most obvious example of the Moffat era zero effort weak antagonist problem that seriously hurt the show in my eyes, with the dorky, laughable CGI in particular being very distracting.

 

[WrenchNinja]

One of my favourite episodes of the show. Series 5 is still my favourite.

 

[Foot]

Oh yeah, I forgot that one.

 

[thefro]

The climax pretty much makes me tear up every time.

 

[nicolasacmf]

One of the few good episodes of Matt Smith's tenure as The Doctor, even if I don't think it's all that when it comes to handling depression. The rest of the season was loathsome.

 

[tr1b0re]

The ending makes me cry every time :'(

The climax pretty much makes me tear up every time.

Click to shrink...

OH GREAT HERE COMES THE WATERWORKS

 

[Vincent Alexander]

The ending was a tad in my face, and was my least favorite part of the episode.

 

[Protome]

One of the few great Matt Smith episodes. But damn was it great.

 

[Sulik2]

The Vincent episode really is incredible.

Edit: Was thinking of series six not five.

 

[Mezentine]

I think this is the episode that first actively started to turn me off of this run of Doctor Who. It felt like it was nakedly trying to pull on my heartstrings just a little too much or something

 

[Deleted member 11985]

I wasn't particularly fond of the climax. It was a little too campy for me, or whatever the word is I'm looking for there.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I'll never not love the Eleventh Doctor.

 

[Nightbird]

The climax pretty much makes me tear up every time.

Click to shrink...

Oh man, I love that scene :(

 

[Vincent Alexander]

I'll never not love the Eleventh Doctor.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. He and Capaldi are The Doctor for me. I just can't make up which one I love more.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Series 5 was the best, Matt Smith was the best

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I didn't have as much of a reaction to this one as most people did because I saw it AFTER it already entered into the pop lexicon and thus already knew what its "deal" was in advance, but even I have to admit it's probably the strongest episode of Matt Smith's run.

 

[Daphne]

I disliked it then and time hasn't helped soften it to me at all. It doesn't help that I just don't enjoy anything Richard Curtis has written since the late 1980s, and this fell straight into his now usual overly-mawkish tedium.

As someone with depression it didn't speak to me, and I certainly would never want it to speak for me.

Click to shrink...

I kinda feel the same way. It really didn't feel like a good representation of depression. However, I do feel there are good parts scattered throughout. I think they do communicate well the idea that you can't just "fix" someone by cheering them up for a day. I liked Amy trying to goad Van Gogh into the sunflowers, lol. The ending is the weakest part though, for sure. Far too mawkishly "triumphant".