Vincent And The Doctor

In the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, the curator is discussing the last painting of Vincent Van Gogh. The Doctor and Amy are also taking an interest in the paintings of Van Gogh. Amy is interested on one particular painting, but the Doctor notices something in a window: a face. The Doctor asks the curator for the date the picture was painted - between 1st and 3rd June 1890.

The TARDIS materialises in an alley at night, June 1890. From a picture in the museum brochure the Doctor and Amy find the cafe where Vincent is usually found. Vincent is not held in high regard, and is on the verge of being thrown out for not being able to pay when the Doctor offers to pay for his drinks. The Doctor and Amy sit down with Vincent. The Doctor is more interested if Vincent has painted any churches. Vincent mentions there is one church he wants to paint.

Whilst they are talking a woman scream, and when the Doctor goes to investigate the Doctor finds a murdered girl. Because Vincent is with them the crowd turns against the Doctor, Amy and Vincent. Vincent tells the Doctor that this is not the first murder.

The Doctor and Amy go back to Vincent's place, which is full of paintings, which Vincent is not careful with as he places wet coffee pots on them. Outside Amy is looking at the paintings and screams. The Doctor and Vincent go to help, and Vincent starts behaving oddly, attacking with a pitch fork. Outside there is an invisible creature that Vincent can see, but the Doctor can only feel as he knocked over. Vincent manages to stab the creature and it runs off.

Vincent whitewashes a painting to roughly sketch the creature he saw, and the Doctor goes off to look for the creature. In the TARDIS he digs out a gadget that is able to identify anyone it sees. Unbeknown to the Doctor the creature appears behind him and the gadget identifies it as a Krafayis, a bird-like creature from an unknown planet.

The following morning Amy has placed sunflowers in Vincent's courtyard, hoping he may want to paint the. Inside the Doctor explains about the creature he saw. It is this creature that has been killing people, and only Vincent is able to see it. The Doctor still wants to paint the church, hoping the creature will appear.

Vincent suffers from mood swings, and tells the Doctor to leave. Shortly afterwards he is ready to paint the church, and the Doctor and Amy go with him to the church. On the way the funeral procession goes by of the girl from the village.

As Vincent paints the church the Doctor gets bored waiting. As the light fades Vincent announces he sees the Krafayis in the window of the church. The Doctor tells Amy not to follow him and goes into the church, armed with his gadget which is able to see the creature in its mirror.

Inside the church the Doctor can hear the Krafayis, but sees it too late as the creature smashes the mirror on the device. Amy hears the struggle and goes in to help. The Doctor and Amy hide in a confession booth, and Vincent is able to distract the Krafayis. Trapped in another room the Doctor tries talking to the Krafayis. The Krafayis gets into the room, and Vincent tells the Doctor it is feeling its way round the room.

The Doctor realises why the Krafayis has such good hearing - it is blind. The Krafayis hears Vincent and starts ro run at him. Holding up his easel the creature impales itself. Vincent is feels guilty when he realises the creature was only attacking because it was frightened.

As a final gift to Vincent, who does not think he is much of an artist, the Doctor takes him to the Musee d'Orsay. Vincent is in awe at the museum. The Doctor takes him to the Van Gogh exhibition, where he sees all his paintings on display. The Doctor brings over the curator, Doctor Blank. Doctor Black says he thinks Vincent Van Gogh is one the world's greatest artists.

After taking Vincent back to his own time the Doctor and Amy visit the gallery again. Amy is sure that things will have changed, but everything is the same; there are no new paintings. There are a couple of small changes. Firstly, the church no longer has a face in the window. And the painting of sunflowers now carries a dedication to Amy.

• Vincent Van Gogh: Tony Curran;
• Doctor Black: Bill Nighy (not credited on screen);
• Maurice: Nik Howden;
• Mother: Chrissie Cotterill;
• Waitress: Sarah Counsell;
• School Children: Morgan Overton, Andrew Byrne;


• UNCREDITED CAST:
• Hand Double for Vincent: Dominic Gubb;
• Museum Guards: Steve Grant, Dennis Gregory, Tim Driscoll;
• Teachers: Melanie Allen, Anthony Thomas;
• Backpackers: Gemma Bigsby, Sam Melville Brown;
• American Visitors: Russell Bradley, Annette Walters;
• Visitors: Chris Johnson, Andrea Griffiths, Helen Irving, Levi James, Cindy Leatherbarrow, Don Leatherbarrow, Maureen St Lois, Robyn Louise, Marium Nundy, Hets P, Craig Palmer, Carl Peries, Frances Valaydon Pillay, Rory Rahaman, Gail Rowney, Tennis Russell, Sukhi Sahota, Peter Small, Lorna Wells, Hollie Williams, Dave Wong, Gwen Wright, Yinka Onitiri, Tim Driscoll;
• Children: Jordan Baker, Kayleigh Baker, Sasha Evans, John William Carter, Adam Frangakis Williams, Daryl Wong, Shante Baron, Shimanah Baron, Marco Antunes, George Gramennos, Amber Morgan, Chanelle Jade Leung, Maddisson Baker, Annabel Williams, Courtney Hawkins, Simone Jones, Cerys Sprake, Max Harlow, Nathan Jones, William Hughes;
• Gallery Visitors: Frank Baker, Jan Baker, Ollie Bryan, Liam Dixon, Rowena Ferguson, Dawn Gani, Leon Gocoul, Katie Hastings, Channon Jacobs, Dave James, Claudio Laurini, Heather Niscoveanu;
• French Villagers: Dijana Matijas, Miroslav Maros, Nela Piscuti, Mario Rilje, Alen Celic, Jozo Ivica, Jelena Hrabor, Suzanna Jurkovic;
• Waitress: Jolanda Tudor;
• French Boys: Frane Nadilo, Daniel Djukic;
• Villagers: Marijana Plavcic, Ivona Zulin, Marija Mise, Robert Juranic, Ivica Jerkovic, Denis Lazentic, Zorana Besic, Tatjana Cicliani, Drina Uljevic, Marko Tokic, Mario Rilje, Tatiana Plavcic, Jelena Hrabar, Mate Strize, Alen Celic;
• Wailing Woman: Jasna Malec;
• Patrons: Nela Piscuti, Dijana Matijas, Petar Tomislav;
• Dead Girl (Giselle): Jelena Jaksic;
• Father (Coffin Carrier): Dusko Turkovic;
• Stunt Double for the Doctor: Gordon Seed;
• Villagers (working in the fields): Mate Strize, Mario Rilje;
• Mourners: Mate Strize, Mario Rilje, Dijana Matijas;
• Hand Painting Double for Vincent: John Whally;
• Students: Matthew Humphries, Iain Gibbons;
• Crowd / Additional Dialogue Recording: Emma Feeney, Nicholas Wilkes, Stephen Bracken-Keogh, Claire Hilder, Mark Underwood, Holly Cracknell, Lindsay Hollingsworth, Darren Matthews, Janet Howson, Paul Sparrowham;