05x10 - A Brush with Genius

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Doctor Who: Confidential". Aired: 26 March 2005 – 1 October 2011.*
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Series is described as focusing on the human element of the series, Confidential features behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series over the years of its existence.
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05x10 - A Brush with Genius

Post by bunniefuu »

This week the Doctor and
Amy take in a bit of culture
and team up with the artist

Vincent van Gogh to take on an
invisible monster.

It's not going to be an easy
collaboration between the universe's

biggest optimist and humanities
biggest depressive.

Come on! Capture my mystery!

Maybe you've had enough coffee now.

And we canvas Richard Curtis
about his latest work.

I think if you're going to write
something about an artist

van Gogh's the most accessible artist.

The cast and crew go forth to Croatia,
with a cunning plan to reproduce
a van Gogh painting.

We brush up on our art history in
L.A. with actor Tony Curran.

If you stare at this long enough,
you do lose yourself in it.

Episode ten tackles a problem, and a
situation more heartbreaking, than
probably we've ever encountered before.

THEME MUSIC PLAYS

At the National Museum of Wales
in Cardiff, the Doctor Who crew
are setting the scene for

for a very unusual art class.

Background action.
And Action!

So this is one of the last
paintings van Gogh ever painted.

Those final months of his life were
probably the most astonishing artistic
outpouring in history.

It was like Shakespeare knocking off
Othello, Macbeth and King Lear over the
summer hols.

At the beginning of episode ten, there's
a scene set in the Musee D'Orsay

Where Amy and the Doctor go to have
a look at some of the paintings of
Vincent van Gogh.

Each of these pictures now is
worth tens of millions of pounds.

Yet in his lifetime, he
was a commercial disaster,

but when he d*ed, you could
sold his entire body of work

and got about enough money to buy
a sofa and a couple of chairs.

The Doctor travels to the Musee D'Orsay
and sees, in a van Gogh painting

a monster peering out, and realises he
has to go and talk to Vincent van Gogh.

Wait a minute. What?

Well, just look at that.
What?

Something not very good indeed.
What something not very good?

Look there, in the window
of the church.

Is it a face? Yes.

And not a nice face at all.

We were very lucky to get Bill Nighy
to play the part of Dr Black,

because he's someone who
you pay attention to.

And that's what we needed,
we needed people to listen

to what he was saying about
Vincent van Gogh,

pick up some of the relevant facts
that were going to be important
in the story.

And also he and Matt together made
a brilliant kind of double act.

Sorry, everyone. Routine
inspection,
Ministry of Art and...

Artiness. So, um... Dr Black.
Yes, that's right.

Do you know when that picture of
the church was painted? Ah,
what an interesting question.

Most people...
Going to have to hurry,
when was it?

Exactly? As exactly as you can.

Without a long speech, if poss.
I'm in a hurry.

Well, in that case,
probably somewhere
between the st and rd of June.

What year? .

Less than a year before
he k*lled himself.

Thank you sir.
Nice bow tie!

Bow ties are cool.
Yours is very...
Oh, thank you.

Keep telling them stuff.
We need to go.

What about the other pictures?
Art can wait.
This is life and death.

We need to talk to
Vincent van Gogh.

We have Richard Curtis
writing episode ten,
which is so exciting!

He's written a fantastic episode
about van Gogh, and it's actually
really quite different.

I kept bumping into Richard at
various things. I think
once drunkenly I said

"Please come and write a Doctor Who."

And he never really exhibited
the slightest interest in it.

And then, when I was in Kew
Gardens, near Christmas
one day, he sent me a text

with a proposal for, he said, a story
about depression and van Gogh

and I thought "Really? Saturday
night, O'clock? Depression?"

"Couldn't it be happy van Gogh?
The days before the ear?"

But no, he had a very very,
particular vision. So he came
and pitched to me

that brilliant story and how
he wanted to handle it.
I loved it and here we are.

It's always been an idea I
loved, just sitting there in
the back of my mind,

So, the moment I started thinking
about Doctor Who I thought
"Oh, I have got this...

story I'd like to tell, because
van Gogh is pretty well the only
really, really famous artist,

almost in any medium, who had
no acknowledgement whatsoever
during his lifetime.

I adore his paintings. I've been to
the Musee D'Orsay a lot
and seen those paintings.

I'm also, interested in,
sort of depression and the
price you pay for that.

So I'm interested in him as
a human being, as an artist

and then I have this idea
where I'd love the thought
of making him happy.

What a morning.

Come on!

And Amy's got a little
surprise for you.

I thought I'd brighten things up to
thank you for saving me last night.

Ah! I thought you might
like, you know,

possibly to perhaps paint them
or something?
Might be a thought.

Yes. Well, they're not
my favourite flower.

YOU don't like sunflowers?
No, it's not that I don't like them.

I find them complex.

Always somewhere between
living and dying.

Half-human as they
turn to the sun.
A little disgusting.

But, you know,
they are a challenge.

And one I'm pretty
sure you will rise to.

It was in fact a sort of family
project before I started to write it

me and my kids went to the
Musee D'Orsay and we looked at
all the paintings

and I said "I want..."

"...a monster to appear in one of
these paintings."

And it was my daughter Scarlet
who said "Can it be in the
window of that particular painting?"

The real Vincent van Gogh didn't
paint monsters in churches.

But fortunately for the Doctor Who
team, he did paint self portraits.

Which were a great help when it
came to casting.

We sort of know what Vincent
van Gogh looked like.

So we gotta get it right.

I think in this case we got it so right

we had the audacity to have
Tony Curran standing there with the
Vincent van Gogh self portrait

And it looks like him. It could be a
portrait of him.

I'm so excited about Tony coz
he's a very good actor.

The fact that he really looks...

so like van Gogh without wearing
a horrible fake orange
beard is exciting.

My reaction when I was first asked
to play Vincent was one of...

I was pleasantly surprised,
and I was a little scared

to be perfectly honest.
It was quite a...

I mean he's an incredible,

iconic figure, historical artistic
figure, loved and revered
by many people.

But it definitely was something
I wanted to be a part of,

especially with Richard
writing the episode.

That accent of yours.

You from Holland like me?
Yes. No.

She means yes.

We did discuss this.

Does he do it in a Scottish accent?
And somehow it just worked,
him doing it in his Scottish accent.

With Amy also being Scottish.
He elegantly gets past the fact
that we've got a Scottish Vincent.

But a Scottish Vincent van Gogh
wasn't the only line that the team
had to paint over.

Along with a flat-packed
TARDIS the cast and
crew travel to Croatia

to recreate the French region
of Provence.

The job of manning the TARDIS
during this mile long journey

was given to Facilities Co-ordinator
Bob Gurney.

How many miles left Bob?
. It's a long, long way.

Here we are in Croatia

filming episode ten,
Vincent and the Doctor.

This is a really cool scene
set in the scene of one of
van Gogh's paintings

"The Cafe Terrace"

So they made up this cafe
to look like the painting.

And it just looked incredible.
It really did look like the painting.

Coz in the scene I have a little book
of all van Gogh's paintings

and I was just holding it up to
the scene and it was exactly the
same. It was really cool!

He'll probably
be in the local cafe -

sort of orangey light,
chairs and tables outside.

Like this? That's the one.

Or indeed like that.

Yeah.

Creating van Gogh's night cafe for
the Doctor and Amy's first
encounter with Vincent

took more than just Orange-y
light and a few chairs
and tables outside.

Searching for the right location and
transforming it into the famous
th century painting

for this scene proved to be
a complicated assignment
for the Art Department.

Creating the cafe was quite
a long winded process.

We actually went 'round locations
about four or five times around Croatia

with a postcard book
and a laptop, with the
image of "The Cafe Terrace".

And we eventually found it and we're
very pleased how it ended up.

We, obviously had to put a big
awning up, we had to change
the windows,

we had to do in-fills for the
windows and the door.

And also make a platform
to put the chairs and tables on.

And the theme, there's another
blue doorway which we
married in as well,

And obviously a bit of foliage,
We just mashed up the painting
as best we could.

I come from Trogir, and
the last couple of days the whole

of Trogir has been dramatically
changed, it's beautiful.

This cafe is actually quite modern,
but now it's just, brought it back to
van Gogh's times to his paintings

and it's amazing what you guys
can do, you just came in and
just transformed the whole city.

The kids love it, the whole
town is talking about it.
And it's really, really nice.

It wasn't just the town of Trogir
that was transformed.

Doctor Who used local residents as
supporting artists.

but needed help to make sure
nothing was lost in translation.

We had a local guy who was an
Assistant Director, who spoke
very good English,

so he could pass on what we needed.

To add the final touches to the piece

period costumes were
needed for all of the cast.

For most of the supporting artists,
and especially for Vincent

I looked at all the colours in the
Vincent van Gogh paintings

and I looked at all the
kind of collars that he wore

coz he did quite a lot of
self portraits

Umm, the style of hats, it's all
taken from his paintings,

When I was choosing the clothes

I chose original French clothes,
as many as I could possibly find,

so when they were together
the just looked perfect.

Take 'A', camera one.
Action!

Like this? That's the one.

Or indeed like that.

Yes, exactly like that.

Good evening.

Does the name Vincent
van Gogh ring a bell?

Excuse me.

Do you know Vincent van Gogh?
Unfortunately.

Unfortunately?

Yes. He's drunk, he's mad
and he never pays his bills.

Good painter, though, eh?

THEY ALL LAUGH

So, so, so, he may not turn out
to be the easiest fellow in town.

Come on! Come on!

One painting for one drink.

That's not a bad deal.

It wouldn't be a bad deal if it
were any good. I can't put that
up on my wall.

It'd scare the customers
half to death.

It's bad enough you
being in here in person,

let alone looming over the customers
day and night with that stupid hat.
You pay money or you get out.

I'll pay. What?

Well, if you like.
I'll pay for the drink.

Exactly who are you?

Well I'm... new in town.

Well, in that case, you
don't know three things.

One, I pay for my own
drinks, thank you.

LAUGHTER

Two, no-one ever buys any of my
paintings or they would be
laughed out of town,

so if you want to stay in town, I
suggest you keep your cash to yourself.

And three, your friend's cute, but you
should keep your big nose out of other
people's business.

Now come on, just one more drink.
I'll pay tomorrow. No!

Or, on the other hand, slightly
more compassionately, yes.

Or, on the other hand, to protect my
business from madmen, no. Or?

Oh, look, just shut
up the pair of you!

I would like a bottle of wine, please,
which I will then share with
whomever I choose.

Cut there. Reset

While sh**ting on location,
the job of ensuring that all
the filming runs smoothly falls

on the shoulders of the team
of Assistant Directors.

The roll of a First Assistant
Director is working very
closely with the Director.

Basically the Director is given a script,
he has to tell the story.

The First Assistant Director has to
take that script,

and break it down,
and turn it into

a viable sh**ting schedule.

I work very closely with the
Director on the floor,

I stay with him, we're always
talking about things with
the Director of Photography

the Camera Department,
the Art Department,

You all right guys?

To keep the crew and the program
on schedule as far as I'm concerned,
is the most important thing.

Let's sh**t this, time for dinner.

And everything that needs to be done
filters down through my assistants.

My second A.D., James,

He works back at the unit base.

He's the link basically between
the production

and the sh**t.

It's sort of a co-ordinating role

I get in every day about half six
if we're on camera at eight I
get in at half six.

Meet the artists, get them through
cossie and make-up.

Right Confidential!

And I'm sort of a liaison between

if we're out on location and the
office letting them know any
schedule changes

It's like the eye of the storm.

The third assistant, Heddy

she works with me on the
floor all the time.

She's spreading the word out
to people that are perhaps not
directly on the set.

I work with James the second, and
whoever the first A.D. is on set,

and we all co-ordinate

the smooth running of things on set.

Normally Heddy and I are on radios
and we can hear each other

because of where we are and
because of the distance

I'm ringing up Heddy quite a bit, so
I'd love to know what my phone bill is.

It's probably really big.

She's on set all day,
I stay in the office and
I sometimes go to set.

And we just talk to each other,
so when she says we need
to travel artists

she'll ring me up.

If I've got to pass on a
message to any of the crew
or the first A.D.

I'll call her.

So we speak to each other
probably about times
a day on the phone.

In Trogir, everything was a walk away,

so in the mornings,
the second A.D. and I

would wait in the artists hotel
for them to have breakfast

and then we'd walk them
to costume, or to make-up

and then walk them to set.

So it was quite an unusual set-up.

It was very nice, everything was a
lovely stroll away.

It was very much a sense of
togetherness for all the cast and crew

because we were all there,
in one place at that one time.

All in circumstances that were
completely different to
what we were used to

and we just had to make it work.

And we all did make it work,
and we all enjoyed ourselves
while we were at it.

OK, background action!

Communication is a very big
part of our job.

Communication and motivating.

And at the end of the day, I love
to have a big smile on my face

knowing that we finished the day.
The Director's happy, the
crew are happy

and we all go home,
waiting for the next day's sh**t.

When bringing the complex historical
figure of Vincent van Gogh
back to life

the team had to exercise their
artistic licence very carefully.

When we go into real lives,

it's a curious thing you know,
we have to be very respectful
and mindful,

this is a real person we're meeting.
At the same time, this
is Doctor Who!

And it's also got to be,
partly, the icon.

The iconic version of them.

It's got to be positive,
we can't just go and trash
Vincent van Gogh

You've got to be respectful, but
at the same time you've got
to slightly primp the legend.

When I spoke to Richard Curtis on
the telephone

about the mental aspects,
I wanted obviously it's
Doctor Who

and a lot of children watch it,

but there's also the mental aspects
of Vincent van Gogh's life

which are inseparable

from his artistic achievements

that you have to deal with, and
it was something that I
said to Richard and Jonny

and they were like
"Yeah, absolutely it's
something we will deal on."

Not majorly, but just touching
on it, coz it is a very
sensitive subject.

You know. While I may be
mad, I'm not stupid.

No, quite.

And, to be honest...

.. not sure about mad either.

It seems to me depression
is a very complex...

Shh.

I'm working.

Well, yes.

I was very keen that
van Gogh should be

-dimensional in this, that
we shouldn't be saying...

here's the crazy guy with,
you know, one ear,

but that actually even though
we've tried to show sides of his

mental illness and all of that,
that you should come to love him.

I guess, like a lot of people I've
always admired and liked his work,

And...

knew a small amount about the man

and about his medical condition
or his genius through
his madness

or... vice-versa.

Oh, dear.

It was only when I started researching
it, and reading a lot of his letters

that I began to admire him even
more as a man

for the struggles that he went through.

He had epilepsy and a bi-polar
sort of a mental condition.

There was no-one at the time that
was basically helping him.

Vincent, can I help?

So yeah, there's nothing but
empathy towards what he
was going through.

Sort of the ultimate martyr
if you like.

It's so clear you cannot help.

I will be left once more with
an empty heart and no hope.

For me it was a great thing
to be a part of,

coz it definitely informs you more
about a man who was...

who wasn't just a great artist,
but I think an incredible
humanitarian as well.

I did a bit of research, I read a long
book it seemed to me, pages.

Although my girlfriend points out
about of them were,
in fact pictures.

LAUGHS

And, uhhh, I went and saw the
paintings a lot,

and I read some of the letters,

and I watched "Lust For Life"

So I did a fair amount, without
being an expert,

and I think if I'd really
made myself an expert

that would have made it
harder to write

because I wanted to be as true as
I can to the spirit of the man

but if you become obsessed by
details then you're

likely not to want to write
the monster bit.

I don't think the genius
of his art

could have been so compelling
if he hadn't have been
slightly insane.

It's colour.
Colour that holds the key.

I can hear the colours.

Listen to them.

Every time I step outside, I
feel nature is shouting at me.

"Come on. Come and
get me. Come on."

"Come on! Capture my mystery!"

Maybe you've had enough coffee now.

How about some nice calming tea?

Let's get you a cup of camomile
or something, shall we?

To paint a better portrait of the
real Vincent van Gogh

Doctor Who Confidential joined
Tony Curran at the
Getty Museum in L.A.

To meet up with curator Scott Allan,
and take a look at one of van Gogh's
most famous masterpieces.

I've lived in Los Angeles for or years

and as the entertainment capital
which is fine and all that,

but California itself is
an incredible state

and just to come up to the Getty here

I come up here quite often
just to

look at the art work

but it's an incredible place
just to be, just to

just to relax.

Situated in the hills of
Santa Monica, the
Jean-Paul Getty Museum

owns and exhibits important
major art works

and is home to one of the most
valued van Gogh paintings

"The Irises"

Architecturally the museum complements
the garden quite beautifully.

Absolutely, and they were designed very
much in concert with one another.

Over the space of many years in fact.

It's an incredible place, but it's
an amazing view of the whole of
Los Angeles as well.

This was painted maybe a year and
a few months before he d*ed.

That's right.

you were saying.

May of , and then it was the
following summer that
he sh*t himself.

Coz it is one of the many paintings
that he painted while
he was in the asylum.

This painting was done at
a particularly...

Low point.

Critical and poignant time
in his life,

in December of , about
months before he painted this

there was that infamous episode
in Arles in the south of France
where he cut his ear.

He was hospitalised

He had a few more bad episodes

in the coming months,
and eventually

just out of his own fear of
his encroaching mental illness

he checked himself in.

In many ways part of his
therapy, was his painting.

Absolutely.

And the garden was a little corner of
nature that was readily available to
him in the asylum.

For the first month or so he
wasn't going outside the walls

so you can just imagine him
encountering this little
patch of flowers.

I read somewhere that
Paul Gauguin said that...

van Gogh would maybe paint
or or paintings in the
time it took Gauguin to paint one.

If you think about it, he
was in the asylum for one year

and he painted canvases.

That is a lot, so that averages a
picture every , days.

So he's painting fast.

And a picture like this he
called a study of nature,

which would suggest
that is was

a fairly spontaneous and
impromptu thing

and at some level I
think it was, but

it's also a carefully
composed picture

and it's at a scale

this is a standard sized canvas
for the time

but it's a size that he normally
reserved for more

sort of, panoramic landscapes

so he was according a kind of

importance to this close-up
study of nature

that suggests that

he may have looked on it as
a more of a composed picture.

There's a quote that Camille
Pissarro said that

"He'd either go mad, or
artistically he'll leave
us all behind."

Maybe his artwork was ahead
of its time.

I think that's part of it, and also
because he was so far away from Paris.

And that's where the centre
of the Avant-garde was.

That's where all the dealers
working with those artists

The alternative exhibitions
that's where all of
that was happening

and he very purposefully
left that behind.

And so part of it is just...

you know really wishes that he

you know obviously didn't
k*ll himself

but had at least lived
a few extra years

because he would have
seen the fruits
of his efforts.

Because, already in the last
months of his life

there were some important
critical articles about him in Paris

Artists were showing real
interest in his work

which this picture, and the
famous "Starry Night"

which is in the Museum Of
Modern Art in New York.

Those were both shown at the
big independent

art salon, the Salon des
Indepandants in

and all the other avant-garde
artists were like 'this is
incredible stuff'.

If you stare at this long enough,
it's wonderful,
you do lose yourself in it.

I find anyway,
I think it's...

Well you look at it in the
context of the gallery

and the painting immediately
pops off the wall

compared with everything else

just with the intensity
of the colours

and also the really
sharp graphic quality

that everything is drawn with.

Thank you.
A pleasure.

Similar to van Gogh's love
of nature

the Getty central garden

considered a living art
work in itself,

combines art and nature together

and provides an area of natural beauty

for visitors to relax and reflect
on the museum's pieces.

The garden, which is really the central
feature of the whole Getty site,

is very much an integral
part of that experience,

and viewers go in for the art,

and then they come, they
can meander down the
garden path,

and certainly that would be
something that van Gogh himself
would have appreciated.

We get that sense of the
life and vitality of
nature in his art.

Absolutely.

Scott was saying that
the painting of "The Irises"
at the time

went for Francs,
whereas he showed me
a Monet

which was across the

across the hall, and
at the time that was going
for , Francs.

And he says that was the
difference because

van Gogh being down in
south of France

as opposed to living close
to Paris, to the salons

and also, the

You can have the talent,
which of course van Gogh had,

but he didn't have the
marketing... wherewithal,
as it were.

And that's something that...

That Scott said Monet and
many other artists had.

And, umm

I found that quite compelling.

Down in a wood in Croatia,

the crew get ready for a
face-to-face encounter with
the invisible monster,

and set up to perform their own
set of aerial gymnastics.

Cue the Krafayis.

Matt got quite a few bruises
on this particular episode,

coz he had to be...

jerked and pulled and thrown
over various things.

Needless to say, we have to
be very careful with the star.

Take , camera .

We did have a stunt double
to fill in certain gaps.

Set.
And, action!

So, in the first time the monster
hits the Doctor, that's Matt
being jerked to one side.

Vincent... oof!

Cut there.

A lot of my job is sitting down
with our latest brilliant
writer and say,

"Maybe the monster could
be invisible."

"Or really, really small,
or mist."

"Or look like a table."

When we finally get to that
hideous budget meeting.

The irony in Richard Curtis's
case is his monster
was already invisible.

I had nowhere to go!

It's not easy to fight an
invisible monster obviously.

Coz you can't see it.

And it's tricky to, ha-ha..

It's tricky to act it as well.

What, you can see him too?

Yes. - Ish!

Well. No! Not really.

The Krafayis, is attacking them.

Let me help you.

Vincent is very wary of
the Doctor.

But he actually has an
admiration for this

somewhat eccentric individual

who seems to have a sort of joy

for many things, that Vincent has.

I believe there are more wonders
in this universe,

than you could ever have dreamed of.

You don't have to tell me.

The Doctor tries to help Vincent.

He's at the window!

I'm going in!

Well, I'm coming too!

No! You're Vincent van Gogh!
No!

It's almost like Butch and Sundance.

Or like a buddy movie.

Duck!
Left!

AMY SCREAMS

Your right, sorry!

Where he realises that this guy
is actually on my side.

Your right, my left.

This is no good at all!

For once the Doctor is
confronted with a...

a monster he can't identify,

and he can't even see.

It's a great super power to be
invisible, then you discover
the monster's blind.

Can't see, it's blind.

And we're invisible to it.

Yes, and that explains why it has
such perfect hearing!

Which unfortunately also
explains why it is now

turning around and
heading straight for us.

Duck! Left!

What did he look like?

I told you, I couldn't see him!

BOTH SCREAM

Never do that!

You can see him, too?
Yes. Ish.

Where do you
think he is, you idiot?
Use your head.

You couldn't see him?
No.

The Krafayis in a sense is
a metaphor for

Vincent's mental state.

The first time the monster hits
the Doctor

that's Matt being jerked
to one side.

And the second time, when he
gets, basically thrown
over a table,

that's a combination of sh*ts
between Matt and the
stunt double.

We had a stunt co-ordinator, Crispin
and a stunt double, Gordon Seed there

to do the hits from the
monster on the Doctor.

At one point, the Krafayis
smacks the Doctor,

and we get Matt doing
the first part of
the move

then we put Gordon,
he basically jumps

backward onto a trampette

and flies backward
landing on safety mats.

Obviously not.

And then we pick the Doctor
falling into the sh*t

literally sliding into the sh*t,
carrying on.

It's always nice to get it all
in-camera, rather than
be reliant solely on CG.

The nd camera operator, Matt

said we should sh**t this
at frames-per-second.

And he was absolutely right.

He kind of ends up gliding
over the top,

before we cut back to Matt,
falling on the ground,

which he obviously did himself.

You can see him, too?

Yes. Ish.

Well, no. Not really.

CREATURE ROARS

You couldn't see him?

It's time to retreat from
sunny Croatia.

To a not so sunny Neath Abbey
in Wales.

For the final encounter with
the Krafayis.

It is NOT warm here!

It's the coldest December
in years.

He's from L.A.

[FAKES AMERICAN ACCENT]

Yeah, I'm from Los Angeles.
Obviously.

Well here we are in sunny

or rather snowy, Neath Abbey

Considering it's supposed
to be the summer in the
south of France,

but as you can see, it's
a little bit different.

What I had to do this morning was

sort of the end sequence

where van Gogh actually
kills the monster.

Get back!

Obviously we're gonna have
to CGI the monster, but
we have to create...

create it so that Tony, who plays
van Gogh has to be

pulled backwards, up in
the air.

Leaving his easel stuck
inside the monster

as if he's k*lled the
monster with his easel.

So we had to achieve all that
inside the Abbey.

Before Tony Curran is
strapped to the ceiling,

stunt man Gordon Seed has
to make sure that the wire
effect will go safely.

Well we had to so some line-ups,
we rigged and rehearsed
it yesterday

and we had rehearsal
with Gordon.

And - - , action!

GRUNTS

And we had a broom handle,
underneath the easel

long enough so that we could
physically push Tony

against his stomach, but
when we rehearsed it

he swings quite a lot

so we had to stop the
swinging motion

hence we're using the broom handle.

Action!

Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm fine.

And, action!

As you're pushing in...
you're flipping over.

We're getting the same
height aren't we?
We're actually a bit higher.

Action.

Have a little go.

OK, Bob.

Slightly slower, yeah?

Action.

With the safety checks completed

it's Tony Curran's turn to
step into the harness.

But he has obstacles of his
own to jump over.

I had a combination that
morning of food poisoning,

and jet-lag, because I'd

actually come back to America
for Christmas and New Year

so I flew back for the
last few scenes.

And I was like "I'm fine, I'm fine."

Jonny Campbell came in, he said
"Are you OK? Shall we do
some other scenes first?"

I said, "No, can we please just
get this out of the way?"

He showed me what we were
about to do,

and I was like,

"Are you serious?"

Coz I had a harness on
under my costume.

And I'd stick the fork in
the Krafayis,

not meaning to k*ll it,
just to wound it,
as it were.

and he ends up pushing me
feet up into the air.

And, action!

Vincent, what's happening?

It's charging.
Get back. Get back!

AMY SCREAMS

VINCENT GROANS

Oh no!

I didn't mean that.

I did some wire work before,
but I hadn't done wire work
while I've been that ill.

I think we got the sh*t,
which was the most
important thing.

LAUGHS

With the alien's defeat,
all that remains for
the Doctor and Amy to do

is to show Vincent what
becomes of his art
in the future.

Where are we?

Paris. AD.

And this is the
mighty Musee D'Orsay.

Home to many of the greatest
paintings in history.

Because it was such an emotional
high point of the story

it was important to find
a way of conveying

exactly how this would
impact on Vincent van Gogh

The idea came up of using
a turntable.

I think everyone thought
I was a bit bonkers,

and they probably felt
a bit silly on this.

The complicated thing was
co-ordinating everybody

and getting the cameras to move.

So we had sh*ts where

the actors were on the
turntable going around.

The actors would be static,
and the camera would be
going around.

One way and
then the other way,

so we get the impression of
us going around the actors.

It was a good sequence.

It works very well in
suggesting that the room
is spinning for Vincent.

And how would you take
on-board this immense

news about your art
being loved,

and seeing it framed in
this gallery?

The notion of bringing van Gogh
into that environment

and showing it to him, is
quite an overpowering one.

And it in fact, is in my opinion a
really good use of the TARDIS

to explore the 'What if?'

It was a huge emotional scene,
very tricky one for Tony Curran

to play, and to pitch
correctly.

Because how would you react,
if you thought yourself
almost a failure,

that you were actually liked
by that many people?

Where do you think van Gogh
rates in the history of art?

Well, to me, van Gogh is the
finest painter of them all.

Certainly, the most popular,
great painter of all time,

the most beloved.

The question that I thought,
was "Why?"

Why? Why did I become
this great artist?

When, when I was alive I was...

You know it's incredible, nobody
thought anything of me.

No-one had ever done it before.

Perhaps no-one ever will again.

To my mind, that strange,
wild man who roamed
the fields of Provence

was not only the world's
greatest artist,

but also one of the
greatest men who ever lived.

I think he definitely would have
been overjoyed to see that people

appreciated his work.
Most definitely.

Thank you, sir.
Thank you.

You're welcome.
You're welcome.

Sorry about the beard.

I think in those moments
where Doctor Who can,
does discuss the real world,

it doesn't always,
but when it does

we have to be incredibly
careful, coz we do have
a hero who is

an absolute paradigm
of wisdom

and gentleness,
and kindness

so we have to be right.

The truth is, if you make
something accessible and


appealing and interesting to
children, you simply have to
write it better.

That's all, you have
to make it better.

And clearer, and simpler.

I think if you're going to write
something about an artist

van Gogh's the most accessible artist.

That's one of the things
that makes him loved.

So I think it is a brilliant
depiction of depression.

But it's at the heart of a
wonderful, glorious, life
affirming

Doctor Who fable.

The only thing which might
slightly seem complicated
or oblique,

to a younger viewer
would be the question of
having a thought

about mental illness, but
you know it's such a
big subject in our

society. One in four people
suffering from depression at
some point in their lives.

Maybe it's not a bad idea to try
and introduce it young.

We have here the last
work of Vincent van Gogh,

who committed su1c1de at only .

If anybody who's watched it
has gone away with
that understanding

that they have to be considerate
and patient and interested in
people about mental complexities,

then that would be
great to me.

The real meat of this story
is the Doctor meeting
someone he can't save.

Because he can't save
people from themselves,

he can't do that, that's
beyond his power.

And even though he can at times,
rewrite time as Amy wants
him to at the end,

he can't do it, this time.

Because simply the demons that
assail Vincent, are far

far beyond the Doctor's reach.

That is very much what Richard
wanted to write about, and I think

daringly, and beautifully that's what's
realised in those absolutely heart
breaking final scenes.
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