In the 5th series of the New Doctor Who, the Doctor and Amy, having met Vincent van Gogh and dealt with the monster in his time stream, decide to bring the man, so tormented by his lack of acceptance and fears of inadequacies, temporarily into the present to show him the impact he makes on the world through his art.
Of course, it’s only a story, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is the sort of beautiful writing that you can sometimes spend years waiting for in TV shows. Tony Curran, who played an excellent Vincent van Gogh, absolutely shone in these scenes, providing an intensely emotional performance with barely a word said. The ever amazing Bill Nighy – such an adaptable actor – playing a slightly bumbling museum curator/guide turns in his best performance in the episode in these scenes too, fully conveying the reverential awe of a great artist.
I honestly believe it’s the best thing I’ve seen in Doctor Who ever:
(If you’re wondering, the song played in the background is Chances, by a UK band called Athlete.)
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[...] Music has a real power over me, particularly when combined with a secondary stimulus. I can watch a sad or poignant moment in a TV show and not be the slightest bit affected if it doesn’t have the right musical trigger. But once that trigger is there, it takes the most supreme of controls for me to not be deeply affected on multiple watches. One of the best examples of this came in “Vincent and the Doctor” (see here for the video of the section I’m talking about). [...]