Curtis with a Dalek back in the day
With four episodes to go, things are really hotting up in the ‘whoniverse’. It looks like Rory is not just dead, but has been wiped from history forever, and that fiendish crack in time is getting ever closer to doing some serious damage to The Doctor, the Tardis and ‘who’ (may or may not) know what else?
As you’re probably already aware, Mr Rom-Com himself Richard Curtis has penned episode ten of series five (Vincent and The Doctor), but will his very ‘unique’ style help or hinder the dramatic tension as we near a cataclysmic finale? Is this really the time to be playing games with guest writers and doling out favours?
Now rumour has it Mr Curtis got the nod on this episode as a thank you from Steve Moffat. A thank you for what, you may ask? Well, Moff always wanted to work on Doctor Who as he confirmed in no uncertain terms in 2008, “My entire career has been a secret plan to get this job.” And guess who gave Steve Moffat his first writing credit on televised Doctor Who … yep, that’s right … it was 1999 and Comic Relief were making the official BBC spoof of the show (The Curse of Fatal Earth) … Richard Curtis was executive producer and he gave the writing job to Moff.
Now, as much as that show which starred Curtis’s old buddies Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Grant and Richard E Grant only consisted of four five minute episodes … it gave Moffat enough time to prove himself in the sci-fi writing chair and ultimately paved the way for him to eventually succeed Russell T Grant to the top job.
Look, I’m realistic … it’s the BBC where nepotism is rife … but surely Curtis should have been given an earlier episode to ‘play with’ rather than allowing him to stick his big cheesy pen into the death throws of an excellent and gripping series of the show.
We don’t know much about Vincent and The Doctor yet (I haven’t seen it, but will file a preview early next week.) It appears the episode will revolve around Van Gogh (played by Tony Curran) who The Doctor and Amy are compelled to travel to 1890 to meet after a shadowy incident whilst viewing the painting Church At Auvers in an art gallery.
Well the good thing is the show isn’t set in fairytale London, and Hugh Grant, Tim McInnerny and that lot aren’t billed (although Bill Nighy is set to appear!) … but hey … that could be the big surprise … maybe the crack was caused by the entire cast of Notting Hill‘s appearance fees trying to squeeze onto one page of a BBC production budget sheet?
I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen the show, but let’s hope Mr Moffat’s eagerness to please his old pal doesn’t cost him the support of his fans …
SPOILER: Here’s a few out-takes from the episode with Tony Curran, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan
Whatever prejudice you have against Curtis, please leave it out of reviews.
Seeing how Every Single Other Review for this episode is praising it greatly, yours stands out like a sore thumb – and the specific Anti-Curtis slant on it, only makes people frown at you, rather than the episode.
No, it’s Hugh Grant!
Is that you Richard?
You claim to reserve judgement, but the vitriol in your post appears to show your mind is already made up. You have already formed the judgement that Richard Curtis can in no way write an episode of Doctor Who.
As you grow up and mature, you will come to understand that it is always better to know the facts before having a rant. The question is what will you do if it turns out to be good? Will you put your hands up and say I was wrong, or will you slag it off anyway to save face?