The more I thought about it, the more I realized that what made "Vincent and the Doctor" one of my favorite eps of s5 was the fact that it was so loving (and that made me realize what made 5x08/09 "The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" feel a bit cold -- no pun intended ;) -- to me, everybody seemed a bit off their usual selves, more cranky, more chilly, even judgmental at times, all of which left me feeling even sadder than I would have anyway, given how "Cold Blood" ended). :(
But, despite the fact that "Vincent and the Doctor" dealt with serious issues and there was a great deal of melancholy to it, I loved it. And as I was watching it over, it occurred to me that there was a high level of affection displayed by all of the characters and that's what I think I was responding to. So, of course, I decided to take screencaps and share with the class. ;)
Note: I tried not to note every single time somebody touched somebody's shoulder or the like. But I'm not known for my powers of restraint when it comes to my fangirling, so there are 60+ pictures lurking beneath the cut. *blush*

Let's start with the Doctor giving VanGogh!fangirl!Amy a fond look. ;)

A bit of hand-holding as they admire the artwork... ;)


The Doctor and Amy see whut U did thar! O_O (Okay, so these two just made me giggle a bit, sorry. Moving along! ;) )


And now straight into the Amy/Vincent flirting! ;) With the Doctor doing his best *eyeroll* at them... ;)

Amy: *fangirls like mad at seeing a freshly painted Van Gogh original*

Hee, the Doctor posing oh-so-maturely to get his picture taken by his identification gizmo.

And yep, there he is, the Doctor. ;) I have to say, I've been loving the shout-outs to the earlier Doctors this series! This is the third time we've seen One, after all. ;)

5x01 "The Eleventh Hour" as part of the full line-up of previous Doctor incarnations.

5x06 "The Vampires of Venice" as the Doctor flashes his library card, lol! ;)
I think it's been a quite lovely way to bring in bits of Classic Who like that. ;) I hope we'll see a bit more of these little homages before s5 is done. ;)
But back to the ep on hand! ;)


I love Amy's barely restrained gleeful grin as she oh-so-casually suggests that Vincent might want to paint sunflowers. ;) Plus on a personal note, I LOVE sunflowers, they're my very favorite flower! \o/ [/cool story, bro] *coughs* ;)


Some arm-in-arm and hand-holding with Amy and Vincent as they walk. The poor Doctor looks thoroughly left out there, doesn't he? :( Granted, he's looking sad because of what they're talking about (which is that Vincent can tell that Amy has lost someone recently and of course, Amy can't remember Rory after his body was taken into the crack last ep and his entire existence was unwritten for everybody except the Doctor :( ). But just looking at the cap without that as reference he just looks like:
Doctor: "Why no hand-holding for meeeee?" *sadface* :(
*pets him* ;)

Doctor: *reassuring shoulder squeeze as Vincent prepares to start painting*

Doctor: "Is this how time normally passes? Realllly slooowly..."
*gigglesnort* I love how he can barely take having to sit still for an hour or two, lol! Plus, this is just a lovely shot, isn't it? ♥!
But finally, he gets to spring into action! ;)



Doctor: "Amy? Only one thought, one simple instruction: don't follow me under any circumstances."
Amy: (solemn) "I won't."
Doctor: *thumbs up*

Vincent: "Will you follow him?"
Amy: "Of course!"
Vincent: "I love you."


A bit of a sad moment here as the Doctor forgets and says, "Amy, Rory..." :( But what's odd is that he calls Vincent "Amy" and Amy "Rory!" O_O He says her name in the first cap as he's looking at Vincent, then says his name in the second as he's looking at her, lol! Poor Doctor really IS having a tough time here! ;)
He needs more hand-holding, yep. *nods and pets him again* ;)
And speaking of hand-holding, here's one of my most fav scenes in the ep...




As they each join hands to watch the sky transform as Vincent explains how he sees the world.

The maker of this lovely GIF is unknown, sorry. :(


Poor Vincent, so happy not only to have friends but to have people who appreciate his unique vision. :( *hugs him*


Now it's time for the Doctor and Amy to make their goodbyes to Vincent. I love that shot of the Doctor watching Amy and Vincent. You can just see the compassion in his eyes.

Vincent: "Doctor, my friend. We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own I fear I may not do as well."

And of course, the Doctor knows very well that he will not. :(


So they decide to show him the TARDIS. I love their glee at his "What the--?" reaction. ;)
Vincent: "How come I'm the crazy one and you two have stayed sane?"



Traveling in the TARDIS, woo! \o/ Such happiness on their faces, aww. :)

I LOVE how Vincent is all excited, thinking he's going to get to see some cool artwork from the future! This was played so nicely, you could tell he never in a million years expected to see his own work featured there.


And he's just overwhelmed by the fact that his art mattered, that all of the respect he never got in his own time has now been given to him now in spades.
I know a lot of people complained about the sort of rock/pop montage thing that went on in the scene as Vincent is silently taking it all in. Me? I loved it. Could just be my vidding roots showing but there's little that can give me an emotional punch more than well-timed music. ;) Of course, your mileage may vary and all of that. ;) (And maybe you just didn't care for the song. That happens. ;) )

(O HAI, Bill Nighy, we see yoooooo back there... ;) Ahem. ;) )
As Doctor Black in the background tells the Doctor and Amy that he personally not only considered Van Gogh to be "the world's greatest artist but also one of the greatest men who ever lived," Vincent cries, overwhelmed.


The Doctor hugs Vincent, Vincent hugs Doctor Black. It's just a beautiful moment that every person who's EVER thought that they didn't matter to the world, that they're forgettable and worthless, deserves to have. To hear that they matter, that they created something that lived on long after their own lives were over. What a wonderful thing for the Doctor and Amy to give Vincent. *sniffle*
And now a montage of hugging and smiling as the Doctor and Amy return an enthusiastic Vincent to his own time...






An equally enthusiastic Amy back in the present, so excited to see all of the hundreds of new Van Gogh paintings that will appear because she knows that now Vincent never would've taken his own life, not after their time together.

Amy's hopeful expression...

...falls. There were no new paintings. The outcome hadn't changed.
The Doctor consoles her...




Doctor: "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa. The bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things."

More hand-holding, awww, as Amy sees that they did make a difference.





I really loved the way they handled this ep. Depression and mental illness have no magical cure and, as much as I kinda had *hopeful eyes* like Amy did as she rushed into the museum, that would've been a cheap and ultimately dishonest answer. What I thought was very cool was that they showed that even if despair can never be "cured," that doesn't mean that there still aren't moments of hope and of joy, moments where the sun breaks through the dark clouds and the world comes alive in all of its brilliance.

Even in the darkness, there is light. That's the ultimate theme this episode had for me.
Thanks so much for indulging my need to screencap the affectionate moments in this ep and ramble at you about why I enjoyed them and just in general be a bit of a sap. ;) ♥!
But, despite the fact that "Vincent and the Doctor" dealt with serious issues and there was a great deal of melancholy to it, I loved it. And as I was watching it over, it occurred to me that there was a high level of affection displayed by all of the characters and that's what I think I was responding to. So, of course, I decided to take screencaps and share with the class. ;)
Note: I tried not to note every single time somebody touched somebody's shoulder or the like. But I'm not known for my powers of restraint when it comes to my fangirling, so there are 60+ pictures lurking beneath the cut. *blush*

Let's start with the Doctor giving VanGogh!fangirl!Amy a fond look. ;)

A bit of hand-holding as they admire the artwork... ;)


The Doctor and Amy see whut U did thar! O_O (Okay, so these two just made me giggle a bit, sorry. Moving along! ;) )


And now straight into the Amy/Vincent flirting! ;) With the Doctor doing his best *eyeroll* at them... ;)

Amy: *fangirls like mad at seeing a freshly painted Van Gogh original*

Hee, the Doctor posing oh-so-maturely to get his picture taken by his identification gizmo.

And yep, there he is, the Doctor. ;) I have to say, I've been loving the shout-outs to the earlier Doctors this series! This is the third time we've seen One, after all. ;)

5x01 "The Eleventh Hour" as part of the full line-up of previous Doctor incarnations.

5x06 "The Vampires of Venice" as the Doctor flashes his library card, lol! ;)
I think it's been a quite lovely way to bring in bits of Classic Who like that. ;) I hope we'll see a bit more of these little homages before s5 is done. ;)
But back to the ep on hand! ;)


I love Amy's barely restrained gleeful grin as she oh-so-casually suggests that Vincent might want to paint sunflowers. ;) Plus on a personal note, I LOVE sunflowers, they're my very favorite flower! \o/ [/cool story, bro] *coughs* ;)


Some arm-in-arm and hand-holding with Amy and Vincent as they walk. The poor Doctor looks thoroughly left out there, doesn't he? :( Granted, he's looking sad because of what they're talking about (which is that Vincent can tell that Amy has lost someone recently and of course, Amy can't remember Rory after his body was taken into the crack last ep and his entire existence was unwritten for everybody except the Doctor :( ). But just looking at the cap without that as reference he just looks like:
Doctor: "Why no hand-holding for meeeee?" *sadface* :(
*pets him* ;)

Doctor: *reassuring shoulder squeeze as Vincent prepares to start painting*

Doctor: "Is this how time normally passes? Realllly slooowly..."
*gigglesnort* I love how he can barely take having to sit still for an hour or two, lol! Plus, this is just a lovely shot, isn't it? ♥!
But finally, he gets to spring into action! ;)



Doctor: "Amy? Only one thought, one simple instruction: don't follow me under any circumstances."
Amy: (solemn) "I won't."
Doctor: *thumbs up*

Vincent: "Will you follow him?"
Amy: "Of course!"
Vincent: "I love you."


A bit of a sad moment here as the Doctor forgets and says, "Amy, Rory..." :( But what's odd is that he calls Vincent "Amy" and Amy "Rory!" O_O He says her name in the first cap as he's looking at Vincent, then says his name in the second as he's looking at her, lol! Poor Doctor really IS having a tough time here! ;)
He needs more hand-holding, yep. *nods and pets him again* ;)
And speaking of hand-holding, here's one of my most fav scenes in the ep...




As they each join hands to watch the sky transform as Vincent explains how he sees the world.

The maker of this lovely GIF is unknown, sorry. :(


Poor Vincent, so happy not only to have friends but to have people who appreciate his unique vision. :( *hugs him*


Now it's time for the Doctor and Amy to make their goodbyes to Vincent. I love that shot of the Doctor watching Amy and Vincent. You can just see the compassion in his eyes.

Vincent: "Doctor, my friend. We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own I fear I may not do as well."

And of course, the Doctor knows very well that he will not. :(


So they decide to show him the TARDIS. I love their glee at his "What the--?" reaction. ;)
Vincent: "How come I'm the crazy one and you two have stayed sane?"



Traveling in the TARDIS, woo! \o/ Such happiness on their faces, aww. :)

I LOVE how Vincent is all excited, thinking he's going to get to see some cool artwork from the future! This was played so nicely, you could tell he never in a million years expected to see his own work featured there.


And he's just overwhelmed by the fact that his art mattered, that all of the respect he never got in his own time has now been given to him now in spades.
I know a lot of people complained about the sort of rock/pop montage thing that went on in the scene as Vincent is silently taking it all in. Me? I loved it. Could just be my vidding roots showing but there's little that can give me an emotional punch more than well-timed music. ;) Of course, your mileage may vary and all of that. ;) (And maybe you just didn't care for the song. That happens. ;) )

(O HAI, Bill Nighy, we see yoooooo back there... ;) Ahem. ;) )
As Doctor Black in the background tells the Doctor and Amy that he personally not only considered Van Gogh to be "the world's greatest artist but also one of the greatest men who ever lived," Vincent cries, overwhelmed.


The Doctor hugs Vincent, Vincent hugs Doctor Black. It's just a beautiful moment that every person who's EVER thought that they didn't matter to the world, that they're forgettable and worthless, deserves to have. To hear that they matter, that they created something that lived on long after their own lives were over. What a wonderful thing for the Doctor and Amy to give Vincent. *sniffle*
And now a montage of hugging and smiling as the Doctor and Amy return an enthusiastic Vincent to his own time...






An equally enthusiastic Amy back in the present, so excited to see all of the hundreds of new Van Gogh paintings that will appear because she knows that now Vincent never would've taken his own life, not after their time together.

Amy's hopeful expression...

...falls. There were no new paintings. The outcome hadn't changed.
The Doctor consoles her...




Doctor: "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things but vice versa. The bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things."

More hand-holding, awww, as Amy sees that they did make a difference.





I really loved the way they handled this ep. Depression and mental illness have no magical cure and, as much as I kinda had *hopeful eyes* like Amy did as she rushed into the museum, that would've been a cheap and ultimately dishonest answer. What I thought was very cool was that they showed that even if despair can never be "cured," that doesn't mean that there still aren't moments of hope and of joy, moments where the sun breaks through the dark clouds and the world comes alive in all of its brilliance.

Even in the darkness, there is light. That's the ultimate theme this episode had for me.
Thanks so much for indulging my need to screencap the affectionate moments in this ep and ramble at you about why I enjoyed them and just in general be a bit of a sap. ;) ♥!