Doctor Who: 11 Cool Details We Just Learned About Vincent And The Doctor
8. Curtis' Niece Did All The Van Gogh Research
Here's something that, as viewers, we don't often think about.
Whenever we're watching something that dives deep into a complex subject - whether it's The Big Short's look at the financial crisis, or even a historical drama like Lincoln, which goes into great detail about the life of a man who lived over a century ago - we don't tend to consider the screenwriter's knowledge on these particular subjects.
We don't think about where they might be getting their information, or whether it's something they already knew about. Are screenwriters experts on the topics they write about? Or do they have to spend several weeks Googling like a madman?
The answer is... a bit of both. In some cases it's the former, but in the case of Curtis' Vincent and the Doctor script, it's more the latter.
As revealed by the writer in a short tweet, he didn't really know everything he needed to know about the historical element of the episode, and so, he enlisted the help of his niece, who did that research on his behalf.