Doc Martin

Doc Martin
Created by	Dominic Minghella
Starring	Martin Clunes Caroline Catz Ian McNeice Joe Absolom John Marquez Selina Cadell Jessica Ransom Annabelle Apsion Stephanie Cole Katherine Parkinson Louise Jameson Eileen Atkins
Theme music composer	Colin Towns
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	62 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Philippa Braithwaite
Running time	50–92 minutes
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	576i (2004–2009) 1080i (2009–present)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	2 September 2004 (2004-09-02) – present (present)
External links
Website

Doc Martin is a British television medical comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Dominic Minghella^[1] after the character of Dr Martin Bamford in the 2000 comedy film Saving Grace.^[2] The show is set in the fictional seaside village of Portwenn and filmed on location in the village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, England, with most interior scenes shot in a converted local barn.

Seven series aired between 2004 and 2015, and a television film aired on Christmas Day 2006. The eighth and most recent series began airing on ITV on 20 September 2017, and streams in the United States and Canada on Acorn TV. An American TV remake of the series is also being planned.^[3] While it was initially reported that the series would end after Series 9 in 2019, Martin Clunes clarified that it had only been commissioned as far as the next year, thereby not ruling out future plans by the broadcaster.^[4]

Plot

Dr Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes), a brilliant and successful vascular surgeon at Imperial College London, develops haemophobia (a fear of blood), forcing him to stop practising surgery. He obtains a post as the sole general practitioner (GP) in the sleepy Cornish village of Portwenn, where he had spent childhood holidays with his Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole), who owns a local farm. Upon arriving in Portwenn – where, to his frustration, the locals address him as "Doc Martin" – he finds the surgery (medical clinic) in chaos and inherits an incompetent receptionist, Elaine Denham (Lucy Punch). In Series 2–4, she is replaced by Pauline Lamb (Katherine Parkinson), a new receptionist, and later also a phlebotomist. In Series 5, Morwenna Newcross (Jessica Ransom) takes up the post.

The show revolves around Ellingham's interactions with the local Cornish villagers. Despite his medical excellence, Ellingham is grouchy, pugnacious, and lacks social skills. His direct, emotionless manner offends many of the villagers, made worse by his invariably unpleasant responses to their ignorant, often foolish, comments. They perceive him to be hot-tempered and lacking in a bedside manner, whereas he feels he is performing his duties in a professional and by-the-book manner, not wasting time chatting. Ellingham is very deadpan and dresses formally in a business suit and tie, regardless of the weather or the occasion, and he never takes off his jacket, even when delivering babies. He does not smoke and has no hesitation in pointing out the risks of unhealthy behaviours, both in private and in public gatherings.

Doc Martin is filmed in the Cornish village of Port Isaac

The villagers eventually discover his fear of blood, and the frequent and debilitating bouts of nausea and vomiting it causes. In spite of this handicap, Ellingham proves to be an expert diagnostician and responds effectively to various emergencies in his medical practice; thus, he gradually gains grudging respect from his neighbours. Ellingham's aunt, Joan Norton (Stephanie Cole), provides emotional support in the face of the controversy among the villagers caused by his impatient manner. When she dies after a heart attack, her sister Ruth (Eileen Atkins), a retired psychiatrist, comes to Portwenn to take care of her affairs, and eventually decides to use the village as a permanent retreat, offering Martin the support Joan had provided.

Ellingham finds it difficult to express his developing romantic feelings towards primary school teacher Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz). He often spoils rare tender moments with, for example, a comment about an unpleasant medical condition or by requesting a stool sample. Martin eventually proposes to Louisa, but on the day of their wedding they suddenly break their engagement. Louisa leaves for a job in London; returning after six months, visibly pregnant with Martin's child. When the child is born, the couple renew their relationship. Following much indecision, Martin resolves to remain in Portwenn and marries Louisa, but continued arguments relating to his insensitive nature lead to their becoming estranged again. In Series 7, Louisa lives in Martin's surgery with their baby James Henry, while Martin boards in the village and sees a therapist for his inability to form and maintain relationships.

Cast and Characters

Episodes

Eight series totaling 62 episodes aired on ITV in the UK between 2004 and 2017. Episodes are just under 50 minutes long, except for the 2006 TV film which is 92 minutes. In the US, American Public Television provided the 2006 TV film as a two-part episode, with the second episode airing the week after the first.

Reception

Adaptations

Notro Films produced a Spanish version under the title Doctor Mateo for Antena 3 Televisión. It aired in 2009 and was shot in Lastres, Asturias, called the fictional village of San Martín del Sella. French television producers Ego Productions, in cooperation with TF1, have produced a French version of the series starring Thierry Lhermitte as Dr Martin Le Foll, with the series based in the fictional Breton town of Port-Garrec.^[8][9]

In Germany, Doktor Martin, an adaptation of the original series, airs on ZDF with Axel Milberg as Doktor Martin Helling,^[10] a surgeon from Berlin. The counterpart of Portwenn was the real village of Neuharlingersiel in East Frisia. In Greece, Kliniki Periptosi, an adaptation of the original series, was aired in November 2011 on Mega Channel with Yannis Bezos as Markos Staikos, a surgeon from New York.

In the Netherlands Dokter Tinus based on the original series began airing in late August 2012 on SBS6, with the main role being played by actor Thom Hoffman. The series was shot in Woudrichem. A Russian version is mentioned in the Series 5 DVD bonus material. In 2014, Czech Television began filming their own TV series starring Miroslav Donutil, which is heavily inspired by the original British series.^[11] The series started to air from 4 September 2015. The Czech version is set in the Beskydy mountains, which is a picturesque area in the east of the Czech Republic, like Portwenn, a long way from the capital, Prague, and dependent on the tourist industry.^[12]

As of January 2016, an American remake of the show is being planned, led by Marta Kauffman, co-creator of the successful TV show Friends.^[3]

Home media releases

Series 1, 2 and 3 and "On the Edge" were released separately in Region 1 and 2 and in the "complete Series 1 to 3" box set. Series 3 was released on 2 February 2010 and Series 4 was released in Region 1 and 2 on 6 July 2010. Series 5 was released in Region 1 on 5 June 2012 and Region 2 on 5 March 2012. A complete boxset of Series 1-5 is also available in Region 2. Series 6 of Doc Martin was released in Region 1 in December 2013 and in the UK (Region 2) on 24 March 2014. Series 7 of Doc Martin was released on DVD/Blu-ray in Region 1 on December 8, 2015 and in the UK (Region 2) on 16 November 2015.

In Region 4, Series 1, 2, 4, and "On the Edge" were released separately and in a nine-disc boxset entitled "Doc Martin: Comedy Cure", as well as an earlier seven-disc boxset not including Series 4. The two Sky Pictures telefilms were individually released in Region 4 (as 'Doc Martin: volume 1' and 'Doc Martin: volume 2, the Legend of the Cloutie') on the Magna Pacific label, but are now out-of-print. Series 1-8 are streaming on Acorn TV in the U.S. and Canada. The show is available on Netflix. Series 1-6 are currently available on Amazon Prime Video.

Novels

Two novels were released to coincide with the sixth series.^[13]

See also

• Becker, an American TV sitcom series featuring a misanthropic doctor in the Bronx borough of New York City
• Northern Exposure, an American TV sitcom series about a big city internal medicine specialist being sent to a small Alaskan village to repay his medical school scholarship

References

External links