# Doc Martin \[British TV series\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332 "2013-12-28T01:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/1 "2013-12-28T01:56:32Z")
Currently showing on PBS. Anyone watching it? Or maybe you saw it when it came out in 2007? I’ve taped the first four episodes and I’ve just started watching number one. The doc is a quirky, awkward sort of fellow. I can’t tell where the show going. A lot of people in the village seem to be coughing. Plague, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/2 "2013-12-28T02:17:32Z")
It’s a brilliant show. They are starting to repeat past seasons on some PBS stations in anticipation of the 6th season (series in the UK), which recently finished airing in the UK and will probably air later this year on PBS. (I was just reading about the new season this morning at Television without Pity.) It’s a hugely popular show around the world, in both the original UK version and various versions filmed in other countries. If you don’t mind potential spoilers, here are some previous threads: [British Dopers: Tell me about Doc Martin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=508651) [So, does Doc Martin have Asperger’s Syndrome?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=529724) [Doc Martin - short question with minimal spoilers?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=661591) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/3 "2013-12-28T03:14:55Z")
Thanks for the links. 🙂 I thought there might be earlier threads, but I can’t seem to search on my kindle. . ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/4 "2013-12-28T08:09:26Z")
We started watching Doc Martin the last time they began from Season One on PBS (earlier this year?) and quickly got hooked and watched all of the episodes in every season they showed, which I believe is through season six? I know they are either starting to film, or starting to air the newest season in the UK, and am looking forward to when it comes to PBS here. A great, quirky series with lots of laughs - and you really get to know and care for the characters. Stick with it and watch them all - you won’t regret it! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/5 "2013-12-29T00:26:24Z")
I have a question about the first “prequel” movie: Toward the end, it looked like he was getting back together with his wife, and they were standing on the railroad platform waiting for the train to London when he suddenly changed his mind and decided to stay in Cornwall. I must have missed something, because I don’t understand why he changed his mind. Did he see his wife get a text from one of her lovers or what? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/6 "2013-12-29T00:34:44Z")
Love the show. Would love to visit the village its set in, but read somewhere that they film during the few days of sun the town gets. And, please, why did he not get on the train? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/7 "2013-12-29T00:51:55Z")
I don’t follow it but I’ll watch it if there’s nothing else on that tickles my fancy. I quite like it. I especially like Martin Clunes playing a character vastly different to the Men Behaving Badly character he was previously most famous for playing. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/8 "2013-12-29T01:27:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I have a question about the first “prequel” movie: Toward the end, it looked like he was getting back together with his wife, and they were standing on the railroad platform waiting for the train to London when he suddenly changed his mind and decided to stay in Cornwall. > > I must have missed something, because I don’t understand why he changed his mind. Did he see his wife get a text from one of her lovers or what? 😕 It really doesn’t matter because they drop the whole wife thing in season one. In fact, the pilot and the series are barely related to each other. Only the main character (the town) is the same, they changed about everything else. In the retooled series, Dr. Ellingham moves to Port Wenn when he had to give his surgical practice because of a recently acquired blood phobia. No marital angst. No current or ex-wife. MUCH better show. My favorite since I came out of mourning for Breaking Bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/9 "2013-12-29T02:13:33Z")
The first four seasons are great. After that it turns absolutely terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/10 "2013-12-29T03:10:29Z")
I think I agree with that. Series 5 is the one that introduces Martin and Louisa’s baby and Aunt Joan dies (offscreen, I believe) in the first episode. Aunt Joan was an important character who served to ground Martin. ---
**Author:** ![scuro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@scuro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scuro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/11 "2013-12-29T04:05:36Z")
Love Doc Martin. Seen every show of the series. They aren’t making anymore, are they? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/12 "2013-12-29T04:28:57Z")
> [@scuro](#): > > Love Doc Martin. Seen every show of the series. They aren’t making anymore, are they? AFAIK no decision has been announced yet on a 7th series one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/13 "2013-12-29T18:22:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The first four seasons are great. After that it turns absolutely terrible. I agree, the reboot to the series from the movies made it interesting, Though the movies I enjoyed as long as I treated them as something entirely different [sort of like the difference between watching an episode of Herculese and the Harryhausen Jason and the Argonauts covering the same materials.] I really did not like the dumbassed blond idiot that was the receptionist in the first season, one grating personality in a series is enough. And the dog got annoying after a while. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/14 "2013-12-29T18:54:19Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > AFAIK no decision has been announced yet on a 7th series one way or the other. According to Wikipedia (and they never lie): “On 5 March 2012, Clunes revealed in an interview on The Alan Titchmarsh Show that a sixth series has been commissioned and will air in late 2013. In a press release by ITV on the 22 October 2012 it was revealed that 8 episodes had been commissioned. On 2 September 2013, Clunes stated on Daybreak that if the sixth series does well, they shall carry on with the series.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/15 "2014-06-04T19:15:35Z")
I would very much like to know if anyone familiar with this show can tell me which receptionist is worse than the other? I believe that if I had to have one of them as my receptionist, I would def lose my mind. Is Pauline (played by Katherine Parkinson) worse than her cousin Elaine (played by Lucy Punch) or vice versa? Lucy Punch is a wonderful comedienne. But both of these ladies could easily contend for the worst receptionist ever conceived. I’m just certain that one is def worse than the other. I have my opinion. But I’d love to hear yours. If you like, you can base your opinion on the number of times they have been fired and that has been indeed substantial. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/16 "2014-06-04T19:32:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Currently showing on PBS. > > Anyone watching it? Or maybe you saw it when it came out in 2007? > I’ve taped the first four episodes and I’ve just started watching number one. > The doc is a quirky, awkward sort of fellow. I can’t tell where the show going. A lot of people in the village seem to be coughing. Plague, maybe? The doc appears to have Asperger’s Syndrome. It is a syndrome where adults just don’t seem to care about other peoples’ feelings. It’s really pretty sad and sometimes it makes it hard to understand how they can possibly function in our modern society. However, for some reason, they seem to be able to muddle through without the need for a whole lot of advice. I cannot understand how it is that the doctor does not seem to be able to understand just how these two women understand how to relate to his patients. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/18 "2014-06-05T06:37:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > The first four seasons are great. After that it turns absolutely terrible. Sorry. But I disagree. It changes after he gets married. But it changes for the better IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/19 "2014-06-05T19:38:04Z")
It’s interesting that a lot of the people on the SD seem to like this show (I’ve seen it mentioned quite a few times). In England it’s a Sunday evening ITV drama, the kind your granny would watch. When I was in Cornwall last year, in the town where Doc Martin is filmed there was a whole shop for Doc Martin merchandise, and they also advertised Doc Martin tours. There weren’t many people in the shop (they also sold honey, which was why I there) but those who stayed were American. Is it actually good, or is just a bit quaint? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/20 "2014-06-05T22:27:19Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Is it actually good, or is just a bit quaint? Why can’t it be both, like the late Earl Warren? America has grannys, too.🙂 Sometimes, a nice, quaint show is just what the doctor ordered (so to speak). Martin isn’t as obnoxious as House. The townsfolk are interesting without being _Northern Exposure_ levels of quirkiness. But take anything from me for what it’s worth - I watch Law and Order: UK, even though almost all the plots are direct adaptations of American L&O episodes. I like the UK take on things. It give a show a certain, (how do the French say it?), “I don’t know what.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332/21 "2014-06-06T05:00:25Z")
I think it can be enjoyed on several levels. One of the more adult level deals with the psychological struggle this man has. His parents found him to be basically a “nuisance” while he was a child and so they sent him away from home as much as possible so that they could live their lives without him. In the winter season they shipped him off to a boarding school. In the summer they shipped him off to live with his aunt in a very remote and rural English town called Portwend. As a result, this boy grew up without any friends. He got bullied. He didn’t understand how to talk with people (of any age) and he didn’t understand human relations. He was a lot like the Mr. Spock from the TOS - or what we thought Spock should be like. He was extremely intelligent and applied himself to his studies and became a leading surgeon in London. But he also had some phobias prob the result of his extreme lonliness. He wet the bed. He got sick at the sight or smell of blood and some other things. But, deep down, he was a truly caring person. When the shit hit the fan and someone’s life was at stake, he would come through and do all kinds of amazing things to save them. There are two other levels I can identify as well. One is for children and one is for adolescents growing up. But maybe someone else will explain those. I am getting really tired now. Sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-british-tv-series/677332.md?page=2)