# Doc Martin - short question with minimal spoilers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045 "2012-08-10T03:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/21 "2012-09-01T18:46:00Z")
I’m rather late to the party, but thanks to a recommendation from my British brother-in-law, I am addicted to this gentle, charming, witty gem. Doc Martin is an insufferable arrogant ass who I can’t help but love. Physically he looks like a fat lipped fish with protruding ears. > **[About Doc Martin - British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/doc_martin/about/)** > > An article about the British comedy Doc Martin. “Doctor Martin Ellingham” hates dogs with a passion (a devoted dog will not leave his side), has a blood phobia/anxiety (he’s a surgeon), and he is a brilliant physician, even when he is making a wrong diagnosis. However, as wonderful and quirky as the lead character is, it is the richness and variety of the townspeople who really make this show watchable. The British have an unfair wealth of character actors. The script writers manage to develop new and returning characters that are so real that it seems I have met them myself. Set your DVR and thank me later. ---
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/22 "2012-09-01T18:57:08Z")
“Bert, it’s been a long day. Take two aspirin and insult me in the morning.” ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/23 "2012-09-01T19:53:47Z")
Not trying to spike your enjoyment, but the two or three episodes I watched took the concept of “meeting cute” and expanded it to fill an entire show. A doctor who’s terrified of blood? A dog hater who ends up caring for an adorable pooch? A tough minded, learned dude who can’t fire his dangerous, idiotic receptionist because her friends snub the town’s only doctor? And that’s not to mention the actual “meeting cute” sequence where the comely teacher thinks the new doctor is ogling her, but it turns out he is really saving her from going blind. Tastes vary. ---
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/24 "2012-09-01T20:01:56Z")
Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/25 "2012-09-01T20:50:25Z")
**Pinkyvee** : We just had a “Doc Martin” thread a few weeks ago, which I remember because I’m also a fan. I took the liberty of merging your thread into that one. ---
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/26 "2012-09-01T20:59:38Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **Pinkyvee** : We just had a “Doc Martin” thread a few weeks ago, which I remember because I’m also a fan. I took the liberty of merging your thread into that one. Thanks. You know… I did search “Doc Martin” in Cafe forum and did not get this thread as a result. Weird. Again, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/27 "2012-09-02T04:23:22Z")
Chicago’s WTTW aired the Doc Martin movie tonight. Completely different townspeople and backstory, but an _immensely_ more likeable Doc Martin character. Seems odd that for the the TV series they decided to make him so utterly unredeemable in every way except diagnostic expertise. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/28 "2013-04-02T20:57:40Z")
Sorry to revive this zombie thread, but my SO and I just sort of discovered this show and have watched the first season (at least I think it is first season - he moved to village and sets up office). We like this series a lot! Glad to hear that there are more seasons, and hope our local PBS starts showing them soon. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/29 "2013-04-02T22:30:53Z")
Everyone who tries this show gets hooked on it right away. I’m glad it’s still being discovered. There’s a sixth series in the works, I understand. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/30 "2013-04-03T00:03:19Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Sorry to revive this zombie thread, but my SO and I just sort of discovered this show and have watched the first season (at least I think it is first season - he moved to village and sets up office). > > We like this series a lot! > > Glad to hear that there are more seasons, and hope our local PBS starts showing them soon. If you can’t wait, and have Amazon Prime, all seasons are available free through Amazon Instant Video (after catching a few episodes on PBS, that’s how I caught up on the entire series). ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/31 "2013-04-03T00:58:36Z")
Just watched S5 and enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/32 "2013-04-03T02:07:21Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Yes, he started in Saving Grace. > > And then he started in a TV Movie, which is the same character kind of doing the same thing (for different reasons, I think he walks away from a london practice because his wife is unfaithful in that one) as a standalone thing. > > They then rebooted it into a series, where he came to Cornwall for different reasons (hates the sight of blood). The character in that one is much more socially stinted and yes its a long struggle and a number of false starts before he gets together with Loisa including getting her pregnant the deciding to go back to London… I viewed some episodes before he connected with Louisa. I have not seen any episodes of Doc Martin with Louisa. Somebody please outline the progression of their affair to the matrimonial level. A timeline perhaps of the relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/33 "2013-04-03T02:10:16Z")
Anyone else notice that in season 4 Louisa started calling herself Louiser? Yes, I know that Al, Bert, and later, PC Penhale have always pronounced it this way, and I understand that those with the old Cornwall (or West Country) accent do this as well, but if you look back at earlier seasons, Caroline Catz pronounced her character’s name Louisa. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2013, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/34 "2013-04-03T09:53:53Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Anyone else notice that in season 4 Louisa started calling herself Louiser? > > Yes, I know that Al, Bert, and later, PC Penhale have always pronounced it this way, and I understand that those with the old Cornwall (or West Country) accent do this as well, but if you look back at earlier seasons, Caroline Catz pronounced her character’s name Louisa. When she is conversing with her posh London friend her posh friend says that she is getting posher sounding because of all the rich people she teaches the children of while Louisa is starting to sound more rustic. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/35 "2013-04-03T10:17:08Z")
Just to give one of the other channels it’s due, Doc Martin isn’t a BBC show - you may have guessed that from the length (commercial tv). It’s an ITV show. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/36 "2013-05-05T17:44:50Z")
We are still watching, and I was surprised to see we are already through half of season three on our local PBS. I hope they keep going! Funny segment of the most recent episode: Doc: If you keep smoking, you will die. Patient: My granny smoked a pipe every day until she was 93. Doc: And then she died. Patient: No - she lost her pipe. Great series and happy to see they are filming yet another season. ---
**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, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/37 "2014-06-05T06:28:04Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > Doc Martin was a fairly minor character in _[Saving Grace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195234/)_. Well worth the effort. > > What gets me is that Martin Clunes seems to be making a mid-term career out of stuffy straight-laced characters (Doc Martin, [The Man Who Lost His Head](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Lost_His_Head)) after starting out in very comic roles (Jeeves and Wooster,[Men Behaving Badly)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Behaving_Badly) Don’t forget the movie “A is for Acid”. For people who love Doc Martin, you won’t believe him in this movie. He plays a mass killer who disposes of people by putting them in a steel drum and then filling it up with acid and then pouring it down the sewer. Very effective disposal method in the 1950s & 1960s. ---
**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, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/38 "2014-06-05T06:32:33Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Chicago’s WTTW aired the Doc Martin movie tonight. Completely different townspeople and backstory, but an _immensely_ more likeable Doc Martin character. Seems odd that for the the TV series they decided to make him so utterly unredeemable in every way except diagnostic expertise. To be fair, he has a few other very important good traits. He does recognize when people are in pain (both physical and emotional) and he will then do what is needed to help them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/39 "2014-06-05T13:42:30Z")
For another side of Caroline Catz, take a look at the series DCI Banks. ---
**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 11, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045/40 "2014-06-11T07:44:51Z")
> [@pinkyvee](#): > > I’m rather late to the party, but thanks to a recommendation from my British brother-in-law, I am addicted to this gentle, charming, witty gem. > > Doc Martin is an insufferable arrogant ass who I can’t help but love. > Physically he looks like a fat lipped fish with protruding ears. > > [http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/doc\_martin/about/](http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/doc_martin/about/) > > “Doctor Martin Ellingham” hates dogs with a passion (a devoted dog will not leave his side), has a blood phobia/anxiety (he’s a surgeon), and he is a brilliant physician, even when he is making a wrong diagnosis. > > However, as wonderful and quirky as the lead character is, it is the richness and variety of the townspeople who really make this show watchable. The British have an unfair wealth of character actors. The script writers manage to develop new and returning characters that are so real that it seems I have met them myself. > > Set your DVR and thank me later. Excellent synopsis of the show. One of the best I ever saw. Right on! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-martin-short-question-with-minimal-spoilers/631045.md?page=1)