Doc Martin

Doc Martin is as close as it gets to perfection. Martin Clunes and Dominic Minghella should (and I'm sure do) take intense pride over their creation. The writing is the best in the business, the director Ben Bolt is amazing, and the acting is subtle, natural, hilarious and touching. In addition to Martin Clunes, Caroline Catz has shown herself to be one of the best of her generation. And the scenery and music, of course, are beautiful.

Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase, please, please Mr. and Mrs. Clunes: Don't sell out to us Yanks. Let the American version of Men Behaving Badly be your guide...Don't do it, ever, under any circumstances!

Being an ex-pat Brit, I am well aware of how the country has changed in many ways not to my liking, but one thing they still do so well in the UK has not changed, and that is dramas of this genre. I lived in various parts of the English countryside as a kid, and I know that eccentric characters like this really do abound. As for the comment about the local lovelies, you should try the seaside towns of Cardigan Bay in Wales, a goodly number of beauties there, I assure you, it must be the bracing sea air. Regarding another comment, I too went to the church and lit a candle to pray that nobody in Hollywood will even think of making an American version of this very charming drama. Looking forward to the fourth series and also hoping for a happy ending, soppy romantic that I am.

I do not understand why some people do not understand why they love this series nor understand why they love Doc Martin. Some dedicated viewers really don't understand why they are so hooked! So I shall tell them why they love Doc Martin. Doc Martin is real. I am a registered nurse and have worked in the Operating Room (theater, if you are picky) and I can tell you this man exists. That is why I switched to the Medical Floor, to get away from the Doc Martins of the hospital. Good grief, they are intimidating. It takes years to find out how weak and vulnerable and sad they are. When a patient codes and doesn't make it, the Doc Martins of the world are left to handle their grief and feelings alone. Isn't that sad? We notice (and love) Doc Martin first of all because he oozes alpha male chemistry and we react to that with a mixture of love and hate, contempt and admiration. We love him second of all because he has transcended most of his feelings (unlike us) and has moved to a higher plane of capability because of it and we benefit from his capability and confidence. We love him thirdly because he needs our love and he has been so mistreated and has such voids within him. There are all kind of subtle clues that Doc Martin is wonderful, but none so telling as the fact that dogs love him and are not impressed by his screams and sneers. You cannot fool a dog! Why does America love this series so much? Because the British do a much finer job than we do at so many many film endeavors. From the impeccable casting to the brilliant writing and believable dialogue to the ability the British have to plumb the depths and soar the heights of human drama and comedy without having holes and gaps that need filled with obscenity or worse. Thanks to the British for their genius. They are even brilliant in the way they use color to match the characters to the environment and create an ambiance that disarms the viewer. I love British films and "Doc Martin" best of all. I suspect another reason America is enthralled with the Doc Martin series is because we Americans are having socialized medicine crammed down our unwilling throats, and watching socialized medicine in action adds a certain little touch of horror spice to the story that Brits probably do not even notice.

A prominent London surgeon suddenly begins to suffer from haemophobia, and therefore leaves surgery and goes to the small coastal village to be a general practitioner. But neither he feels good about local mentality and customs, nor villages like his uptightness and arrogance. Martin Clunes is brilliant in the role of a socially handicapped doctor who is clumsily trying fit into, for him, a totally abnormal environment. The series is slow paced and very relaxing, moderately colored by drama, comedy, and romance, and although it is far from the masterpiece of television, it is incredibly addictive. Last night I finished the first season and so far I rate it

7,5/10

Doc Martin is so unusual and wonderfully off-kilter that it becomes addictive within 20 minutes of exposure.

The titular Doc is a guy who was probably a curmudgeon before puberty. He's a surgeon from sophisticated, worldly London who moves to (fictional) Portwenn on the coast of Cornwall because he suddenly becomes ill at the sight of blood. This is not a good omen for a surgeon. He quits to become a general practitioner and he's satisfied, thanks very much, with checkups, prescriptions and referrals.

The foul-mannered, blunt-spoken Doc smugly considers himself above the crowd, but he soon learns he is really BELOW the crowd, out of step with Portwenn's eccentricities, value systems and peculiar burghers, who make the mere lunatics of London look normal by comparison.

Martin Clunes is terrific in the lead role. He is a tall, charismatic and not exactly handsome actor who looks like he would be more comfortable playing cops and heavies. He is, instead, a consummate comic actor. His facial and physical comedy, his frequent bouts of exasperation and bewilderment, are things to behold. (Note: some wags have compared him to 'House,' from the popular TV drama of the same name. House is played by Hugh Laurie, another splendid Brit, and that's about where the comparison begins and ends. They are two very different characters in two very different shows.)

Portwenn's local population, with its twisted logic that somehow makes perfect sense, is represented through the tour-de-force acting of supporting players: Bert (Ian McNeice, who always dazzles playing offbeat, world-weary philosophical characters); Louise (the charming and beautiful Caroline Catz), who either loves Martin or wants to kill him; corn-rowed Elaine (lovely Lucy Punch) as the ditzy assistant with her own set of secretarial ethics; and Doc's Aunt Joan (the great Stephanie Cole, who has been delighting audiences since the 1960s).

Dominic Minghella, he of the Minghella mob of talented artists (brother Anthony directed 'The English Patient'), is the brains behind this brilliant controlled chaos.

Don't miss this program. TV shows that are both funny AND intelligent are the rarest of TV fare.

And a fast footnote: let us all bow our heads and pray that Hollywood doesn't try to remake this.