Doc Martin

My uncle recently recommended I see the British show "Doc Martin". Well, his suggestions aren't usually too bad, so I decided to start at the beginning--or at least what I thought was the beginning. It turns out this character had first appeared in the Craig Ferguson film "Saving Grace"--though I didn't know it until after I saw "Doc Martin". So guess what is next on my Netflix queue?

As for this film, I have been warned that the character is not exactly the same one from the later television series. It's played by the same actor (Martin Clunes) and he's got the same name, but I have been warned that the stories aren't exactly the same in the movies that preceded the TV show. That often happens when movies are later adapted to a TV series, though after seeing "Doc Martin", I cannot imagine changing it very much because the film was nearly perfect!

The film begins in London. Dr. Martin is a successful obstetrician and s satisfied with his life. However, he's blissfully unaware that his wife is cheating on him...with several men! When he discovers, he takes off for Cornwall. After all, as a child he'd visited there and found it very relaxing--and he certainly needs to relax and clear his head.

What happens next is very strange and one of the subplots involves a strange person who leaves jello* molds on people's doorsteps with nasty and incriminating photos buried within them! There is much more to it than this...but it's probably best you just see it for yourself.

So why did I like "Doc Martin" so much? Well, the writing was just lovely and the story really made you care about the doctor and this strange little town full of interesting characters. Additionally, the direction and acting were also nice. It's a gentle meandering sort of film--and one that seemed very charming and made me want to see more.

This first prequel to the Doc Martin character in Saving Grace is pretty good if you can get past the awful sex scene about a third of the way in, the squeamish bits, and the verbal litter (which is always a bummer).

If you enjoy stories about folks who are able to get away and rethink their lives, this one fits the bill. Would have liked to see the Doc not be quite so accommodating to his wife though.

The cast is great and the location is spectacular. Lots of characters to root for.

I watched Saving Grace so long ago that I don't remember the original Doc Martin character and am eager to go back and see that show again. On the other hand, I watched the second prequel, Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie, and it was AWFUL. It was really really stupid.

Doc Martin Bamford, an amiable, dope-smoking GP in a Cornish fishing village, appears in the movie "Saving Grace" and two made-for-TV prequels that explained who he was and how he got that way. This first time out, he's an obstetrician not a surgeon, he doesn't lose it at the sight of blood, he's a beaming, rubber-faced cherub not a scowling, sharp-tongued Aspie--that's Doc Martin Ellingham, as thoroughly reimagined for the long-running series by Dominic Minghella (whose name, as somebody on an IMDb bulletin board pointed out, is an anagram of "Ellingham"). Too much info? Doesn't matter. This "Doc Martin" is the first of the TV prequels, not as clever or as original as the series, perhaps, but perfectly charming and involving all the same. Good work by Tristan Sturrock (he's in the series as well) as a laid-back lobsterman and Neve McIntosh as a witchy tavern singer (she's not, more's the pity, eh?).

Sure Martin Clunes is playing both Doc Martins and they are both set in Cornwall but their back stories are completely different, their reasons for being in Cornwall are completely different, even their last names are completely different. I went from the movies to starting to watch the series. I wont bore anyone with the details but this Doc Martin is driven to leave town because his marriage fell apart. The movie is more about him coping with his emotions and coping with the eccentric highly suspicious of foreigner locals. After seeing this, I began to wonder if the TV show, the Prisoner was always an unintended satire of these types of villages.

Anyway, there is alot of the same type of humor in the series and this movie but Doc Martin Bamford has a much easier time making friends because he is relatable and enjoys hanging out at the pub. He gets stoned to spite his cheating wife who isn't even there. He has a taste for fishing instead of just fish and of course he has no blood phobia. I particularly like the jelly idea too and am surprised that those kinds of local eccentricities were abandoned for the series. The series has eccentric locals but no really strange customs like using jellys in a malevolent manner. This Doc Martin has no family relations in the area and his visiting was purely impulsive. He is introduced as being likable and highly impulsive, emotional and not always possessing the best judgement when his emotions run high. That is the opposite of the uptight, upper class eccentric Dr Martin Ellingham in the Series. This Martin Bamford is more at home with the people in the Cornish village than the people he left behind in London. Really, if anyone has seen the movie Saving Grace, it is easier to see this movie and the legend of the cloutie as prequels to that.

Its best to think of this movie and the sequel which has a denser story and is even further removed from the Series as just starters for the basic premise, continuation from the movie Saving Grace and NOT prequels. Not that the Series needed a prequel because Doc Martin Ellingham first arrives in the first episode and they've had 15 years to develop his character and backstory. Bamford not only is destined to be a GP but he is destined to be a genuine member of the community in every sense. It is almost a shame these movies did not directly lead to a TV series carrying on from the followup movie, but maybe there wouldn't have been enough blatant conflict to make it work very long. Things end harmoniously.

This is a really sympathetic movie and it startles me to see how little people have voted for it yet. It is a funny story with really sympathetic characters. It is located in a beautiful village in Cornwall, where a mystery lady disclosures everybody's secrets. A friendly doctor from London arrives and gets involved. As he learns to know the villagers, they start to grow on him. A lot of them are strange in a very funny way. After I saw it, I felt like I had met real people. I promise you you'll love it too. There is a sequel, but thats not half as nice.