The Portwenn Effect

The fourth "Doc Martin" episode of its first series (or season), "The Portwenn Effect" veers into a broad comedic premise yet somehow series creator Dominic Minghella's crackling script reconciles it to the overall development of this clever, compelling comedy-drama laced with humorous moments while maintaining its serious air. Doc Martin finds himself having to make a house call out of Portwenn, to a park ranger living deep in the countryside. Fans of the American medical comedy-drama "Northern Exposure," which previewed the premise of "Doc Martin," will recognize the set-up from "Aurora Borealis [1.8]," and just as that episode involved a mythical creature, so too does "The Portwenn Effect."

As Martin finds he is enjoying his conversation with affable, articulate Ranger Stewart James (Ben Miller) and his wickedly perceptive take on all things Portwenn, he realizes that Stewart is delusional when Stewart introduces his companion Anthony, who is not only a six-foot-tall squirrel, but an invisible one as well. (Classic movie fans will recognize that the ranger's name, Stewart James, is an inversion of James Stewart, who starred in the delightful 1950 comedy "Harvey," about Stewart's own invisible buddy, a six-foot-tall rabbit.)

Meanwhile, Louisa has two tickets to the village dance, and when Martin refuses one, she offers it to local constable Mark Mylow, who mistakes Louisa's intent---as does Martin when he sees them together at the dance. Elsewhere, precocious schoolboy Peter Cronk (Kurtis O'Brien), blamed for backyard vandalism, runs away from home. The fabric of Portwenn and its inhabitants is now becoming embroidered---their eccentricities, even those of Ranger Stewart's, are just part of their overall complexity; these are not merely one-dimensional bumpkins for Martin Clunes to play off.

Clunes's Martin is also developing nuance, especially when he realizes that his late predecessor, particularly in relation to ranger Stewart, might not have been the bumbling country doctor he initially imagined him to be. Given his role, Miller delivers a richly layered performance, one that puts both Martin and Portwenn in perspective, while Stewart Wright does what he can with his sad-sack comic-relief characterization of constable Mark. "The Portwenn Effect" has the effect of confirming that "Doc Martin" is set for the long haul.

REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?

This episode focuses in on those that are dismissed out of hand. We have a precocious young boy who is probably on the autism spectrum. He is blamed for things because of his proximity and his lack of social graces. The policeman who suffers from depression and a great need to be loved and an inability to trust. There is a forester who was in combat in Bosnia and who thinks he is visited by a giant red squirrel. They are all worthy characters who must battle preconceptions. The Doc begins by making judgments himself but gets a lesson. He is bound by his Hippocratic oath which doesn't always apply when it comes to this little village.