Despite its geniture in the 2000 film "Saving Grace" and two not-really-prequels television movies, the premise of "Doc Martin" should look familiar to anyone who has seen "Northern Exposure": Big-city doctor finds himself practicing medicine in a far-flung small town populated by charming eccentrics while trying to overcome his fish-out-of-water situation. In this case, outlined in the series opener "Going Bodmin," Doctor Martin Ellingham is a London vascular surgeon who finds himself accepting an offer as a general practitioner in the Cornish village of Portwenn, where he used to summer with his Aunt Joan as a boy.
Stiff, reserved, and abrupt, "Doc Martin," as the locals quickly christen him to his chagrin, finds himself just as quickly running afoul of the villagers, beginning with Louisa Glasson, the pretty schoolteacher who nevertheless strikes sparks with Martin even amid the surface animosity---shades of Joel and Maggie in "Northern Exposure." So, is "Doc Martin" a carbon copy of the American show? Not really, largely because Martin Clunes as Doc Martin maintains such a stiff upper lip---his doctor is older, more established, more aloof, and, although not yet revealed, has a dramatic reason for having switched disciplines---and because Portwenn's inhabitants and their situations have a more realistic feel to them than do the "Brigadoon"-like Cicelians in "Northern Exposure."
For example, Martin's examination of two unrelated men developing breasts has comic undertones---until he discovers that it is because one man's wife (Celia Imrie), who is using excessive hormonal cream, is having an affair with the other man. Moreover, Martin is blamed for the discovery. The first series (or season) of "Doc Martin" does stress the comic quirkiness, but with Clunes playing such a commanding, yet droll, straight man, you can still be moved to laughter and thoughtfulness in the same scene. "Doc Martin" creator Dominic Minghella changed the surname of Clunes's previous character, Bamford, to Ellingham, an anagram of his own surname, while penning his lively script for "Going Bodmin," a regional expression for someone highly disciplined but anti-social, which fits Doc Martin, and "Doc Martin," to a tee.
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?
Stiff, reserved, and abrupt, "Doc Martin," as the locals quickly christen him to his chagrin, finds himself just as quickly running afoul of the villagers, beginning with Louisa Glasson, the pretty schoolteacher who nevertheless strikes sparks with Martin even amid the surface animosity---shades of Joel and Maggie in "Northern Exposure." So, is "Doc Martin" a carbon copy of the American show? Not really, largely because Martin Clunes as Doc Martin maintains such a stiff upper lip---his doctor is older, more established, more aloof, and, although not yet revealed, has a dramatic reason for having switched disciplines---and because Portwenn's inhabitants and their situations have a more realistic feel to them than do the "Brigadoon"-like Cicelians in "Northern Exposure."
For example, Martin's examination of two unrelated men developing breasts has comic undertones---until he discovers that it is because one man's wife (Celia Imrie), who is using excessive hormonal cream, is having an affair with the other man. Moreover, Martin is blamed for the discovery. The first series (or season) of "Doc Martin" does stress the comic quirkiness, but with Clunes playing such a commanding, yet droll, straight man, you can still be moved to laughter and thoughtfulness in the same scene. "Doc Martin" creator Dominic Minghella changed the surname of Clunes's previous character, Bamford, to Ellingham, an anagram of his own surname, while penning his lively script for "Going Bodmin," a regional expression for someone highly disciplined but anti-social, which fits Doc Martin, and "Doc Martin," to a tee.
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?