User Reviews

I recently wanted to see the TV series "Doc Martin" but was surprised to see season one was not available through Netflix--though other seasons are. It IS available currently through Amazon Prime or by buying the DVD set.

The show begins with Dr. Martin Ellingham getting a job in a tiny town on the Cornish coast--a far cry from his fancy work doing surgery in London. Why he does this isn't mentioned in this show and it becomes amply apparent in later shows. Unfortunately, Doc Martin's first days in the town go extremely poorly. Part of it is because of his brusque and nasty demeanor and part is because this is an awful little town. Regardless the two need to learn to work together. Another issue involves some guys with gynecomastia--a situation with the doctor clearly screws up royally.

Overall, this is a nice introduction to the series though very different from the three previous movie incarnations of Doc Martin. While Martin Clunys plays all these folks, the movie Doc Martin comes to the same town but is Doc Martin Bamford, not Doc Martin Ellingham. Odd-- especially since Doc Ellingham is a much nastier sort.

By the way, the title refers to a person losing their mind, or going 'bodmin'.

This show has been around for some time but I've not watched it before. This is the maiden episode and it is lacking in continuity and development. It's as if we needed to get to know the characters, but little effort was made to artistically present them to us. The good Doc is a harsh, unfeeling guy who doesn't seem willing to meet anyone half way. So now that this is out of the way, we will see how this plays out, with sound plots and characters we can call our own.

As a former medical professional, I Absolutely love these series. I agree with other reviews about the sassy receptionist. It's a more annoying part than it is cute. Not to mention the group of young tarts that patrol the streets obsessed with insulting the intelligent Doc Martin. It's just too cheesy and annoying. The series would be better without it. I love Martin's character, and do not find him grumpy but a little fed up with the village idiots. The only time I dislike his character a little, is when he throws the dog out. Better to throw out the 3 receptionists who are totally annoying, unprofessional, and have a serious problem with their dress code. Comments During interviews have favored Louisa over Martin as if he's to blame for all their problems. Louisa seems to always be fishing for a confrontation. She expects Martin to agree with all she says and does. Martin is simply an intelligent doctor who takes his profession very serious. Not only is Doc Martin the top n his profession, but he's strong and doesn't usually back down. When he does, it does not fit his character. Doc Martin's character is every Sensible woman's dream mate.

I enjoy the entire Doc Martin series but like his earlier character much more than the later distant,nasty Doc although he always saves the day with his brilliant medical savvy. In the first two seasons he's still grumpy and distant but seems to interact better and even has a rather caustic sense of humor. The later shows are still fun but Doc can be too nasty and distant to be believable- I don't know how a Doll like Louisa can tolerate him-although they've had their ups and downs. I understand that he played an earlier version of Doc Martin and was a lot more amiable. I still love the show but wish he'd loosen up a little.

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?

Doc Martin was the first British series we watched. We were hooked at day 1 and it led us into other Brit programming. We learned the slang and it's meanings. Met others who enjoyed this too. We now watch, acorn, britbox, PBS, and enjoy great programming. However, this seems to be a series, that doesn't know when you get offstage. The writing the past few seasons has suffered from a few characters becoming obnoxious. Small doses of quirky are fine, but Burt, Mrs. Tishell and few others, Joe Penhale are really trying. We will watch most of them streaming, but tonight we started the last season, and it's pitiful. I can only compare it to seeing a band live we enjoyed in one's youth, and now it's embarrassing. Most of the actors we have seen in other dry arics series and they are excellent. Sadly, this is like the band.. time to leave.