I Will Survive
- Episode aired Oct 17, 2022
- 48m
Martin finally admits his decision to resign was a mistake, and sets out to be reinstated as Portwenn's much-needed GP, resolving not to allow his blood phobia to interfere. But will the pow... Read allMartin finally admits his decision to resign was a mistake, and sets out to be reinstated as Portwenn's much-needed GP, resolving not to allow his blood phobia to interfere. But will the powers that be see fit to take him back?Martin finally admits his decision to resign was a mistake, and sets out to be reinstated as Portwenn's much-needed GP, resolving not to allow his blood phobia to interfere. But will the powers that be see fit to take him back?
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAll the titles for the Series Ten episodes of "Doc Martin" are also song titles. "I Will Survive," a song written by Dino Ferakis and Freddie Perren, was a chart-topping hit single for Gloria Gaynor in 1978 and has become her signature song.
- GoofsConsidering how precariously the car was balanced, it should have gone over the cliff immediately after Martin and Joe Penhale pulled the woman out.
- Quotes
Janice Bone: You're treating me like a haddock nanny.
Dr. Martin Ellingham: A what?
Janice Bone: A haddock nanny. You know: swim in, swim out, no set schedule.
Dr. Martin Ellingham: Ad hoc.
- SoundtracksDoc Martin Theme
Written by Colin Towns
Lothian's crackerjack script for the Series Nine finale, "Licence to Practice," weathered the challenge of whether "Doc Martin" would return or retire by delivering a tense climax and a juicy cliffhanger that could have served equally as an enticement for another series or as a series epitaph that at least could have suggested a spin-off or sequel series.
So, with his taut, involving script for "I Will Survive," the Series Ten opening episode, Lothian catches us up with "Doc Martin." A year after Martin Ellingham told Louisa that he had resigned his practice, thus leaving Portwenn without a general practitioner, he putters about their home repairing clocks and caring for their baby daughter Mary Elizabeth, whom Louisa had told him she was expecting when he resigned. Now Louisa is the sole health care professional in the family, a child counselor who has even taken over Martin's consulting room for her practice.
While Louisa probes her young client Dylan's (Bertie Caplan) reticence after having moved to Portwenn recently, Martin becomes intrigued by his mother Abigail (Fay Ripley), more specifically, by the symptoms of myasthenia gravis she manifests while asking for a glass of water. In true Lothian train-wreck fashion, Abigail is affronted by Martin's presumptuous--and unlicensed--medical curiosity and summons series punching bag PC Joe Penhale for protection.
Adding onto the patented Lothian train wreck is another Portwenn punching bag, pharmacist Sally Tishell, who deliberately drives staples into her hand as a pretext to have Martin tend to her wound and thus induce him back into medicine. It works, more or less, but not without some groveling on Martin's part following a literal cliffhanger to save Abigail. Fortunately, Penhale actually proves competent during that incident.
Eileen Atkins gets an impactful spotlight as her Ruth delivers her sobering assessment of Martin's anomie in a keynote scene that furnishes Martin Clunes with fresh dimension for Martin, who must then swallow his pride as he seeks reinstatement from sponsor Chris Parsons (Vincent Franklin) and decision-maker Professor Langan (Rupert Vansittart), each skeptical of Martin's sincerity. In a wry moment, Martin even incorporates some advice that Penhale had just given him as Clunes humanizes Martin to a degree rarely approached in an intriguing yet straitjacketed series that has often wallowed in stasis because of the narrow inflexibility of the lead character.
Perhaps more than any production member, Jack Lothian understands these characters and their interactions at least as well as the performers themselves, and with series veteran Nigel Cole directing with deft economy and sure pacing, "I Will Survive" convinces us that Doc Martin, and "Doc Martin," may indeed survive with new life pumped into what had seemed to be a played-out premise overdue for retirement. At least for now.
Elsewhere, Portwenn's third punching bag, Bert Large, gets the heave-ho from Caitlin (Angela Curran) for his usual scheming laziness, prompting him to impose upon son Al and daughter-in-law Morwenna just as they're trying to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. However, Morwenna, itching to graduate from her trainee position at Samantha Trappett's (Emma Handy) real-estate office, sees homeless Bert as a potential fit for a white-elephant property, laying the groundwork for further (mis)adventures during Series Ten.
POINT TO PONDER: Confirmation bias is the tendency to accept only facts and opinions you agree with. It is extremely difficult to avoid. Are reviews "helpful" only if they validate your confirmation bias? Are they "not helpful" if they contradict it? Thus, a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down seems only to indicate agreement or disagreement with respect to confirmation bias and not whether a review is or isn't "helpful."
- darryl-tahirali
- Sep 12, 2024
- Permalink
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