HTF DVD REVIEW: Doc Martin Series 3 (1 Viewer)

[Neil Middlemiss]

Doc Martin Series 3

Studio: Acorn Media
Year: 2007
US Rating: NR
Film Length: 323 Minutes
Video: 1.78:1 – 16X9 Widescreen
Audio: English Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH

“God forbid you should use "icky drugs" when you could experience the excruciating agony of childbirth in the raw."

The Show: 4 out of 5

Miserly, grumpy, cantankerous, borderline insulting and mean, Doc Martin is unavoidably likeable. A sour-soul of a doctor, serving the fine folk of Portwennn, a seaside port town rooted in the simpler ways of life. In a perpetual condition of grousing and grumbling, the curmudgeonly General Practitioner (GP), Dr. Martin Ellingham is brilliant and abrasive.

The simpler life of Portwenn, a traditional sea-side town, where life seems to exist in somewhat of a time capsule, is rife with mild injuries and the intertwining lives of its inhabitants, and through seven episodes, everything from an outbreak, to a wedding, to the near failure of a business, and a gambling addiction are the major happenings for those enjoying the sleepy port life.

The sour-faced Martin Clunes, now a stalwart of British comedy television (many know him from his years in Men Behaving Badly), portrays the grouchy Doctor; a curious general practitioner who experiences a queasy reaction to the sight of blood, and a boiling impatience for the inanities of social norms and for those he deems stupid or incapable. There is a genuine charm in this show. Filmed in Cornwall, in the town of Port Isaac, the complexities of the simpler life are thoughtfully displayed with a set of characters happily inhabiting familiar caricature traits; the youthful, kind school teacher, the nosy mailman, the burly electrician (who becomes a restaurateur), the gossipy receptionist, and so on – but each are drawn well enough to become more than merely the sum of their familiar trappings, and assemble to create a community of real people living neighborly, nosy, and in some cases, nuisance lives.

Besides the writing, which is solid, and the wonderful performance by Martin Clunes, it is the parade of oddball and likeable characters which are brought to life by a capable congregation of talent. Doc Martin’s love interest, Louisa, is portrayed by the lovely Caroline Catz; Bert Large, the rotund electrician-turned restaurateur, is played by Ian McNeice, as Doc’s aunt Joan Norton is Stephanie Cole, a great talent though minimally used in this show; Katherine Parkinson plays the quirky receptionist Pauline Lamb, and there are many more.

England has fallen in love with this delicious slice of British television, averaging around 9 million viewers each week (that’s good!), and securing another season (or series, as they say back home), which is currently being broadcast. American audiences catch this show on PBS, and the delight of Portwenn and its inhabitants is finding loyal audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Doc Martin manages to create a world where we care about what happens to each and every person living there, and the finale from this third season, while not particularly shocking, is an emotional cliff-hanger that charges us to tune in again to find out what the repercussions could be.

Disc One:
Episode 1: Tick Tock (aired in the U.S. as “The Apple Doesn’t Fall”)
Episode 2: The Morning After (aired in the U.S. as “movement”)
Episode 3: Love Thy Neighbor (aired in the U.S. as “City Slickers”)
Episode 4: The GP Always Rings Twice (aired in the U.S. as “The Admirer”)

Disc Two:
Episode 5: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (aired in the U.S. as “The Holly Bears a Prickle”)
Episode 6: The Two of Us (aired in the U.S. as “Nowt So Queer”)
Episode 7: In Sickness and in Health (aired in the U.S. as “Happily Ever After”)


The Video: 3 out of 5

The video quality of television imported from the U.K. often leaves me scratching my head. It has been years since I was living in England and enjoying programming on terrestrial television, but the image quality often resembles what I can remember seeing quite well. However, recent visits back home have shown me image quality on television which appears wonderfully crisp and vibrant. Doc Martin is presented in a 1.78:1 widescreen enhanced for widescreen televisions. The image is soft relative to U.S. television shows produced in the same timeframe (2007), but does appear quite warm in the color spectrum, with the rainy gray skies and lush green countryside warming to the (English) soul. Far from showcase material, and certainly lacking from what many are likely used to, the image is sufficient in presenting the show, and the lives it explores, well enough not to distract, and well enough to be just a hair above average.



The Sound: 3 out of 5

While I am sure much could have been done with the audio to provide a real sense of surround as the seagulls caw and the English weather does what it predictably will do (blow a hooey and rain a lot, as my Mum would say), the English Stereo Surround track gives us enough of the sounds of Portwenn to be given a pass; issue-free dialogue, and a surprisingly crisp presentation of the score by Colin Towns, tip the scales just above average. Imperfect, but does the job.


The Extras: 1.5 out of 5

Cast Trivia and Cast Filmographies


Final Thoughts

Imagine a quiet, almost idyllic English countryside version of the American House, MD (which airs on Fox), minus the medical investigations, and endless fun gained from upsetting others, and you have Doc Martin. The show presents an inviting world, and a tranquil life, that presents the simple complexities of life as the most challenging hurdles to overcome. Some of those complexities are more daunting than others, but it is the close-knit village life, and neighborly annoyances and benefits, that keep people tuning in week to week. Clunes is perfect in his grumpy role, and drives the show from good to great with his directness, fastidiousness, and his personality scraping into the realm of more commonly accepted social mores.

An uncommonly enjoyable slice of port life; Doc Martin’s third series is just good fun and dramatically engaging in a genuinely approachable manner. Recommended!

Overall 4 out of 5

Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC