Doc Martin – Series Three (2007/Acorn DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: B-
Doc Martin, with its 3rd season just
released on DVD, has settled into something of a comfortable rhythm. As
the TV comedy equivalent of the cozy mystery, it is moderately engaging,
non-confrontational, and begrudgingly gracious.
That comfortable rhythm is, unfortunately, a door that may swing both
ways. For the enlightened, Doc Martin is a pleasant way to pass the time,
casually unearthing certain truisms of human nature, while laughing at the
foibles we see every day in our own lives and, if the truth will out, in the
mirror; reflected in the eccentricities of the characters who make up the
fishing village of Portwenn (the real life Port Issac) we might easily find
ourselves.
As a new
viewer starting in mid-stream so to speak, it is a bit of a jolt, cozy or
not. There are a few assumptions made and the kind of shorthand one gets
used to in a sitcom you’ve been watching for years. These 7 episodes comprising
the 3rd season deal with some obviously ongoing issues, including the
tentative, almost-on, almost-off nearly non-relationship between Doc Martin and
the local teacher, Louisa. This relationship delivers the finest moments
from the season but … I get ahead of myself.
Doc
Martin, short for Doctor Martin Ellingham (played by Martin Clunes), is the
local GP of the idyllic Portwenn, where he moved from London after his career
as a top notch surgeon was scuttled when he developed a phobia about blood.
The pratfalls that result from this phobia are myriad, one might say tiresome
if your tolerance level is set to “realism.” Much of the comedy
derives from Doc Martin’s total lack of social skills, be it with patients or
acquaintances, a lack so alarming that he is at one point assumed to have
Asperger’s syndrome by a local academic psychologist. The plots revolve
around Doc’s perfunctory attitude and the various scrapes that result because
of hurt feelings and misunderstandings.
The
primary arc of Season 3 (or Series 3) is the culmination of that
on-again, off-again relationship with the local school headmistress, Louisa
Glasson (Caroline Catz); engagement ensues and their coming marriage becomes
the main focus. Most of the season’s episodes move this story forward to
the final 2, “The Two of Us” and “In Sickness and in Health.” In a show
that doesn’t specialize in narrative originality, the final episode in
particular stands out as running against the grain of standard comedy
fare. Without giving away the game, this episode is touching in an
unexpected way; it lifts the season up from humdrum to appealing.
The
acting throughout is above par, with the usual assortment of eccentric British
characters to divert ones attention from the stuff of series comedy. The
musical soundtrack is overly reminiscent of a certain type of British TV
mystery, with an over-jaunty presence that is at best ignorable and at worst
downright annoying. To be fair, a friend who is a big fan of the series
says every time she’s hears the music, it makes her smile.
So, there
is that. If you are in the mood for something off-kilter in a fairly
typical way, Doc Martin might be for you. Start, however, with season 1. It’s always best to build up to a comfortable
rhythm.
- Don Wentworth
