Doc Martin Series 1

Brilliant! A must-watch!
I absolutely LOVED this series. I had heard Martin compared with House, and I think that's a bit unfair, albeit understandable. However, I prefer to think of him as a strange cross between House and James Harriot. Although James was just nice, nice, nice (ad nauseum), the situations in which they find themselves are really very similar - close-knit countryside full of bizarre natives with bizarre rituals. In personality he is much more like House, with one huge difference: House is a rude, insensitive jerk simply because he enjoys it, while Martin, not a jerk at all, frequently acts like one because he doesn't seem to know any better. Like House, Martin's dry, deadpan comebacks are hilarious.

Each episode of Season 1 is better than the one before, culminating in an ending so funny I think I had tears in my eyes. He just never learns, does he?

I still can't quite put my finger on what makes Martin so charming, since I'm not sure I would enjoy knowing him in...

"That's Dr. Ellingham, if you please, and what's all this moaning about a little diarrhea?"
Curmudgeons, if blessed with good writers, can be satisfying house guests. They're irascible, oblivious, often insulting (sometimes unintentionally), but usually with a hint of endearing rehabilitation. Dr. Martin Ellingham, formerly a top-rank London surgeon who now practices general medicine in the Cornish town of Portwenn, not only has first-rate writers, he's blessed by having as his impersonator the actor Martin Clunes.

Dr. Ellingham ("Martin or Dr. Ellingham, please. Not `Doc Martin!'"), during one simple operation, found himself overwhelmed and unable to continue. The sight of blood suddenly sickened him, not a good thing for a surgeon. It stopped his career cold. He retrained and accepted the job of Portwenn's GP, far away from London and from the people who'd learned of his phobia.

But Doc Mar...Dr. Ellingham...seems to have a gene missing in his make-up. He is all too frank, oblivious to human courtesies, awkward, means well but has one of the worst...

a sparkling escape
Quirky characters, idealized village life ...city sophisticates escaping the rat race. A welcome series in the tradition of Monarch of the Glen and Northern Exposure...more oddball comedy than soap like the latter.

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