Doc Martin (2004)

'Doc Martin' finale attracts over 7 million on ITV

Doc Martin's series finale topped the Monday night (October 21) ratings outside of soaps, according to overnight data.

Doc Martin - Series 6, Episode 8 review

Writer Jack Lothian delivers a gripping finale to the current series, even weaving in new suspense with an unexpected medical condition for Louisa.

It was too good to last. Once they'd got Doc Martin and long-suffering Louisa (Caroline Catz) hitched, the only thing left was to rend them asunder once more, as that's the emotional heartbeat of this oddball medical drama. So prepare for a bumpy emotional ride as this on-off-on-off couple climax the series with a helter-skelter crisis. Luckily, there's some quirky comedy - PC Penhale sporting a Freddie Mercury moustache - to ease the tension.

That cranky carapace cracks just a little as the Doc faces the repercussions of the painful events in the last episode. His marriage looks wounded beyond repair and he's stuck at home in pretty Portwenn with only his ghastly, grasping, emotionally exploitative mother for company.

It's the final episode and, as Doc Martin has never been a series that would ever willingly give in to the fervent hopes of its devoted audience (just think how long it took Martin and Louisa to marry) fans must brace themselves. Pour a stiff drink, find some worry beads and prepare to hold the hand, mentally, of this most difficult of men. He needs your support.

Martin Clunes is great as Martin and, even if you're ambivalent about the appeal of his flinty personality, you'll need a heart of concrete not to feel his every flinch of pain in an unexpectedly touching finale.

Let's face it, it was never the happiest of marriages, was it? This current series began with Martin and Louisa's dismal wedding day and even more ­catastrophic honeymoon and it ends, fittingly, with Louisa about to take baby James to Spain for a ­well-earned break.

Her husband is so emotionally bunched up he can't even muster the good manners for a proper goodbye, muttering ­something about his first patient having arrived instead.

But a long overdue confrontation with his dreadful mother prompts him to finally try and behave like a normal human being for once in his life.

The frantic last-minute dash to the airport has long been a reliable ­set-piece of film for TV dramas, but this is one race against time that has more at stake than simply a relationship.

Doc Martin may be colder than a prawn ring in an Iceland freezer cabinet, but this finale proves to be ­surprisingly touching.

The gloomy Doc Martin becomes gloomier still as his many problems crowd in. He's not feeling well, he's lost a lot of weight and he becomes increasingly obsessed by the idea that something is badly wrong. A case of physician, heal thyself, surely?

And married life is a bed of thorns rather than roses as Louisa becomes unsettled and unhappy in the marital home. Their relationship takes a serious knock when Martin (Martin Clunes) behaves disgracefully at the school sports' day and at last Louisa (Caroline Katz) is forced to take a long, cool look at their relationship.

It seems that, very soon, Martin will have even more cause to be curmudgeonly.

Doc Martin - Series 6, Episode 7 review

I particularly enjoyed the four men in a room scene where Al, Penhale and Martin try to figure out the best thing for Mike to do before the red caps find him.

Doc Martin - Series 6, Episode 6 review

This episode contains fewer comedic turns when compared with Episode 4 of this series. Many of the heart-to-hearts between characters are relatively straight, and those between Martin and his mother, gloomy and foreboding.

The Doc's blood phobia is getting worse, as is his consequent insomnia, which is also beginning to disturb his wife Louisa in the marital bed. Maybe it's time he saw that psychologist his Aunty Ruth recommended, particularly when there's an unfortunate and very public incident involving Doc Martin, dopey police officer Penhale and a staple-gun. Penhale (John Marquez) causes widespread panic in Portwenn after jumping to conclusions about an asbestos scare.

But nothing is quite as terrifying as the sight of Martin's poised, chilly mother (played by Claire Bloom) who turns up on his doorstep with some news which, if delivered to any sentient human being other than Martin (Martin Clunes) being would be cause for thoughtfulness and sadness. But not the blithely unempathetic Doc, oh no. Not in a million years.

Doc Martin - Series 6, Episode 6 review

For me, the best performance of the episode came from Claire Bloom as Martin's mother Margaret. Her portrayal of the character felt totally apt and she was totally believable.