Doc Martin (2004)

Doc Martin represents one of my guiltier pleasures, in that I watch it in what I think of as my time "off", freed from doing the serious important note-taking shtick or being asked to struggle professionally to fathom the enduring appeal of Downton. The Big Bang Theory, The Wright Stuff, reruns of Jonathan Creek or Endeavour - all are just-for-me equivalents of warm mismatched socks, a hot-water bottle and burnt bubbling cheap cheese on toast. Bliss.

So I dread the day Martin Ellingham - his surname an anagram of showrunner Dominic Minghella, is this interesting? (No, Ed.) - gets all worthy or political or even relevant, and I have to review it seriously. And, the saints be blessed, that still looks roundly unlikely from this sofa. We're still freely invited, 11 years on and at the close of the latest series, to giggle smugly at Cornwall, and what immense fun that is. Those who have been there know that the inhabitants live in perhaps the most glorious corner of God's green earth, and there should be payback, so we're probably entitled to regard the Cornubian batholith as the Land That Education Forgot. Almost everyone be a moron.

Bert Large is a cunning 20-chinned moron. Son Al is a misunderstood moron. Mrs Tishell is a comedy escapee from The Archers, and a moron in italics. Sexy Morwenna is a trainee moron (yet there's hope, and, left to her own devices, she correctly divines that 100% of those waiting for the absent doctor's curt ministrations are slouchy malingerers or alcoholics). King Captain Moron is, of course, PC Joe, who in this final series episode managed to louse up in every way imaginable short of snagging his own pancreas in a bear-trap. Actor John Marquez deserves great credit: not since Father Dougal has there been on our screens a more credible, human, moron.

In the end, after some relatively serious business involving the Doc's kidnapping, serious mainly because one doesn't ever dick about with Gemma Jones possessed of the "nice" end of a shotgun and a righteous wrath, Louisa and Martin were gently reunited. "I think I've been a little bit obsessed with people having to be normal. But they're not, are they?" You said it, girl from Cornwall. Sweeter, more seriously, "I know you weren't going to let me down," which is very much all a girl wants. But... only sometimes. Hence the clever personal tension underwriting the relationship at the heart of this series, and which, apart from the sweet morons and Martin Clunes's deadpan perfections, lends it its entirely fathomable appeal. More, more.

Radio Times review

Doc Martin wakes up gagged and handcuffed to a bed. Now clearly being held hostage is not a normal situation, even for a bad-tempered and aggravating man like him, but how he gets there is not really the point. Suffice to say it's related to a patient from last week.

However, his incarceration in a remote farmhouse does give him reason (and time) to think about his personal life before someone finally comes to his aid. Unfortunately the hapless PC Penhale is heading up the rescue team, but it's not long before half the village, including Louisa, arrives.

Martin-ettes will be holding their breath in anticipation of a happy ending.

Even by his own grim standards, Martin is being spectacularly grumpy. But he has good reason to be unhappy, what with therapist Dr Timoney advising Martin and Louisa to consider parting. "Accepting separation is a success in itself," she reckons. Elsewhere, Martin has a new neighbour, Erica the arty art teacher (Kelly Adams of Hustle fame); and a visiting American - in one of the more unlikely TV cameos of recent years - turns out to be Sigourney Weaver. Undemanding fare, at least until a final scene that may floor you.

Radio Times review

Sigourney Weaver makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo when she strides into Portwenn's chemist. An American tourist with ancestral connections to Cornwall, she wants to buy eye-drops to treat her glaucoma, so inevitably she meets Dr Ellingham. "Your accent is very thick. I can't understand what you're saying," he snaps when she suggests a smile would help. Maybe his curmudgeonly manner is the reason for the brevity of her visit.

Another new arrival is young teacher Erica (Kelly Adams), who upsets the children with her unorthodox approach to art. When she's not fainting, that is. Meanwhile, Martin and Louise are still having marriage counselling with Dr Timoney (who's behaving rather strangely herself) and there's a real "ahhhh" moment when Joe is offered a transfer to the big city. Well, to Exeter. Will anyone care if he goes or if he stays?

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What do you do if a lonely little scruffy dog is stalking you? If you're Doc Martin, after being prevented from giving the mutt a lethal injection, you take it to a hippyish vet, Angela Sim (Caroline Quentin). Chuck in such plot developments as illegal liquor distillation and the perils of self-medication, and that's about as exciting as Doc Martin gets. Impressive, then, that it seems more than the sum of such inconsequential parts, perhaps because the ongoing odd-couple romance between Louisa and Martin anchors the dramedy.

Doc Martin, series 7, episode 3, review: 'preposterous'

This series has a lively mix of humour, sweetness and action.

While the Beeb embraces the implausible world of Doctor Foster - all secrets, lies and readily available GP appointments - ITV keeps it real with its cranky Cornish doc. This week, Martin treats a father and daughter whose ailments are getting in the way of caring for their pigs, simultaneously dodging the demands of a local radio host and trying to mend his relationship with Louisa. Elsewhere, Al is concerned by dad Bert's behaviour and PC Penhale lends Janice a hand when she runs into trouble while babysitting.