'' is a
British Television comedy drama starring
Martin Clunes . Created by
Dominic Minghella , it is filmed on location in and around the fishing village of
Port Isaac ,
Cornwall , with filming of most interior scenes and production carried out in a converted barn at a local farm. So far, there have been two series of the show, with a two-hour special that aired on Christmas Day 2006. Shooting for the third series, which is seven episodes in duration, finished in July 2007 with transmission to follow later in the year.
Clunes plays Portwenn's local GP, Martin Ellingham, who was once a successful surgeon until he developed a phobia of blood that prevented him conducting operations. After retraining as a GP, he applied for a post in the sleepy Cornish hamlet of Portwenn, where he spent childhood holidays.
Much of the show's humour revolves around Ellingham's interaction with the local Cornish villagers. Despite his surgical brilliance, Ellingham lacks vital personal skills and a
Bedside Manner , and often fails to understand other people. Dr Ellingham, or Doc Martin, as the locals refer to him, much to his disgust, finds the surgery is in disarray. The medical equipment is beyond repair, and the patients’ records are a mess. To top it all he inherits the world’s most incompetent receptionist, Elaine Denham, who clearly resents Doc Martin moving in.
As the village's new doctor steps into the village he is encounted by a dog who seems to become besotted with him, following him into his house, car, surgery and even in his bed throughout both Series 1 and 2. Despite Doc Martin's bitterness towards the dog, he ends up reluctantly liking it and follow him after giving up with the villagers thinking Doc Martin is its owner.
The community is united in horror at their foul new GP. Doc Martin soon finds he needs all the allies he can get as he tries to negotiate his way around village life with humorous consequences.
Martin is joined by a cast which includes
Stephanie Cole as his Aunt Joan, who provides him with emotional support in the face of the disquiet among the villagers.
Caroline Catz plays pretty primary school teacher Louisa Glasson. Doc Martin is attracted to her, but he is hopeless at personal relationships.
As of August 2007, ITV have put their Doc Martin page back online. On the website, there are several cast interviews (Clunes, Catz and McNeice) where they discuss the filming of the third series (principal photography is now finished) and some plot detail of the third series. Also, according to an article about her wedding, actress
Louise Delamere has been added to the cast.
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This programme is essentially a "re-boot" of a similar format used for two 2003 TV movies that were produced for Sky Television: '' and '''''Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie''''', themselves using Clunes' character that was created previously for Craig Ferguson's motion picture ''
Saving Grace ''. In the two Sky telefilms, which act as prequels to '''''Saving Grace''''' , we learn that Clunes' character, Dr. Martin Bamford, a successful obstetrician, finds that his wife has been carrying on extra-marital affairs behind his back with his three best friends. After confronting her with the news, he decides to leave
London and heads for Cornwall, which he remembers fondly from his youth. Shortly after he arrives, he gets involved in the mystery of the "Jellymaker" and, following the departure of the village's resident GP, decides to stay in Port Isaac and fill the gap himself.
Although the original deal was to produce two telefilms per year for three years, Sky Pictures folded after the first two were made, so Clunes' company tried selling the franchise to ITV who generally liked it, but felt the character of Martin Bamford needed a little something more to him than just being a "townie" who is a little out of his depth in the country. ITV wanted something a little more edgy, so Clunes came up with the idea of the doctor being unusually grumpy. In the process, the doctor's last name was changed from Bamford to Ellingham, (perhaps for copyright reasons, perhaps to avoid confusion for those who remembered the previous telefilms) and a new writer, Dominic Minghella, was brought in to re-work the Doc's backstory and create a new village of supporting characters. The surname "Ellingham" is an anagram of "Minghella".
Although Clunes' character is the only one to carry over (with significant back-story changes) from the telefilms, Tristan Sturrock joins Clunes as the only actor (thus far) to appear in both versions of ''Doc Martin''.
The programme has featured many notable guest stars including:
Celia Imrie ,
John Alderton ,
Hugh Lloyd ,
Jeff Rawle ,
Doreen Mantle ,
Christian Rodska ,
Roger Lloyd-Pack ,
Mary Woodvine ,
John Woodvine ,
Ben Miller ,
Chris O'Dowd ,
Kenneth Cranham and Selina Cadell.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: to a patient Portwenn has one doctor and 966 people who know better.
- Elaine Denham: Your stuff's arrived at the pharmacy, you'd better go and get it.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Er, no Elaine...
- Elaine Denham: Just don't talk to me now, innit!
- Elaine Denham: I'm sorry. I cannot tolerate imbeciles.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Elaine, when we agreed you'd start at 8.30 you did realise I meant a.m.
- Elaine Denham: Buying biscuits at the supermarket, right, and this bimbo won't let me through on six items or less. All baps up to here and stick-on nails she was. Get this -
the check-out girl
- Elaine Denham: "Sorry. Six items or less".
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: And you had?
- Elaine Denham: 20, but that's not the point.
- Louisa Glasson: This is Miss Glasson from the school, Mrs Richards. I'm just checking on Bobby. Oh, dear, well, I'm sure the doctor will, he's...
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: phone from Louisa Mrs Richards? Dr Ellingham here. Is his temperature still elevated? Right, I'm on my way, what's the address? Yep. Yep. I'll be with you in 15 minutes.
- Louisa Glasson: Half an hour.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: 30 minutes. Goodbye.
Louisa
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Do you know where the...
Louisa Glasson: Map.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Thanks.
- Bert Large: Son, I know it's your phone bill and you've got your own money coming in, but those mobile phones damage your head membranes.
- Al Large: Dad, I've got Bluetooth.
- Bert Large: There you go, exactly my point.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Can you give me his phone number then, please?
- Pauline Lamb: No. Don't have it.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Remind me what your job is again?
- Pauline Lamb: He didn't leave a number. He left in a rush, looking like a frightened rabbit. Like all your patients, actually.
- Patient: And you reckon these will work, do you?
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: No - I just prescribe them for fun.
- Louisa Glasson: Underneath the gruff, monosyllabic, well-meaning but rude surface you're... gruff, monosyllabic and, well, rude.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Pauline, I can't have patients' records filed under their first names.
- Pauline Lamb: It was good enough in Newlyn.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Well, what kind of surgery was it? A vets?
- Pauline Lamb: Still a surgery.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: It's for you.
- Elaine Denham: I'm not here.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Elaine's not here.
- Elaine Denham: Hang on. Is that Greg?
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Are you Greg? Elaine for you.
- Elaine Denham: {Link without Title} I'm not talking to Greg.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Bert, it's been a long day. Take two aspirin and insult me in the morning.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: You know, when I told my father that I wasn't going to follow him into the navy, we didn't speak for three months.
- Bert Large: Yeah, but now you're older, you can understand his point, can't you? I mean, that's what I was trying to say to Al.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: No, we still don't speak actually.
- Joan Norton: Look, Marty, you do realise that the villagers are dusting off their pitchforks, don't you?
- Dr. Martin Ellingham: Yes. Exactly how many generations ago did the inbreeding start with these people?
- In , Doc Martin airs on the ABC on Saturday nights.
- In , Doc Martin airs on TV One on Sunday nights.
- In , Doc Martin airs on VisionTV and Knowledge Network in British Columbia.
- In , Doc Martin airs as Doktor Martin , the name of the Doc is Martin Helling, on ZDF on Wednesday evenings. It's an adaption of the original series with Axel Milberg as Doktor Martin Helling a surgeon from Berlin.
- In , ''' Russia ''', ''' Malaysia ''' and other countries where available, Doc Martin airs on the Hallmark Channel .
- In , Doc Martin airs on the public channel één .
- IN , Doc Martin airs on the pucblic commercial channel MTV3.
- In , Doc Martin airs on the public channel NRK1 .
Doc Martin (DJ)
Dr. Martens (shoes)
