Day Two Hundred and Thirty-nine - Doc Martin: Season 1, Episode 1, "Now THAT'S the Doc that I remember!"

It's been a little while since the last time I watched Doc Martin for Couchbound. If you'll recall, I was originally interested because the British production was one of several shows that I hoped to share with my mother, her tastes running a bit more dry and... well, British, in comparison to my own (I don't think she's ever enjoyed a movie that I've brought over).

Still, it was weird having the Doc be all goofy and generally amiable as opposed to the snippets of short antipathy that I'd become used to when visiting the folks over many weekends, catching a random episode or two of the series as opposed the the prequel movie that I saw on the Stream last time.

As mentioned before, the movie Doc Martin is much different in terms of personality (and last name) than the series Doc Martin, even though they're both played by the same man, Martin Clunes.

There he was escaping a failed marriage whilst inadvertently solving a village mystery. Here, in the first episode of the series, he's escaping a blood phobia (thought you'd only get that from the description as it's only mildly implied in the first episode) whilst exposing infidelity and leering at the town's schoolmarm.

I must say, I definitely like this version better, as he's much more succinct and terse... closer to Gregory House than Patch Adams and, being the grouchy American that I am, you can certainly tell which way I would lean.

I also like how the clues for the weekly mystery are laid out nicely but not thrown in your face. Sure, the quirky medical problem is a bit of a lark, but it's not bandied about across the screen in gratuitous fashion. Instead, there's a certain modicum of, well, tact... that I very much appreciate.

While, yes, you can immediately tell who Doc Martin's love interest is going to be as she is pretty much the only woman in town the right age and challenging and intelligent enough, the implied attraction and social awkwardness is subdued enough so as to be rather pleasant as opposed to the constant Moonlighting syndrome that most (American) television shows have.

Come to think, that's something that I believe most British shows have on their American counterparts, credit that I can even give to Rose Tyler and whichever Doctor she is on during her run as a Companion.

Quick shout out to Ian McNeice who plays a supporting role in the series. He's a funny guy and plays his well meaning jack of all trades with a keen sense of comedic timing that reminds me of John Goodman... or, maybe it's just that they're both large men? Either way, I love them both dearly, most especially McNeice here in Doc Martin, though I think that my favorite role of his was in the update of Dune where he was the Baron Harkonnen.

In any case, the first episode is a fairly decent start for the series and I look forward to seeing more from the characters. Sure, it's a bit awkward seeing the transition from the film version to the television one, and that's something that will probably never leave my mind, but even so the changes that were made work really quite well.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Ninety-one - Doc Martin, "Isn't he supposed to be grumpy?"

It's funny... I deal with parallel universes, retconned backstories, and cast changes all the time when it comes to some of my favorite pastimes and mediums (notably, anime and comic books), but I find it very confusing living with the two Doc Martins, both played by Martin Clunes.

In the current universe, the one that my mother is fond of and which is the reason I decided to check out the Sky Pictures film on Netflix to begin with, Doc Martin (Ellingham) is a grumpy transplant GP with a fear of blood. It's an interesting drama at times, but mostly "meh" to my eyes.

Even more so is the previous incarnation of Doc Martin (Bamford) who runs off to the country not to avoid blood, but his prolifically cheating wife and manages to find himself along the way... as well as catch a gelatin-leaving "phantom" who is stirring up trouble in the small village.

Apparently the character originated in yet another previous film called Saving Grace about a small town widow who turns to marijuana growing to save her home.

Sometimes, British television just boggles my mind with its convoluted fluidity when it comes to characters.

In any case, this particular version is the stand-alone Bamford one... you know, the Doc Martin who's wife cheated on him with all three of his best friends? It's made even worse when he finds out while having lunch with said friends.

Off he goes to the obscure fishing village in Cornwall where he's enmeshed in the local scandal of the Jelly Phantom who sneaks around leaving molded gelatin desserts with hidden evidence of scandalous behavior inside. The villagers are mostly suspicious of Doc Martin until he begins to win them over one by one, starting with the a local fisherman and moving on to a lonely housewife and her sick son.

The mystery itself is rather boring... as is the drama over the affair and Bamford's attempts to get over it by throwing himself into crab fishing and pot smoking to pass the time. I was really disappointed that the resolution wraps up in such a convenient way so as to allow Doc Martin to become the village's general practitioner, but what can you do?

I do like his interactions with Rita (Neve McIntosh), the beautiful housewife with an absentee husband and a sick son. There's implied chemistry there, though I never really felt sparks when she and Doc Martin were together, but I imagine the obvious play, should that version of the Doc continue, would have them in an affair... or, at least, a forbidden attraction with her ne'erdowell husband showing up to put a damper on things.

Overall, it's a choppy melodrama with hardly anything redeeming about it... a fact that is compounded when you consider the revamp the character went through to get to his current, surlier incarnation with the same actor.

Ah, well... it's okay, just bleh for the most part, but there are certainly better films out there that exemplify small-town England.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~