Advertisement

Doc Martin is like receiving a warm hug from an old friend - series eight episode two review

Martin Clunes as Dr Martin Ellingham - Television Stills
Martin Clunes as Dr Martin Ellingham - Television Stills

It’s been a while since I watched reliable ratings-grabber Doc Martin (ITV) but this gentle fish-out-of-water drama is so reassuringly formulaic, it’s easy to dip back in. It was like receiving a warm hug from an old friend. 

Eight series in, each episode still revolves around three locals with mysterious ailments which the titular GP (played by expressive-eyebrowed Martin Clunes) cures before the end credits roll. There are soapy sub-plots for the lovably hapless Cornish villagers. There’s usually a comedy dog, possibly borrowed from chef Rick Stein in nearby Padstow. 

Dr Martin Ellingham (useless but pleasing piece of TV trivia: his surname is an anagram of series creator Dominic Minghella’s) hadn’t improved his brusque bedside manner since I last tuned in. When a seven-year-old patient sweetly asked: “Am I going to die?”, the deadpan Doc replied: “Yes, you are. Everybody dies. But not today.” How reassuring.

Eileen Atkins as Aunt Ruth Ellingham - Credit: ITV
Eileen Atkins as Aunt Ruth Ellingham Credit: ITV

The curmudgeonly medic suspected that recovering alcoholic Ken Hollister (Clive Russell), the landlord of the local hostelry The Crab & Lobster, had hit the bottle again. When Ken collapsed while changing a beer barrel, Martin took one look at the rat-infested pub cellar and diagnosed leptospirosis. Or was it leprosy?

The ever-excellent Eileen Atkins is often underused as Aunt Ruth but here she was given some proper acting to do. When B & B guest John Rahmanzai (Art Malik) arrived to scatter his father’s ashes on a picturesque Portwenn clifftop, he discovered that Ruth knew the deceased rather better than she let on. Naturally, Martin ended up saving the Rahmanzai’s life with a length of tubing and a plastic water bottle. 

Art Malik and Eileen Atkins - Credit: ITV
Art Malik and Eileen Atkins Credit: ITV

Meanwhile, Martin and long-suffering wife Louisa (the underrated Caroline Catz) sought a nursery for their invisible toddler James Henry. The proverb says children should be seen and not heard but this was the opposite: James was much discussed but never glimpsed. 

When Louisa worried whether their son was having a happy childhood, Martin told her: “He spent 10 minutes yesterday smiling at a spoon. I took it off him in the end.” British parenting at its best. 

The best TV shows of 2017
The best TV shows of 2017