It turns out that McNiece is only a sign-on bonus. The main attraction is so obviously Martin Clunes as Dr. Martin Ellingham, general practitioner to this small town that bears a host of unusual people always worth knowing, most importantly to Martin (though he won’t let on, at least not until the end of this fifth series) schoolteacher Louisa (Caroline Catz), mother to his newborn son, who doesn’t yet have a name, and there’s much discussion about it throughout these eight episodes. McNeice’s character runs the local restaurant, increasingly badly, while his son Al (Joe Absolom) tries to also keep the business going while tending to the farm owned by Martin’s late aunt, whose death triggers the arrival of Martin’s other Aunt Ruth (Eileen Atkins), to whom her sister left the farm. Ruth is as clinical as Martin, though perhaps clinical isn’t quite the right word for Martin. Ruth knows who’s who and what’s what, but isn’t as likely to be blunt about it like Martin is. The only time Martin is seen smiling is after he reveals to Louisa that he filled out the necessary paperwork confirming their son’s name and she’s at first annoyed at this news, for him not consulting her, but after he reveals what the name is, she’s deeply pleased. When she says her son’s name, there’s a slight upturn on the right side of Martin’s face. Very slight. You have to rewind and watch it again to be sure of it.
There’s one major difference that makes me like Doc Martin much more than our country’s Gregory House. House antagonizes because he’s so sure that he’s right and a great deal of the time, he is, much to the consternation of those around him, not because he’s right, but because of his tactics. Martin is blunt, but it’s necessary. He absolutely knows what he’s talking about. There’s no doubt about his skills as a doctor, which are perfect. Every part of the body, he can tell exactly what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed. Just don’t expect sympathy. You know what you have, you know what you have to do to treat it, and now you can go. But perhaps it’s not an apt comparison, since House deals with a much larger medical system than the small town Martin oversees. Those people don’t change a great deal, compared to a different person in the disease-of-the-week hospital bed on House. Martin has gotten to know Portwenn’s population over the previous four seasons, and they have sometimes-begrudingly gotten to know him. And as I’ve learned in brief research to familiarize myself with the series before watching this latest offering, it’s taken a lot to get him to this point. For one, he used to faint at the sight of blood. Now he doesn’t. And he and Louisa have gone through a lot to get to where they are right now, though at the start, it’s in doubt, as Martin’s expected to leave for bigger medical work in London, which becomes a question mark in further episodes, being that the doctor who comes in to replace him is utterly useless and he agrees to stay on until a qualified replacement is found.
Series 5 rightfully features English royalty in acting. Clunes, McNeice, Dame Atkins, guest star Miriam Margolyes and most surprising, Peter Vaughan, who plays the grandfather of Martin’s new receptionist (Jessica Ransom) in the episode “Born with a Shotgun.” I fondly know him as Anthony Hopkins’ father in The Remains of the Day, another of my all-time favorite movies, justifying my happy shout of recognition when I saw him. This isn’t a town I think I could live in, but I continually enjoy all the people in it.
There are nine featurettes in this two-disc set from Acorn Media, with four on the first disc and five on the second. Nearly all of them are culled from the same source, which means you’ll be watching the same scenes filmed over and over again, which is a good sign that this was the only day, on location, that they were given access to the set and to the cast, and those who they couldn’t talk to on that day they interviewed later, as it looks like with Clunes, McNeice, director Ben Bolt, and producer Philippa Braithwaite. Unfortunately, not only are the same scenes shown over and over, but some of the same lines from the interviews are reused, depending on the featurette. They’re almost not worth watching because of this. One wonders if there were other questions that could have been asked, other insights sought. The production is so obviously a lovefest, considering that they film Doc Martin every other year, more genuine than most Hollywood productions, but how long does it have to go on for? Some soul either in the filming of these featurettes or in the editing thought of that, because at least for the scenes filmed, we see them from different angles, relief which doesn’t last long and then we’re looking at the boom operator, wondering how many hours a day they have to stand and move and stand again. By the time you reach the end of the featurettes, there is one that clears away the growing ill will: A nearly three-minute interview with editor Nicholas McPhee, who explains the importance of editing without puffery. He strives to make the scenes subtle without calling attention to the editing. He’s just there to do the work that’s necessary to get this show on the air, and quietly proud to do so.
You’ll also find a photo gallery on the first disc, set to the repeating Doc Martin theme music, with behind-the-scenes photos, and publicity photos, including a novel one with Martin Clunes in the center of four women holding the six babies that play Martin and Louisa’s son. On the second disc are cast filmographies for Clunes, Caroline Catz, Eileen Atkins, Ian McNeice, and Joe Absolom. McNeice’s filmography reminds me that I have so much more to see him in.
Doc Martin does exactly what great British television is supposed to do: Inspire viewers to seek out more. Not even two episodes into Series 5, I was reminded that I still haven’t seen Are You Being Served?, and As Time Goes By, and every Dickens adaptation there has ever been in Britain, save for Bleak House, starring Gillian Anderson, which I proudly own on DVD. Oh, and All Creatures Great and Small! And ‘Allo ‘Allo!. And the rest of Chef!. And certainly the beginning of Doc Martin up to this current series. There is much to relish here, every shot of the town, every medical case Martin takes on, every scene between him and Louisa. It is comfortable in a way most medical shows usually aren’t known to be.
