Doc Martin
Series title card
Format	Comedy Drama
Created by	Dominic Minghella
Starring	Martin Clunes Caroline Catz Stephanie Cole Ian McNeice
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	21 x 50 min, 1 x 120 min
Production
Running time	50 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	September 2, 2004 – present
External links
IMDb profile

Doc Martin 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 three 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, and the new series began on 24 September 2007 on ITV. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Dominic Minghella is a British television scriptwriter. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Caroline Catz (born Manchester, 1970) is a UK actress, who has starred in films, television programmes, theatre and radio. ... Stephanie Cole, in character as Diana Trent on Waiting for God. ... McNeice as Vladimir Harkonnen in the Sci-Fi Channels Dune miniseries Ian McNeice (born October 2, 1950 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, UK) is an internationally known English television and movie actor. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Dominic Minghella is a British television scriptwriter. ... Port Isaac is a fishing village in Cornwall, England. ... For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ... is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting...

Synopsis

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. A general practitioner (GP), family physician or family practitioner (FP) is a medical doctor who provides primary care. ... This article is about the medical specialty. ... The English suffix -phobia is used to describe fear or hatred (the latter is often ignored) of a particular thing or subject. ... For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ... A hamlet is (usually — see below) a small settlement, too small or unimportant to be considered a village. ...

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 (perhaps as a reference to Doc Martens), 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. Bedside manner is a term describing how a doctor handles a patient. ... Dr. Martens is a brand of shoe, often known as Doc Martens, Docs, or D.M.s. They have a characteristic air-cushioned sole developed in Germany by Dr. Klaus Maertens (note the different spelling). ...

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 miseryguts of 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. Stephanie Cole, in character as Diana Trent on Waiting for God. ... Caroline Catz (born Manchester, 1970) is a UK actress, who has starred in films, television programmes, theatre and radio. ...

Background

Martin Clunes as Martin Ellingham.

This programme is essentially a "re-boot" of a similar format used for two 2003 TV movies that were produced for Sky Television: Doc Martin 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. Image File history File links Doc-Martin. ... Image File history File links Doc-Martin. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Saving Grace is a 2000 comedy/crime film, starring Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson and Martin Clunes. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

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.

Commissioning

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 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.^[1] Louise Delamere (born 1974) is a British actress most famous as Lia in the Channel 4 comedy drama, No Angels. ...

ITV have recently confirmed that they have commissioned a fourth series, and when interviewed on This Morning, Martin Clunes stated very definitely that he is not taking a year off.

In the UK the show has been a ratings success for ITV1 attaining audiences of up to 9 million viewers. The first airing of the penultimate episode of series three in October 2007 (Monday 29th) achieved ITV1's best midweek drama performance in the 9pm slot since December 2004.^[2]

Regular cast

• Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham
• Caroline Catz as Louisa Glasson
• Stephanie Cole as "Auntie" Joan Norton
• Ian McNeice as Bert Large
• Joe Absolom as Al Large
• Stewart Wright as PC Mark Mylow (2004-2006)
• Felicity Montagu as Caroline Bosman
• Lucy Punch as Elaine Denham (2004)
• Katherine Parkinson as Pauline Lamb (2005-)
• Tristan Sturrock as Danny Steel (2005)
• Angeline Ball as Julie Mitchell (2005)
• John Marquez as PC Penhale (2007-)

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Caroline Catz (born Manchester, 1970) is a UK actress, who has starred in films, television programmes, theatre and radio. ... Stephanie Cole, in character as Diana Trent on Waiting for God. ... McNeice as Vladimir Harkonnen in the Sci-Fi Channels Dune miniseries Ian McNeice (born October 2, 1950 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, UK) is an internationally known English television and movie actor. ... Joseph Absolom (born 16 December 1978 in Greenwich, London, England) is a British actor best known for playing Matthew Rose in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. ... Felicity Montagu is a British actor, probably best known for her performances in television comedy series and films. ... Lucy Punch (born 30 December 1977) is an English actress currently starring in The Class on CBS as Holly Ellenbogen who is a reporter for Channel 9 News. ... Katherine Parkinson is a British actress. ... Angeline Ball (born 1969) is an Irish actress. ...

Guest stars

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. Celie Imrie (born 15 July 1952 in Guildford England) is a British actress. ... John Alderton (born November 27, 1940), is a popular British actor. ... Hugh Lloyd (born April 22, 1923) is an English actor who made his name on television. ... Jeff Rawle (born 1951 in Birmingham, England) is a British actor. ... Doreen Mantle (born 1930) is an experienced British actress who has appeared in such TV shows as The Duchess of Duke Street, The Wild House and Casualty. ... Christian Rodska is a versatile British actor who has appeared in many television and radio series and narrated a number of audiobooks. ... Roger Lloyd Pack (born in London February 8, 1944) is a British actor. ... Mary Woodvine appeared in an episode of Eastenders. ... John Woodvine in the Doctor Who serial The Armageddon Factor John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929 in Tyne Dock, County Durham) is a British actor who has appeared in over sixty film and television roles. ... Ben Miller (born 1966) is a British comedian, director and actor. ... Chris ODowd currently starring in channel 4s comedy The IT Crowd. ... Kenneth Cranham (born on December 12, 1944 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland) is a film, television and stage actor who has appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. ...

Quotes

This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process. If the content can be changed to be more encyclopedic rather than just a list of quotes, please do so and remove this message. Otherwise, you can help by formatting it per the Wikiquote guidelines in preparation for the duplication.

• Dr. Martin Ellingham: [speaking to a patient] Portwenn has one doctor and 966 people who know better.

• Dr. Martin Ellingham: [to a crowded patients' waiting room] Is there anyone here who has a genuine medical problem?

• 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 -

[imitates the check-out girl] Image File history File links Edit-copy_purple. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

• Elaine Denham: "Sorry. Six items or less".
• Dr. Martin Ellingham: And you had?
• Elaine Denham: 20, but all the same, d'you see?

• 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: [grabs 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.

[to 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: How about well-meaning?

• 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: [answering phone] Ellingham?

[to Elaine]

• 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: [whispers] 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?

• Dr. Martin Ellingham: [Recurring, exasperated phrase] It's not my dog.

• Dr. Martin Ellingham: Get that dog out of here. It's not a zoo.
• Patient: But he's my guide dog. I'm blind.

• Dr. Martin Ellingham (to Louisa): Are you wearing perfume?
• Louisa Glasson: Yes.
• Doc: Is it sandalwood?
• Louisa: No. It's kenzo flower.
• Doc: I wondered if it was pheromones. Androstenone five has a sort of sandalwood odour. Faintly urine-like if you prefer. It's the pheromone associated with the onset of the menstrual cycle, and it's often accompanied by mood swings.
• Louisa: Urine-like?
• Doc: It's only faint. Am I right?

International broadcasters

• In Australia, Doc Martin airs on the ABC on Saturday nights.
• In New Zealand, Doc Martin airs on TV One on Sunday nights.
• In Canada, Doc Martin airs on VisionTV and Knowledge Network in British Columbia.
• In Germany, 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 Italy, Hungary, Russia, Malaysia and other countries where available, Doc Martin airs on the Hallmark Channel.
• In Belgium, Doc Martin airs on the public channel één.
• IN Finland, Doc Martin airs on the public commercial channel MTV3.
• In Norway, Doc Martin airs on the public channel NRK1.
• IN Denmark, Doc Martin airs on the public commercial channel TV2 Charlie1 on Thursday evenings.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... TV One (usually referred to as One, sometimes as TV1 or TVNZ One, or by its former name Channel One) is a New Zealand national television network owned and operated by state-owned media company TVNZ. It is targeted at an older audience, compared to other major television channels in... Vision TV Network is a Canadian cable television specialty channel with a mandate to air multi-faith religious programming. ... Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (Second German Television), ZDF, is a public service German television channel based in Mainz. ... The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts in over 100 countries. ... één is a public TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT who also owns Ketnet/Canvas/Sporza. ...

DVD Releases

Series 1 and 2 have been released on reigon 2, and series 3 will be released in January 2008.

References

External links

• Doc Martin at itv.com
• Doc Martin at the Internet Movie Database