8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Crippled by a sudden and inconvenient fear of blood, flashy surgeon Dr. Martin Ellingham abandons his bustling London practice and sets up shop as a country doctor in this medically minded British comedy.
Starring: Martin Clunes, Caroline Catz, Ian McNeice, Joe Absolom, John MarquezComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The comedy/drama Doc Martin has been a reliable hit on Britain's ITV network since premiering
in 2004. It completed its seventh series in early November 2015, which is rumored to be its last.
Acorn Media has released the previous six series on DVD, but it has chosen the seventh for Doc
Martin's Blu-ray debut. The decision isn't as odd as it may first appear, because the show has a
sizeable American following thanks to frequent airings on PBS, and loyal fans in the U.S. need
no introduction to the characters or their back stories. Doc Martin certainly benefits from the
Blu-ray format; the show is filmed on location in the seaside town of Port Isaac in Cornwall,
which boasts breathtaking scenery that Blu-ray can show off to best advantage.
In the absence of any Series 1 review to which I can refer the reader for a spoiler-free
introduction, the best I can do is warn readers new to Doc Martin that the show features
continuing storylines which see major developments in the first six series. Newcomers who read
the feature discussion below will encounter spoilers. In general, the show revolves around a
brilliant surgeon from London, Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes), who suddenly develops a
morbid and crippling aversion to the sight of blood. With his surgical career abruptly halted, Dr.
Ellingham takes a position as local GP (or "general practitioner") in the fictional resort town of
Portwenn, where he hopes that the slower pace and peaceful surroundings will help him
overcome his psychological issues.
What the doctor hasn't counted on is how ill-suited he is to small town life (or possibly just life
in general). Martin Ellingham is a true misanthrope: formal, business-like, abrupt to the point of
rudeness, utterly uninterested in small talk and certain that he's smarter than everyone around
him (which he usually is). He can barely tolerate his neighbors, his patients and every person he
encounters on the narrow, winding streets of Portwenn. For their part, the townspeople, most of
them characters in their own right, find their new GP insufferable. Nobody expects "Doc
Martin", as the locals insist on calling him, to last more than a few weeks.
But the doctor abides. Two things keep him in Portwenn. The first is his Aunt Joan (Stephanie
Cole), on whose farm Martin spent boyhood holidays; those times are among his few happy
childhood memories and the reason he returned to Portwenn. The other attraction is a local
school teacher, Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz), one of the first Portwenn natives he meets. An
odd couple from the outset, Martin and Louisa develop a curious relationship based on equal
parts admiration, annoyance and an inability to admit their feelings for each other.
The citizens of Portwenn gradually come to respect Dr. Ellingham, because, for all his
unpleasantness, he's an excellent doctor. The mental energy he refuses to expend on personal
relationships has been poured into medical learning, giving him an encyclopedic knowledge of
symptoms and diseases both common and rare. A crack diagnostician whose eye misses no
detail, he's likely to make a person's acquaintance by noticing a heretofore undetected malady.
Indeed, that's how he and Louisa meet in the show's first episode.
Doc Martin is in.
All eight episodes of Doc Martin's Series 7 were shot by series regular Simon Archer (Call the
Midwife). Unlike most British TV, Doc Martin continues to be shot on film, but both the credits
and the look of the final footage indicate digital color correction and post-production. Acorn
Media has spread the eight 48-minute episodes over two 1080p, AVC-encoded BD-50s, and the
image is stunning. The colorful harbor, waterfront and narrow streets of Portwenn are visible in
all their detailed glory, whether in long shots or closeup, and the same quality of reproduction is
maintained whenever the story takes characters into the picturesque countryside. One episode
follows a group of city kids into the forest on a nature hike; other episodes involve a hilltop "bed
and breakfast" overlooking the harbor; others require trips to farms or a nearby island. The color
palette is typically pastel and aquatic, against which Dr. Ellingham's dark suits—he always
wears a suit—stick out like a wound. Interiors are less bright but no less detailed.
If one looks very closely, there is an extremely fine grain pattern from the original film image,
which was shot in Super16 with lenses designed for 35mm photography. Acorn has mastered
Doc Martin with an average bitrate of 21 Mbps for each episode, some a little more and some a
little less. Compression artifacts were not an issue.
Doc Martin's Series 7 has a robust 5.1 sound mix, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA,
that challenges the conventional wisdom about keeping comedy audio focused on the front
soundstage. Perhaps taking their cue from Portwenn's vertiginous geography and sharp curves,
the show's sound designers routinely place fragments of dialogue in the rear channels, as
characters arrive and depart, so that the viewer gets a sense of them moving away from or toward
the action onscreen. It's a simple effect, but it's so rarely used, especially in television, that it's
startling when it occurs. Doc Martin's sound mix doesn't overuse the device, but the effect
combines with the dramatic visuals to create a sense of open space around Portwenn, the very
opposite of the urban environment where you would normally find a personality like Dr.
Ellingham.
Most of the show's sound effects are subtle and understated, whether emanating from the front
speakers or the surrounds, but occasionally there's something loud and boisterous, such as a
vehicular collision, of which several varieties occur, an electrical discharge (PC Penhale gets a
new taser), construction noise and even a few gunshots. Everything is reproduced cleanly with
good fidelity and broad dynamic range. The dialogue is accurately positioned and fully
intelligible and, at least to my ear, none of the regional accents is heavy, but any listener who
finds them troublesome can switch on the optional English SDH subtitles. The theme music and
underscoring by series composer Colin Towns remain an essential part of Doc Martin's world.
The extras were produced by Acorn Media and PBS for the American market.
Having successfully brought Series 7 of Doc Martin to Blu-ray in such an impressive package,
Acorn Media should now be encouraged to go back to the beginning and do likewise for prior
seasons. As the prevalence of PBS reruns suggests, the show's episodes stand up to repeat
viewing, and if the quality of these eight episodes is any indication of what Acorn could provide
for Series 1-6, Doc Martin's fans would be all too happy to revisit earlier episodes (including the
2006 TV film entitled On the Edge) in a presentation of similar quality. As for Series 7, it's so
good that even someone new to the show can enjoy it. Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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