Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Doc Martin: Series 7 Blu-ray Movie Review

Tuning in Late

Reviewed by Michael Reuben December 16, 2015

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.

Once again: Series 7 of Doc Martin picks up after many significant plot developments. Proceed at your own risk.

The series opens with Martin pining (if someone with the doctor's perpetual scowl can be said to "pine") for Louisa and their son, James Henry (played by four assorted toddlers), who left at the end of Series 6 to visit Louisa's mother in Spain. After the rocky road traveled by Dr. and Mrs. Ellingham to the altar, and the difficulties they experienced living together, Martin wonders whether they will ever return. They do, but Louisa remains ambivalent about the marriage.

Martin is so determined to "treat" the situation that he begs his psychiatrist Aunt Ruth (Eileen Atkins)—who essentially took over Aunt Joan's role in Series 5—to see him as a patient. Ruth refuses, but she does refer her nephew to Dr. Rachel Timony (Emily Bevan, The Casual Vacancy), who is staying in Portwenn while writing a book and seeing a few patients on the side. Martin is taken aback by Dr. Timoney's relative youth, but she quickly gets to the heart of his many issues, then insists on meeting Louisa, which leads to interesting developments. This being Portwenn, where everyone sooner or letter ends up sick or injured, even Dr. Timoney eventually needs Martin's services.

As Martin and Louisa struggle to decide whether they have a future together, they are surrounded by others in various stages of the same process. Pharmacist Sally Tishell (Selina Caddell) continues to insist that she and Martin are secret soulmates, despite his repeated brushoffs. But Mrs. Tishell has a mid-season surprise that utterly transforms her life. Louisa has an awkward encounter with old flame Danny Steel (Tristan Sturrock), for whom news of her marital difficulties is music to the ears. Portwenn's one-man police force, clueless PC Joe Penhale (Jon Marquez), spends much of Series 7 pining for local beauty Janice (Robyn Addison, replacing Katie Moore, who played the character in Series 6), who smiles on him indulgently—or is it something more? Childhood friends and never-quite-sweethearts Al Large (Joe Absolom) and Morwenna Newcross (Jessica Ransom), Dr. Ellingham's receptionist, continue to circle each other warily. And in the final two episodes, the doctor sees a farming couple, Annie and Jim Winton (Gemma Jones and Nicholas Lumley), whose devotion to each other after forty years of marriage gives new meaning to the term "crazy love".

As these tortuously complex developments unfold, Series 7 of Doc Martin delivers classic comic business through recurring characters like Al's father, Bert Large (Ian McNeice), whose get-rich-quick schemes are always doomed to failure. Still, the most reliable laughs result from the familiar rat-tat-tat of angry exchanges (on the doctor's side) and bewildered responses (on the side of whoever has incurred his wrath) that have kept fans laughing for years. In his performance of Dr. Ellingham, Martin Clunes has developed such a distinctive way of uttering expressions like "Quiet!", "Shut up!" and even a sotto voce "Yes" that he has made them personal signatures. Few can stand up to the doctor, unless it's someone he cares about, like Louisa or Aunt Ruth. A rare exception is an American tourist in Episode 7 ("Facta Non Verba") played by Sigourney Weaver in a guest appearance. With a typical Yankee's sense of entitlement, she gives Portwenn's GP an earful. Then she coaches his receptionist on how to do the same thing.

Doc Martin: Series 7 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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: Series 7 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Doc Martin: Series 7 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras were produced by Acorn Media and PBS for the American market.

• Doc Martin Profiles ( disc 1) (1080i; 1.78:1)


• Port Isaac (8:03): A look at Doc Martin's long-term home and the effect that the town's growing notoriety has had on local commerce.
• Martin Clunes (8:32): The show's star, who recently received an OBE ("Order of the British Empire") for services to drama, charity and the Dorset community.
• Tourist Fans (8:10): The many and varied visitors to Port Isaac who come to watch Doc Martin being filmed.
• Kids & Animals (8:20): A look at the show's four-legged cast and the toddlers who play James Henry.



• Producing the Show (disc 2) (1080i; 1.78:1)


• A Welcoming Set (8:22): What it's like to be a relative newcomer to the cast of an established show.
• New Characters & Favorites (8:06): Interviews with all the principal cast (because they're all "favorites"), as well as returning supporting actor Tristan Sturrock.
• Making a Scene (8:17): Director Ben Gregor directs various scenes from Episode 6 ("Other People's Children").
• Martin & Louisa (8:03): A look at the central relationship that drives the overarching plot of Doc Martin.
• Photo Gallery (2:15): A slide show of behind-the-scenes photos.



• Additional Trailers: At startup, disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn TV, William and Mary and Martin Clunes's Wild Life, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

Doc Martin: Series 7 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.