Metro, September 2022
If there’s something spectacularly in character about television’s most curmudgeonly GP telling Doc Martin fans to “mind their own business” about the reasons behind the much-loved Cornish series’ imminent demise, then at least Martin Clunes has had the good grace to admit there’s not much more that can realistically happen to a miserable medic who doesn’t like blood in an idyllic seaside hamlet.
And yet, as the tenth and final season begins today, there is still the potential for the Doc to tread interesting new ground. After all, we first see him holding his four month old baby, then he’s rearranging cutlery in the kitchen, trying to figure out his role in life after his resignation from GP duties in Portwenn. His wife Louisa (the brilliantly exasperated Caroline Catz) is now the sole breadwinner as a child therapist. Maybe, just maybe, Doc Martin is about to tackle thorny issues of gender roles and middle-aged identity.
And then Mrs Tishell (played with utter sitcom relish by Selina Cadell) deliberately staples her hand and swallows some keys in an attempt to get the Doc back doing what he does best – and Fay Ripley’s character “nearly” falls to her doom in the least nail-biting car-hanging-over-precipice scene in televisual history. Normal Doc Martin service is resumed.
Which, of course, is the whole reason the show has lasted 18 years, counts its viewing figures in the millions across the world and has in the past attracted the likes of Sigourney Weaver to guest star. Yes, there are nuances and hints at darker themes if you search really hard, but it’s meant to be unchallenging, escapist, light entertainment. The presence of Ripley – a complete natural, as always – means comparisons with Cold Feet are obvious but apt; going on such a lovely, long journey with these characters means you want them to succeed despite their foibles and inherently unrealistic lives.
Given its gentle charms, it’s probably overegging it to suggest that with this final series, Christmas special and subsequent documentary, Doc Martin is going out all guns blazing. For its many millions of fans, though, it will be emotional saying goodbye – they won’t make them like this any more, that’s for sure.
