Excerpt:
by Angela Dawson
HOLLYWOOD—Martin Clunes returns as the brash yet brilliant titular village physician in Britain’s “Doc Martin.” The long-awaited seventh series (season, as it is referred to in the U.S.) of the popular medical comedy premieres Thursday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. on some PBS stations. In Los Angeles, it airs on KCET, a non-commercial education independent television station. American Public Television distributes the series in the U.S., and PBS stations may carry it. Visit your local station’s website for updated schedule information and other bonus content.
Clunes, 54, has been playing Dr. Martin Ellingham since the series premiered in 2004. The series airs every two years thanks to a comfortable schedule that allows the show’s writers and producers (including Clunes’ real-life wife Philippa Braithwaite) a generous amount of time to write and film the series on location in Port Isaac in Cornwall (which stands in for the fictional seaside village of Portwenn, home to colorful villagers).
By Tom Eames
Doc Martin was once again top of the Monday night ratings, as its finale episode brought in over 5 and a half million viewers.The ITV Martin Clunes drama was seen by an average overnight audience of 5.88m (26.6%) at 9pm (346,000/2.3%), down around 100k from last week.
Lisa Fenderson
Meet Lisa Fenderson!
Virginia, USA. Basically the East Coast between New York and Florida.
Tell us a little about yourself?
I was born in Puerto Rico but moved to Virginia, when I was 11. My Dad was in the TV and Radio broadcasting industry, and I followed in his footsteps. After graduating college, I began my career in the television industry and have been a video and TV producer, writer, editor and videographer for more than 20 years. I have also been a journalist and television host. I currently work as a host and producer for a local TV station here at home.
What is your Doc Martin story?
My mom had recommended Doc Martin a few times, so I tuned in to watch one evening on our local PBS station. I believe the episode was S4E8 “Preserve the Romance”. I remember Penhale was so excited to be teaming up with Doc once again as the “dynamic duo” when “Mrs. Tommy’s Taxis” fainted on the platt. Of course that was the episode with the birth of James Henry. After that, I was hooked. I started binge watching on Netflix from the beginning and watched Series 1-6 in one weekend! Fortunately, all this happened in January of 2015, so I didn’t have to wait too long for Series 7. I feel for those who had to wait two years for S7. Hoping for an S8.
What is your favourite episode and why?
Since I don’t want to give out spoilers about Series 7, I guess I’ll hold off on talking about the final episode, which is my absolute favorite… so far! “Erotomania” (S2E8) was such a great episode and it finally brought Doc and Louisa together, and in “Holly Bears a Prickle” (S3E5), I loved the proposal scene at the end. But I would have to say that “Ever After” (S5E8) was my favorite. Probably because Doc finally professed his love to Louisa, without the influence of alcohol, and in such a fairy tale style. LOL It was a kind of a Romeo and Juliet moment, but with both Doc and Louisa face to face at ground level. It was so well written and acted, not just by Martin and Caroline, but Selina Cadell and Dame Eileen Atkins as well. The scenery and the location added so much to the final scene. I just loved it!
Who is your favourite character and why?
Well, of course, I love Doc!! Watching him try to live his life, the only way he knows how, because of the way he was raised. He just doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the world and the consequences are both sad AND funny! I sometimes find myself laughing out loud, especially in the recent Series 7. I like the fact that he doesn’t tolerate idiots very well, and he doesn’t mind telling them off!! I wish I could do that sometimes!
Why do you love Doc Martin?
I think I love DM because it is an escape. The team who started the Doc character in “Saving Grace” and, most recently, the Buffalo Pictures team, have done such a great job of creating a character that you want to follow. A character that you can relate to in some respects and that you want to see conquer his challenges, both personally and romantically! But another huge reason I love the show is the scenery and the quaintness of Portwenn (Port Isaac). There is something very calming about the village and I think for me, it just takes me back to a simpler place and time. I’m hoping to visit the area next summer and cannot wait!
Can you name one way in which Doc Martin has influenced your life?
Well, not only has the show brought me much joy and allowed me to escape for an hour or two each week, but it has allowed me to make new and life-long friends. Soon after finding the show, I joined several Doc Martin/Martin Clunes Facebook groups. It has been so much fun to chat with other fans from all over the world, about the show and about Martin himself. Five of us in the groups have become very close friends and we even traveled to meet and have a girl’s weekend in the Rocky Mountains this past summer. We had no idea what to expect, but we got along so well and had such a good time binge watching DM and other Martin shows and movies, like Men Behaving Badly and Demob. We even had “fizzy elderberry cordials” and digestives. We laughed so much and had such a blast, that we plan on meeting in Port Isaac next year, and maybe in 2017 if there is a filming of Series 8. Thank you DM and Buffalo Pictures, for brining us together!
Finish this sentence: “I wish Doc Martin Fans…”
…continue to love and support the show. To contact ITV and Buffalo Pictures, in support of the series and particularly, a Series 8. I think they need to hear from viewers how much they/we love the show.
Thanks Lisa for being our first every entry into the Doc Martin Fan Hall of Fame!
Excerpt:
He is best known for playing socially inappropriate and hopeless-in love anti-heroes. From Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly to the eponymous lead in Doc Martin .The real Martin Clunes however, is far more charming and lucky in love.”I get a lot of criticism in my own home for taking an interest peoples medical conditions,” says actor Martin Clunes, who for the past 11 years has been wooing fans worldwide with role as Dr Martin Ellingham.”Particularly their medications, I always want to know what they’ve been prescribed. My daughter in particular always goes ‘you’re not a doctor! Shut up.'”
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The seventh series of Doc Martin is about to complete its national premiere in the US, and fans already want to know if there will be an eighth. So I asked Ian McNeice.
Excerpt:
Ian McNeice, aka Doc Martin‘s Bert Large, is in the US right now, at American Public Television’s Fall Marketplace, where public TV programming execs are gathered to meet him and enthuse about Doc Martin, while screening others of APT’s programs for their upcoming schedules.We all know Ian as a fine actor, and now I can say from personal experience that he is a genuinely nice guy, too, as he was happy to chat with me by phone this morning, despite my cracking, croaky, under-the-weather voice.
The all too watchable Doc Martin wraps up another series, Brighton welcomes cops and robbers, and the BBC shows there’s more to ovens than buns
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Doc Martin represents one of my guiltier pleasures, in that I watch it in what I think of as my time “off”, freed from doing the serious important note-taking shtick or being asked to struggle professionally to fathom the enduring appeal ofDownton. The Big Bang Theory, The Wright Stuff, reruns of Jonathan Creek orEndeavour – all are just-for-me equivalents of warm mismatched socks, a hot-water bottle and burnt bubbling cheap cheese on toast. Bliss.
By Niall Johnson
Excerpt:
Returning after a two year absence with a notably shrunken fan base, a Gary and Dorothy reunion and the most random cameo ever, last night saw the still-very-successful seventh series of Doc Martin (9pm) come to an end with a spot of light-hearted kidnapping and bondage.After seven episodes of continuing curmudgeonry and straining marriage troubles, Monday night’s finale saw the sour puss Doc wake up in a bit of a fix - bound and gagged by a ‘kooky’ local who tried to force the doctor to perform surgery on her dying husband.
Daily Star - Seagulls terrorise Doc Martin TV town
THE village where Doc Martin is filmed has declared war on wild seagulls.
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Marauding birds are attacking locals and tourists drawn to the area by the telly hit.Councillors have now applied to Natural England for a licence to cull the birds in Port Isaac, Cornwall.It will allow landowners to damage or destroy nests but it would still be an offence to kill herring gulls.The village serves as the fi ctional town of Port Wenn in Doc Martin, which stars Martin Clunes, 53.