[Shop Girl]

Originally Posted by mmDerdekea

Actually, I'm not sure being a good father and husband necessarily means that you have to transform yourself into a new person with other people. I think it would be very realistic for him still to struggle with patients, and get upset at them now and then, and not be Mr. Sunshine in the village, and still then openly care for and love his son and his wife. In fact, I hope that is exactly how it goes!

People are different in different roles--the hard taskmaster I am with students in the medical center (probably a lot like DM, although I am not monosyllabic), is not the person I am with friends later on. I don't expect or need or want DM to entirely smooth out his personality just because he has a family.

I guess I disagree with the grand stereotyping of DM series by series. In each of them he has his good and bad moments and his problematic and touching relationships with patients. He yells at some, and he understands others. I don't see he was only one way in S1--remember while helping the first couple in E1, in S1 he was also screaming at the whole town by the end of the series in his phone and diagnosing them with "infantilism". In S5 he was rough with LG and kind to Mrs. Dingy.

There is humor in S4E5 "The Departed" with Sheila the lamb, and there is his working with the McLynn's, as well as his roughness with the seriously irresponsible midwife. Etc., etc.

So, I think we need to see the character more as a whole, and not pinpoint him into being a certain way all through a series. The show is more complex and more varied than that, I think.

As I mentioned yesterday, I wouldn't like to see a huge change in the way he treats his patients because he does seem to have a soft spot at times in particular situations. I would just like to see him grow as a husband and try not to embarrass Louisa quite so much. I'm sure he will still have the odd moment when he does, but it would be nice to see him start to blow up while they are out together and all of a sudden see the wheels spinning in his head and then he suddenly just lets it drop. And hopefully Louisa will see exactly what happened and reward him suitably.

[mmDerdekea]

Originally Posted by bookfan2

But that's just my opinion. I want to see the character of Martin Ellingham evolve - not transform.

I see your point, but I think the evolution should be just a little bit.

I think just seeing them as an intimate couple with all the typical daily ups and downs would be best. It would be nice if LG has an insight into her temper and can learn to communicate more, and DM shows more affection and learns to communicate more. I really don't want DM to change more than that.

If we accept he loves LG by his speech at the castle, we should probably accept he hates PW and nearly everything about it; in fact, he spent equal time during his speech hating PW as he did admitting his love for LG. I can't see that changing during S6. I'm quite happy with him being grumpy and/or decent to patients and villagers all through S6.

Season 4 and 5 ended with DM epiphanies a la a deus ex machina from the chaos of the plot, and I think it would be quite trite and cliched to have some such massive revelation from a plot device occur again in S6.

We know one plot inkling--his misdiagnosis of the man with Parkinson's. Whether that will be a deus ex machina revelatory event is unknown. But, I really hope they don't rely on those to push things forward again. Personally, I'd like to see a typical (okay, not so typical) couple struggle through day to day life with all the quirks they have, the village they live in has, the patients the husband sees has, and so forth.

I'm more interested in: them getting married, how they solve the career problem, the where we live problem, the baby-sitter problem, the who cooks supper and how much fish does that entail problem, the let's finally have sex again, frequently, problem, more than I want DM to actually change or evolve his character. I really want to study them as a committed couple figuring things out. I really don't think he needs to grow much more, outside of being a better man solely for LG and his son.

[NewPark]

Originally Posted by mmDerdekea

I see your point, but I think the evolution should be just a little bit.

I think just seeing them as an intimate couple with all the typical daily ups and downs would be best. It would be nice if LG has an insight into her temper and can learn to communicate more, and DM shows more affection and learns to communicate more. I really don't want DM to change more than that.

If we accept he loves LG by his speech at the castle, we should probably accept he hates PW and nearly everything about it; in fact, he spent equal time during his speech hating PW as he did admitting his love for LG. I can't see that changing during S6. I'm quite happy with him being grumpy and/or decent to patients and villagers all through S6.

Season 4 and 5 ended with DM epiphanies a la a deus ex machina from the chaos of the plot, and I think it would be quite trite and cliched to have some such massive revelation from a plot device occur again in S6.

We know one plot inkling--his misdiagnosis of the man with Parkinson's. Whether that will be a deus ex machina revelatory event is unknown. But, I really hope they don't rely on those to push things forward again. Personally, I'd like to see a typical (okay, not so typical) couple struggle through day to day life with all the quirks they have, the village they live in has, the patients the husband sees has, and so forth.

I'm more interested in: them getting married, how they solve the career problem, the where we live problem, the baby-sitter problem, the who cooks supper and how much fish does that entail problem, the let's finally have sex again, frequently, problem, more than I want DM to actually change or evolve his character. I really want to study them as a committed couple figuring things out. I really don't think he needs to grow much more, outside of being a better man solely for LG and his son.

I agree -- I don't want to see an ending like we did in S4 and S4 (or heaven help us, S3). All too easy to imagine misdiagnosis, DM unhappy, inconsolable and the villagers gathering round to cheer him up -- sort of like something out of "It's a Wonderful Life." But since it's easy to imagine, and the writers are far more creative than I am, we can be pretty sure it won't happen that way. But an equivalent climactic resolution in the last 4-5 minutes -- please, no.

[Biffpup]

Someone, I think PoorRichard, asked me to post after I watched Doc Martin: the Legend of the Cloutie. I watched it tonight. I'm afraid I don't have anything positive to say. Well, except that MC is always pleasing to watch.

I loved "Saving Grace". It was funny, quirky, a little weird. But, of course, the Doc was a completely different character. "Doc Martin: the Movie" was enjoyable with a plot that held my interest. The Doc was still very different, but he was a little bit closer to "our" Doc. Both movies employed effective cinematography, lighting that set the mood, were visually appealing. Both movies had a bit of an edge to them.

"Cloutie", on the other hand, was pretty lightweight. If this was what the original intention was, to feature a charming, witty London doctor interacting with somewhat quirky characters in Port Isaac, I don't think it would have lasted long as a series. We've got a couple of side plots involving villagers, one smuggling illegal aliens into the country, the other a kind of local mystic trying too hard to be mystical and helping the Doc win his house. In the meantime, the Doc just wants to get that rundown house. It just didn't do a lot for me. The main plot, the Doc having to compete for a house, was somewhat bland, and there was a lot of gooey-ness and sappiness in it. Oh, and the beast of Bodmin.

One thing I noticed was that I didn't care much about any of the other characters like I did in the previous two movies. None of them really grabbed me.

The things I found most interesting were related to the current DM show. Charlie's house and farm were later Joan's. The actor who later played Theo Wenn's father portrayed the fellow who wanted to buy the old house and turn it into holiday cottages.

Funny, I had wondered if it wouldn't be interesting to see a Doc Martin episode with a kind of spooky, mystical feel to it, and even wondered why they hadn't latched onto the Beast of Bodmin in an episode. I see now that it has been done and it just didn't do much for me.

This reinforces for me that the show they eventually ended up with went in the right direction. It's got an edginess that's screamingly absent from the cloutie movie. Our grumpy, terse, rude Doc fascinates us (or at least me) because we want to know why he is the way he is and how or if he's going to manage to live a satisfying, happy life. It's compelling to see a gruff, in-control, tough fellow like him with weakness #1 (the haemophobia) and weakness #2 (his love for Louisa and later James). He plays a character we wouldn't expect to fall in love. And when he does, his misadventures and incompetence in the softer side of life keep us glued to the screen. Okay, my opinion, so feel free to insert "I" everywhere I used the word "us".

Anyhoo, if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching if for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity, but it doesn't measure up to the two previous movies and falls far, far short of the Doc Martin series that eventually became a hit series.

[poorrichard54]

Originally Posted by Biffpup

Someone, I think PoorRichard, asked me to post after I watched Doc Martin: the Legend of the Cloutie. I watched it tonight. I'm afraid I don't have anything positive to say. Well, except that MC is always pleasing to watch.

I loved "Saving Grace". It was funny, quirky, a little weird. But, of course, the Doc was a completely different character. "Doc Martin: the Movie" was enjoyable with a plot that held my interest. The Doc was still very different, but he was a little bit closer to "our" Doc. Both movies employed effective cinematography, lighting that set the mood, were visually appealing. Both movies had a bit of an edge to them.

"Cloutie", on the other hand, was pretty lightweight. If this was what the original intention was, to feature a charming, witty London doctor interacting with somewhat quirky characters in Port Isaac, I don't think it would have lasted long as a series. We've got a couple of side plots involving villagers, one smuggling illegal aliens into the country, the other a kind of local mystic trying too hard to be mystical and helping the Doc win his house. In the meantime, the Doc just wants to get that rundown house. It just didn't do a lot for me. The main plot, the Doc having to compete for a house, was somewhat bland, and there was a lot of gooey-ness and sappiness in it. Oh, and the beast of Bodmin.

One thing I noticed was that I didn't care much about any of the other characters like I did in the previous two movies. None of them really grabbed me.

The things I found most interesting were related to the current DM show. Charlie's house and farm were later Joan's. The actor who later played Theo Wenn's father portrayed the fellow who wanted to buy the old house and turn it into holiday cottages.

Funny, I had wondered if it wouldn't be interesting to see a Doc Martin episode with a kind of spooky, mystical feel to it, and even wondered why they hadn't latched onto the Beast of Bodmin in an episode. I see now that it has been done and it just didn't do much for me.

This reinforces for me that the show they eventually ended up with went in the right direction. It's got an edginess that's screamingly absent from the cloutie movie. Our grumpy, terse, rude Doc fascinates us (or at least me) because we want to know why he is the way he is and how or if he's going to manage to live a satisfying, happy life. It's compelling to see a gruff, in-control, tough fellow like him with weakness #1 (the haemophobia) and weakness #2 (his love for Louisa and later James). He plays a character we wouldn't expect to fall in love. And when he does, his misadventures and incompetence in the softer side of life keep us glued to the screen. Okay, my opinion, so feel free to insert "I" everywhere I used the word "us".

Anyhoo, if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching if for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity, but it doesn't measure up to the two previous movies and falls far, far short of the Doc Martin series that eventually became a hit series.

**Contains spoilers if you have not yet seen "Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie"

Biffpup, sorry you found Legend of the Cloutie such a disappointment. I agree that the direction they took the series has much stronger (or do I mean longer?) legs, but I did enjoy the two Sky Pictures (SP) movies, probably more than I enjoyed Saving Grace.

I think the theme of the two SP movies was about a Londoner finding acceptance in Cornwall. Justine says in Doc Martin: the Movie (DMtM), something like "you'll never be accepted here, you know" but the scene at the end of LotC (Legend of the Cloutie) where Lolita and Co. come to the jail to tell Martin they've paid his deposit on the farm proves that he has been. Both movies feature a village meeting as central, but in DMtM, the village is united in its suspicion of Martin. In LotC, Martin unites the village in mounting a defense against the real outsiders, the customs and excise men. Part of his being accepted is opening his mind to the local folklore, and when he sees the power of Mrs. Gorie to heal his wart, and the power of the spell Lolita casts to find her soul mate, and the power of the cloutie in getting him his farm, he gains respect for the place and its traditions. I agree the women cavorting in the woods in laurel headress is a little OTT, as is Martin's running around in black face impersonating the Beast of Bodmin, but on the whole I find these movies to give me a wonderful sense of place. The series does that too, but in a much less mythical way. I mean we have smuggling, we have folk magic, we have abandonned tin mines. This couldn't be any place else but Cornwall. As much as the eccentric local characters, the village is the real star of those movies.

Knowing who the Doc becomes later, I find it amusing to see him tending to patients in his sunny yellow office and asking them if they want a sweetie! There are also some expressions we see on MC's face that we never see in the Doc Martin series. When he says to the little girl who is afraid of the Beast, "Scary" he looks demon-possessed. And I love that expression of real gratitude and happiness at the end when he discovered that the villagers have paid his deposit. The other scene I am very fond of from LotC, is when the barman and amateur smuggler comes upon Martin crouched down behind his car. He doesn't want to be seen and can't come up with a good explanation for why his face is black, so he tells the truth. And the barman immediately recognises a kindred spirit, a partner in crime, someone who is worthy of Cornish solidarity because he has done something even more crazy and desperate than a local might do. The bit of dialogue where the barman explains the tortuous way the gossip chain has transmitted the news that Martin had been gazumpfed in his bid for Tragruunt farm, is also priceless. Having lived in Orkney on a small island where there are lots of unwritten protocols governing interactions between locals and "incomers," I find that theme of finding yourself and finding your place in a community with a strong sense of local identity, while it makes for a rather gentle, understated (yes, "lightweight") kind of movie, nonetheless very engaging. I was a little disappointed that characters who had started up a friendship with Martin in DMtM: Harvey and Billy and Mrs. Gorie, didn't really carry that on. However, I liked the way the village and Martin found solidarity in dispatching the Londoners off back to London: the Bowdens in their RV and the customs and excise men in their black car. The musical score I liked very much, though it doesn't feature any of the great folksongs we hear in DMtM. The fellow who played the barman's smuggler brother was Wickham in the Ehle and Firth Pride and Prejudice movie, so that was fun to see as well. I think the barman in these movies was a kind of prototype for Bert Large's character -- a fellow who is always working the angels, but nonetheless a central guy to know in the village and a good one to have in your corner.

Bottom line, I like DM the series best of all, then DMtM, then LotC, then Saving Grace, and I find they are easiest to enjoy when all taken on their own terms. It's wonderful to see the versatility of Martin Clunes as he transforms utterly in his three different incarnations of the doctor called Martin.

[poorrichard54]

Originally Posted by marchrand

In my imaginary series of back story (Doc Martin - Before Portwenn), I would love to see him at university with Edith and the Edith/Ellingham romance -- that poem that DM wrote to EM:
"The beat of my heart echoes in time with another
and now it's all alone with longing,
It runs like a child to its mother."
Then the eventual breakup between them because she goes off to Canada to further her studies.
Then the scene where he couldn't operate because the blood phobia kicked in.
Then the retraining to become a GP, and all along the grumpy demeanor sets in deeper.
Well, I can dream, can't I?

I do love that poem. I think we need to hear a poem that Martin writes for Louisa in S6. More than anything else it's that poem in S4, I think, that tells us how deep Martin's feelings for Edith really were 20 years ago. Does the show actually tell us that she goes to Canada to further her studies? I'd be interested in a prequel with that backstory being shot just to see MC and Lia Williams in a touching break-up scene set against the skyline of Mount Royal (Montreal) or Toronto's Lakeshore Esplanade.

[marchrand]

Originally Posted by poorrichard54

I do love that poem. I think we need to hear a poem that Martin writes for Louisa in S6. More than anything else it's that poem in S4, I think, that tells us how deep Martin's feelings for Edith really were 20 years ago. Does the show actually tell us that she goes to Canada to further her studies? I'd be interested in a prequel with that backstory being shot just to see MC and Lia Williams in a touching break-up scene set against the skyline of Mount Royal (Montreal) or Toronto's Lakeshore Esplanade.

I stand corrected. In S4E2 after AJ drives LG home after her scan, AJ says that Edith went abroad for her studies. She did not state Canada. I must have read it somewhere in fanfiction!

[madmother]

New poll up on http://www.docmartinonline.net/ - should Louisa cut her hair short?

[dcdmfan]

Originally Posted by marchrand

I stand corrected. In S4E2 after AJ drives LG home after her scan, AJ says that Edith went abroad for her studies. She did not state Canada. I must have read it somewhere in fanfiction!

I think one of the actors said in an interview that she went to Canada. It may have been Lia Williamson.

[marchrand]

I have been drawn back to viewing on you tube Hunting Venus made in 1999, a one-off starring MC and Neil Morrissey, Can't understand why this hasn't been released on dvd. The hit song Starburst by the group Venus Hunters speaks so well of the mood of the 80's. Somewhere I saw a small paragraph of an interview w/ NM who plays Charlotte in this and who has had a sex-change operation. He said that he sat through a 4-5 hour daily make-up procedure. Also said that when MC first saw him after the procedure he was stunned at the transformation. NM sitting through the procedure gradually got used to the change.
I have often wondered about CC in S4. Was her pregnant look just a prosthetic device somehow attached to her or was make-up used to acquire the look? In S4E2 when she walks down Roscarrock Hill away from the surgery, how did she manage walking in wedgie shoes downhill without being thrown forward? When you are pregnant you get used to the gradual weight gain and manage, but being an actress having this extra weight being suddenly put on you, I don't know, I hope she got extra combat pay for this!! By the way, it was so believable in that series that she looked pregnant. Kudos to those responsible.
I have managed to decipher the words to Starburst--maybe so errors and omissions, but here goes part of it:
Starburst - by Venus Hunters
I dreamt the earth was dying
We were choking on the fumes
Apocalypse dessentigration(?)
We furnished our own doom
A golden blast eternity was all our future held
We suffered dry and lonely lift, llusions acrid smell
It was sometime--sometime on a trip to Uranus
. . . . .

[lemster]

Originally Posted by poorrichard54

Tee hee, I like it! I guess there would have to be something like an 8 year age difference. It was mentioned in one of the early episodes that Louisa has a sibling. Was it a sister? Do you think we'll get to meet her in S6? I think it would be quite lyrical (a pleasing symmetry) if S6 were to include a nod back in some way to the scene on the plane at the start of S1E1.

So how about this for the opening of S6E1: it's sepia, so we know it's a flashback sequence. A young boy (12) is sitting opposite a young girl (4) and her older sister (9) in a compartment of the London to Cornwall train.

As long as we are suggesting what might make a good episode for Series 6, I would like to see the following:

For some reason – say a retirement of one of DM’s tutors, there is a formal event in London that DM feels obligate to attend. This would offer multiple opportunities for DM to display his diagnostic skills with passengers on the train ride up and back, plus hotel guest and staff. The event itself would show off DM and LG (perhaps LE by then) in formal cloths, which I would enjoy. Also the event might allow Edith Montgomery to see how Martin overcame his fear of intimacy. It would do LG good to see the respect with which his colleagues hold DM and it would allow DM to see LG’s reaction to London, perhaps nudging the PW or London issue to a close.

[bookfan2]

Originally Posted by lemster

As long as we are suggesting what might make a good episode for Series 6, I would like to see the following:

For some reason – say a retirement of one of DM’s tutors, there is a formal event in London that DM feels obligate to attend. This would offer multiple opportunities for DM to display his diagnostic skills with passengers on the train ride up and back, plus hotel guest and staff. The event itself would show off DM and LG (perhaps LE by then) in formal cloths, which I would enjoy. Also the event might allow Edith Montgomery to see how Martin overcame his fear of intimacy. It would do LG good to see the respect with which his colleagues hold DM and it would allow DM to see LG’s reaction to London, perhaps nudging the PW or London issue to a close.

I like these ideas. My only variation is that not only does she see the life that he could lead should they move and chooses, again, to go with him. But he also sees the life he would lead and makes the decision he no longer wants London (not necessarily doesn't want surgery, but doesn't want London).

That's just my preference

[Biffpup]

Originally Posted by poorrichard54

Bottom line, I like DM the series best of all, then DMtM, then LotC, then Saving Grace, and I find they are easiest to enjoy when all taken on their own terms. It's wonderful to see the versatility of Martin Clunes as he transforms utterly in his three different incarnations of the doctor called Martin.

I do agree with the versatility of MC. I'm gradually trying to see more and more of his assorted roles. I've recently watched one series of "Reggie Perrin", in which his comedic talents are on display, and "Losing It", a serious and emotional role he played brilliantly. He's such a good actor. One of the amazing things we've seen, thanks to YouTube, is how easily MC slips into and out of a character. Well, "easily" is probably the wrong word. I know what he does takes concentration, hard work, years of training, and loads of talent. What I mean, I guess, is that he doesn't seem to be one of these actors who has to go through agony to get into a role, and then who must take time to "undo" it afterwards. I remember reading about some "method" actors who supposedly remained in character for a certain time after a completing a project, even having difficulty ridding themselves of the character after weeks (I wonder how true this is).

Has anyone had a chance to watch this YouTube clip of the filming of a S4 scene? It shows the Doc finishing up the scene in which he and "Robert" walk through the hospital hallway when he went to London to discuss the vascular surgery position. In the clip, we don't see the hallway scene, but we know it from the episode. We see the immediate end of the scene and hear the beginning of DM's line about being published. I posted it a few months ago, but heard nary a peep afterwards. Maybe everyone had already seen it and talked it to death. What's intriguing about it to me is how MC is Doc Martin until just after he's gone through the door. In that moment, he transforms, without even stopping talking, from the Doc to Martin Clunes. Very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svIktLaV9gE

[Conniej]

Originally Posted by marchrand

I have been drawn back to viewing on you tube Hunting Venus made in 1999, a one-off starring MC and Neil Morrissey, Can't understand why this hasn't been released on dvd. The hit song Starburst by the group Venus Hunters speaks so well of the mood of the 80's. Somewhere I saw a small paragraph of an interview w/ NM who plays Charlotte in this and who has had a sex-change operation. He said that he sat through a 4-5 hour daily make-up procedure. Also said that when MC first saw him after the procedure he was stunned at the transformation. NM sitting through the procedure gradually got used to the change.
I have often wondered about CC in S4. Was her pregnant look just a prosthetic device somehow attached to her or was make-up used to acquire the look? In S4E2 when she walks down Roscarrock Hill away from the surgery, how did she manage walking in wedgie shoes downhill without being thrown forward? When you are pregnant you get used to the gradual weight gain and manage, but being an actress having this extra weight being suddenly put on you, I don't know, I hope she got extra combat pay for this!! By the way, it was so believable in that series that she looked pregnant. Kudos to those responsible.
I have managed to decipher the words to Starburst--maybe so errors and omissions, but here goes part of it:
Starburst - by Venus Hunters
I dreamt the earth was dying
We were choking on the fumes
Apocalypse dessentigration(?)
We furnished our own doom
A golden blast eternity was all our future held
We suffered dry and lonely lift, llusions acrid smell
It was sometime--sometime on a trip to Uranus
. . . . .

It was funny how the girls had these lofty interpretations of the lyrics and Simon (MC) said it was really about masturbation.

[Shop Girl]

This morning I was watching my absolute favorite YT video of all time, the Bizet video from William & Mary (Thanks Connie! ).

It struck me that although I am very glad that MC has gotten healthier, I DO still love that pudgy William! I still say it is my all time favorite screen hug.

[PWSJohn]

I'm half way through series 1. Why does Elaine Denham leave at the end of series 1?

[madmother]

Originally Posted by PWSJohn

I'm half way through series 1. Why does Elaine Denham leave at the end of series 1?

I think the actress who played her got some film roles in the US.

[Shop Girl]

Got it from a link from the WETA blogger. We never did hear, how did the meeting with her go?

http://www.anglotopia.net/british-en...de-doc-martin/

[bookfan2]

Even knowing that he shouldn't have proposed; she shouldn't have accepted -- even knowing that it didn't end well -- I still love the scene where Martin proposes.

I wish I were better at film analysis and understood the directorial and acting decisions made -- close-up or distance shot? Martin keeps his eyes open when she runs into his arms(for a moment he looked scared) -- and then closes them as he embraces her.

Does he tell her he's not extraordinary because ever since she said she wouldn't see him again he had been feeling anything BUT extraordinary?

What is it at that moment that prompts him to take action? Is it her comment, despite his demurral, that gives him the courage?

It's probably no more than 20 seconds of footage, but chock full of emotion.

[cc.cookie]

Originally Posted by madmother

New poll up on http://www.docmartinonline.net/ - should Louisa cut her hair short?

Welcome back, Madmother. I hope you had a good holiday.
We've missed you - and not just because of the polls.

[marchrand]

One, amongst many things, I can say for Martin Clunes is that when he is in a role like DM or William and Mary, you completely forget he is an actor playing a role. In DM he is DM not MC; in William and Mary he is William Shallcross, not MC. He nails the roles down so well, I am sure with plenty of work. thought and acting abilities on his part.

Finally, one of our New York-Metro area pbs stations NJTV started to show the William and Mary series last night. Those viewers who have not seen the series are in for a real treat.

[umbrellagirl]

Here's the ITV Press Pack for "A Mother's Son." Interview with MC on pages 10-11.

http://www.itv.com/documents/pdf/a%20mothers%20son.pdf

[poorrichard54]

Originally Posted by lemster

As long as we are suggesting what might make a good episode for Series 6, I would like to see the following:

For some reason – say a retirement of one of DM’s tutors, there is a formal event in London that DM feels obligate to attend. This would offer multiple opportunities for DM to display his diagnostic skills with passengers on the train ride up and back, plus hotel guest and staff. The event itself would show off DM and LG (perhaps LE by then) in formal cloths, which I would enjoy. Also the event might allow Edith Montgomery to see how Martin overcame his fear of intimacy. It would do LG good to see the respect with which his colleagues hold DM and it would allow DM to see LG’s reaction to London, perhaps nudging the PW or London issue to a close.

I too always think it adds interest to a show like Doc Martin which is very identified with a particular location, to take the characters off site once in a while. I like the scenario you suggest -- it would contribute to character and plot development as well as being something different on the eyes. I was also thinking about M&L's honeymoon. Do you think they would go away? Where would they go? I'm going to plump for Florence. There seems to be a line drawing of the duomo on DM's wall in some scenes. I bet you he's travelled a bit in Europe, maybe with his parents, maybe on his own or with Edith. He and Louisa both seem to have a bit of knowledge of Spanish in "On the Edge," but I doubt they would want to go to Spain -- too associated with Louisa's Mum, and too close to Portugal (ie. Margaret and her toy boy). I see Spain, Portugal and Italy as a trio of sun destinations to which M&L might have had some previous exposure, and Italy (Northern Italy for its superior sanitation) winning out. Would BP's budget extend to a shoot in a couple of different locations this season, I wonder? London? Florence? The sad thing is that travelling with the Doc might well do in the marriage. I'm sure that Louisa would not take the AC embargo and bed bug search with anything like Edith's good humour!

[poorrichard54]

Originally Posted by marchrand

One, amongst many things, I can say for Martin Clunes is that when he is in a role like DM or William and Mary, you completely forget he is an actor playing a role. In DM he is DM not MC; in William and Mary he is William Shallcross, not MC. He nails the roles down so well, I am sure with plenty of work. thought and acting abilities on his part.

Finally, one of our New York-Metro area pbs stations NJTV started to show the William and Mary series last night. Those viewers who have not seen the series are in for a real treat.

Originally Posted by umbrellagirl

Here's the ITV Press Pack for "A Mother's Son." Interview with MC on pages 10-11.

http://www.itv.com/documents/pdf/a%20mothers%20son.pdf

Originally Posted by marchrand

I have been drawn back to viewing on you tube Hunting Venus made in 1999, a one-off starring MC and Neil Morrissey, Can't understand why this hasn't been released on dvd. The hit song Starburst by the group Venus Hunters speaks so well of the mood of the 80's. Somewhere I saw a small paragraph of an interview w/ NM who plays Charlotte in this and who has had a sex-change operation. He said that he sat through a 4-5 hour daily make-up procedure. Also said that when MC first saw him after the procedure he was stunned at the transformation. NM sitting through the procedure gradually got used to the change.
I have often wondered about CC in S4. Was her pregnant look just a prosthetic device somehow attached to her or was make-up used to acquire the look? In S4E2 when she walks down Roscarrock Hill away from the surgery, how did she manage walking in wedgie shoes downhill without being thrown forward? When you are pregnant you get used to the gradual weight gain and manage, but being an actress having this extra weight being suddenly put on you, I don't know, I hope she got extra combat pay for this!! By the way, it was so believable in that series that she looked pregnant. Kudos to those responsible.
I have managed to decipher the words to Starburst--maybe so errors and omissions, but here goes part of it:
Starburst - by Venus Hunters
I dreamt the earth was dying
We were choking on the fumes
Apocalypse dessentigration(?)
We furnished our own doom
A golden blast eternity was all our future held
We suffered dry and lonely lift, llusions acrid smell
It was sometime--sometime on a trip to Uranus
. . . . .

Originally Posted by Shop Girl

This morning I was watching my absolute favorite YT video of all time, the Bizet video from William & Mary (Thanks Connie! ).

It struck me that although I am very glad that MC has gotten healthier, I DO still love that pudgy William! I still say it is my all time favorite screen hug.

Look at that! I just figured out how to mutti-quote!

The premise of a Mother's Son is reminding me quite a bit of William and Mary. The tension surrounding the murder plot is new, and probably lends a different feel to the whole thing, but the theme of whether a family not bound by blood can hold together under pressure sounds quite familiar.

MC's list of virtual careers is impressive: sales/business (Men Behaving Badly, Reggie Perrin), rock musician/grifter (Hunting Venus), undertaker/musician (William and Mary), teacher (Mr. Chips), doctor (Doc Martin), solicitor (A Mother's Son). What hasn't he done? Detective? Farmer? Soldier? Marine Scientist?

I, too, love the Bizet (and all the choral music featured in W&M). Starburst is not such a bad song either. Whereas CC has had something of a music career (I like the vocals she did for Sapphire) and MC is an accomplished bass player, I'm actually surprised that music has not played a greater role in Doc Martin. I posted a while back about the sense of smell which is appealed to quite often in the series. The ears are not favoured in the same way. I mean, Colin Towns' music is great, but we don't get much of a sense of what kind of music our characters like. There's that one scene where Martin is scrolling through the radio dial and he seems to linger on the Hallelujah Chorus just before he almost hits a road-straddling sofa. There's the concert he attends with Louisa which is also classical, so perhaps that's his taste, but I think he also kind of digs the folk-rock sound of Roger Fenn's musical stylings. Like the poem which Martin purportedly wrote in S4, I'm wondering if Roger Fenn's song was an original composition. If Martin were to let his hair down, I can imagine him and Stewart sipping their espressos and kicking back to some Ella Fitzgerald. All I know is that he certainly wouldn't want anything like the 80s soft rock that seems to be in favour among Portwenn's police constables, nor yet the "sweaty men screaming down a microphone" which is how Pauline describes Al's taste in music!

[cc.cookie]

Originally Posted by Biffpup

I do agree with the versatility of MC. I'm gradually trying to see more and more of his assorted roles. I've recently watched one series of "Reggie Perrin", in which his comedic talents are on display, and "Losing It", a serious and emotional role he played brilliantly. He's such a good actor. One of the amazing things we've seen, thanks to YouTube, is how easily MC slips into and out of a character. Well, "easily" is probably the wrong word. I know what he does takes concentration, hard work, years of training, and loads of talent. What I mean, I guess, is that he doesn't seem to be one of these actors who has to go through agony to get into a role, and then who must take time to "undo" it afterwards. I remember reading about some "method" actors who supposedly remained in character for a certain time after a completing a project, even having difficulty ridding themselves of the character after weeks (I wonder how true this is).

Has anyone had a chance to watch this YouTube clip of the filming of a S4 scene? It shows the Doc finishing up the scene in which he and "Robert" walk through the hospital hallway when he went to London to discuss the vascular surgery position. In the clip, we don't see the hallway scene, but we know it from the episode. We see the immediate end of the scene and hear the beginning of DM's line about being published. I posted it a few months ago, but heard nary a peep afterwards. Maybe everyone had already seen it and talked it to death. What's intriguing about it to me is how MC is Doc Martin until just after he's gone through the door. In that moment, he transforms, without even stopping talking, from the Doc to Martin Clunes. Very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svIktLaV9gE

It's so short it is difficult to catch. When we do the rewatch can you warn us it is coming up and maybe it will make more sense when we watch the scene in the show just before watching the outtake.