Doc Martin (Part 15 — Spoilers)

1162163165167168204

Comments

  • mmDerdekeammDerdekea Posts: 1,719
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Fairy tales because..."Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life." (Friedrich von Schiller) In that the fairy tale helps us to transcend our daily mundane lives and gives us the chance for transformation, I would think, Rob, that we are in complete agreement. This is what the world of creativity and fantasy is about! As for my comment on George Berkeley's Idealism, perhaps it was uncalled for here. Although I do hold with his notion that reality (i.e. the real world) can only be known through ideas in the mind; thus everything we know in the real world is actually an idea. Anyway, I was being a bit facetious in my comments because of the confusion over scale and probably should have used a ";)". I'll end with two favourite quotes:
    For Mrs Tishell: "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." T.S. Eliot
    For you, Rob: "To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything." Einstein

    P.S. I don't know about your cats, but mine are fond of Mozart and there is something definitely going on behind those beautiful eyes!

    I see people reading about fairy tales and magic and etc in the show and I simply do not see it that way.

    I see DM and LG being two of the most real human beings there are. They are very imperfect, they have issues, they make mistakes, they both have the similar dream of being a couple, but do not really have the capacity to make that dream come true in any easy manner.

    I see real life. I do not see DM as a fairy tale in other way. i see it as a fantastic show illustrating two damaged humans trying to do their best and trying to find and keep love. That's the reality of planet Earth. He's not a prince and she's not a princess. He's Martin Ellingham, good guy trapped in messed up psyche and she's Louisa Glasson, good gal trapped in messed up psyche.

    That's as real as it gets.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    mmDerdekea wrote: »
    I see people reading about fairy tales and magic and etc in the show and I simply do not see it that way.

    I see DM and LG being two of the most real human beings there are. They are very imperfect, they have issues, they make mistakes, they both have the similar dream of being a couple, but do not really have the capacity to make that dream come true in any easy manner.

    I see real life. I do not see DM as a fairy tale in other way. i see it as a fantastic show illustrating two damaged humans trying to do their best and trying to find and keep love. That's the reality of planet Earth. He's not a prince and she's not a princess. He's Martin Ellingham, good guy trapped in messed up psyche and she's Louisa Glasson, good gal trapped in messed up psyche.

    That's as real as it gets.

    Of course you're right, in a sense. But I think they've intentionally sprinkled fairy tale references here and there throughout each series just to keep the fairy tale ideal in our minds, the once upon a times and the happily ever afters and handsome prince and beautiful princess. And the reason they've done that, in my opinion, is to produce contrast and even frustration for the viewers. They dangle that fairy tale ending like a carrot but then show us the reality of Doc and Louisa being so flawed or confused that they simply can't get it right. They can't even quite make it to Roger Fenn's "gravel road". For Martin and Louisa, the road floods and cracks and develops potholes and sinkholes and sometimes becomes practically impassable.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I've wondered about that too--how much meaning is intended? How much am I missing? Well obviously, a few things! When did Louisa have the apples and onion and Martin, the tomatoes with zucchini?

    Louisa has apples and onions on the dashboard of her car in a couple of S1 and/or 2 episodes, if I remember correctly. I can see it in my mind but can't remember exactly which episode(s) right now. Hopefully someone else can come to the rescue.

    Martin has onions in view on the shelf in his little storage building where he listens to Dr. Milligan's CD. Just to the side of his hand are some onions.

    There's often a bowl of fruit on the Doc's kitchen table in scenes showing Louisa there for a visit. Sometimes apples, sometimes lemons.

    I think it was S3 E1 (or maybe E2 -- it was the ep in which Bert has his grand opening) when Martin and Louisa ran into each other outside a green grocer. Martin was selecting vegetables. Look at how he held them :D. Two tomatoes and an eggplant (not zucchini, although that would have worked as well...or a cucumber or banana -- you get my drift, I figure).
  • MofromcoMofromco Posts: 1,339
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    mmDerdekea wrote: »
    I see people reading about fairy tales and magic and etc in the show and I simply do not see it that way.

    I see DM and LG being two of the most real human beings there are. They are very imperfect, they have issues, they make mistakes, they both have the similar dream of being a couple, but do not really have the capacity to make that dream come true in any easy manner.

    I see real life. I do not see DM as a fairy tale in other way. i see it as a fantastic show illustrating two damaged humans trying to do their best and trying to find and keep love. That's the reality of planet Earth. He's not a prince and she's not a princess. He's Martin Ellingham, good guy trapped in messed up psyche and she's Louisa Glasson, good gal trapped in messed up psyche.

    That's as real as it gets.


    I agree. There in lies the beauty of some British television and movie production. Not everyone is beautiful...Some characters can be a bit crazy (like myself) but still able to lead meaningful and productive lives. People have messy houses. Characters have to use the bathroom and the toilet flushes.

    Here in the states characters on TV are usually really looney or very normal. DM is a damaged and flawed individual, trying to find his way....as we all are trying to find ours.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I've been enjoying reading all of the musical theme ideas for Martin and Louisa, but this reminds me of my favorites, which aren't quite as serious. Remember the Fan Stuff - Therapy section at Doc Martin Online? The selection for "The Bestselling Album - Meet Me In Portwenn" was created, I believe, by some folks who at least used to participate here. It's the section at DMOnline that also features things like the Large Restaurant menu, the Doc Martin Talking Alarm Clock, and "Doc Martin Dating Assistant" among other really funny stuff and sweet wallpapers. To those of you who may be reading this who created those "therapy" items, you're brilliant. Thanks!

    Songs listed are:

    1. My Favorite Martin
    2. I Will Always...Love Fish
    3. Knock Three Times On My Surgery...If You Want Me
    4. Can't Smile With or Without You
    5. Love Hangover
    6. My Purse Will Go On
    7. I Like Big Ears and I Can't Lie
    8. Don't Walk Away, Louisa
    9. I Just Called to Say...I'm Looking Forward to It
    10. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face...I Diagnosed You
    11. Puttin' on the Suit
    12. Shake Shake Shake, Shake Your Ponytail
    13. Anybody Seen My Baby?
    14. Mrs T Stole Our Baby, But You Stole My Heart
    15. Beauty and the Beast
    16. Sweet Baby James

    Here's the link:

    http://www.docmartinonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/10-11-201109-45-53.png
  • MofromcoMofromco Posts: 1,339
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Whew, got a little heavy in that last post...whoever wrote before, it was an eggplant and not a zucchini...
  • H of De VilH of De Vil Posts: 26,539
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Do we know if there are plans for a 7th series?
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Do we know if there are plans for a 7th series?

    Martin and Phillipa's position appears to be evolving from "probably the last" to "never say never" to "all those horses have to be fed."

    I'm thinking there's at least a 50-50 chance of a Series 7.
  • SusieSagitariusSusieSagitarius Posts: 1,250
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Originally Posted by Last Romantic View Post
    I've wondered about that too--how much meaning is intended? How much am I missing? Well obviously, a few things! When did Louisa have the apples and onion and Martin, the tomatoes with zucchini?

    S1 Ep2 when Louisa is getting in her car after visiting Roger Fenn in hospital, you'll see an onion and either 2 apples or plums on her car dash.

    The tomatoes and eggplant comes in a later episode as someone has described.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 594
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    S1 Ep2 when Louisa is getting in her car after visiting Roger Fenn in hospital, you'll see an onion and either 2 apples or plums on her car dash.

    The tomatoes and eggplant comes in a later episode as someone has described.

    "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" - (apocryphal)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,389
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    [Quote:]
    Originally Posted by Last Romantic View Post
    I've wondered about that too--how much meaning is intended? How much am I missing? Well obviously, a few things! When did Louisa have the apples and onion and Martin, the tomatoes with zucchini? [\QUOTE]

    Linda G the podcast lady has discovered that the finches have no meaning either. Just the props department having fun.
  • SusieSagitariusSusieSagitarius Posts: 1,250
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    cc.cookie wrote: »
    [Quote:]
    Originally Posted by Last Romantic View Post
    I've wondered about that too--how much meaning is intended? How much am I missing? Well obviously, a few things! When did Louisa have the apples and onion and Martin, the tomatoes with zucchini? [\QUOTE]

    Linda G the podcast lady has discovered that the finches have no meaning either. Just the props department having fun.

    cc, could you spell out the finch thing from Linda G.? I haven't heard it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 153
    Forum Member
    Wedding music

    If Martin and Louisa want to go traditional as they seemed to do in their first wedding, it would be "Love Divine, All Love Excelling," a traditional wedding song done near the blessing of the rings. The entry march could be an Elgar piece and the recessional something by Arnold Bax who spent a lot of time in nearby Tintagel, the site of the wedding reception.

    For the first dance at the reception, I vote for "At Last," the Etta James version.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,290
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Biffpup wrote: »
    I've been enjoying reading all of the musical theme ideas for Martin and Louisa, but this reminds me of my favorites, which aren't quite as serious. Remember the Fan Stuff - Therapy section at Doc Martin Online? The selection for "The Bestselling Album - Meet Me In Portwenn" was created, I believe, by some folks who at least used to participate here. It's the section at DMOnline that also features things like the Large Restaurant menu, the Doc Martin Talking Alarm Clock, and "Doc Martin Dating Assistant" among other really funny stuff and sweet wallpapers. To those of you who may be reading this who created those "therapy" items, you're brilliant. Thanks!

    Songs listed are:

    1. My Favorite Martin
    2. I Will Always...Love Fish
    3. Knock Three Times On My Surgery...If You Want Me
    4. Can't Smile With or Without You
    5. Love Hangover
    6. My Purse Will Go On
    7. I Like Big Ears and I Can't Lie
    8. Don't Walk Away, Louisa
    9. I Just Called to Say...I'm Looking Forward to It
    10. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face...I Diagnosed You
    11. Puttin' on the Suit
    12. Shake Shake Shake, Shake Your Ponytail
    13. Anybody Seen My Baby?
    14. Mrs T Stole Our Baby, But You Stole My Heart
    15. Beauty and the Beast
    16. Sweet Baby James

    Here's the link:

    http://www.docmartinonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/10-11-201109-45-53.png

    Thank-you Biffpup. Sendibo and I did this together. Except I made a mistake. It should be: "Just Walk Away, Louisa." You'd think I'd know the correct title of this song: "Just Walk Away, Renee.":rolleyes:
  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I just tried to pre-order the Kindle edition of the first book and was told I could not purchase it outside of the UK.

    What kind of sense does that make? It's an electronic book -
    anyone, anywhere should be able to purchase if they are willing to pay for it?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,290
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    This is a "My latest obsession" blog from a new Doc Martin fan. She's a resident and this is an online magazine for medical students.
    http://in-training.org/my-latest-obsession-doc-martin-1254
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    cc, could you spell out the finch thing from Linda G.? I haven't heard it.

    For me too, cc.cookie. I remember that we had a big discussion about the finches. So someone on the crew said they meant nothing, or they were just playing around? Strange that the "Martin and Louisa" theme music seemed quite linked to the appearance of the finches. Just playing around? I wonder if by saying that, they meant they knew exactly what it meant and did it for fun. And that means the folks in the crew are all brilliant too!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Shop Girl wrote: »
    I just tried to pre-order the Kindle edition of the first book and was told I could not purchase it outside of the UK.

    What kind of sense does that make? It's an electronic book -
    anyone, anywhere should be able to purchase if they are willing to pay for it?

    Love it, and I'm sorry to say that, but I do love the fact that you're having difficulty finding it electronically! Sorry, I work in the dying print publishing industry. You can easily pre-order the printed copy. Do it and save some jobs. :)

    Freedom of the press changed the world and was instrumental in creating the U.S. And I apologize, but it's become so rare for anyone to complain because they can't get something except in print...

    Retreating to my old hidey hole now, and going to work in the morning at a place where I can still hear massive presses doing their thing and shaking the whole city block.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Biffpup wrote: »
    Love it, and I'm sorry to say that, but I do love the fact that you're having difficulty finding it electronically! Sorry, I work in the dying print publishing industry. You can easily pre-order the printed copy. Do it and save some jobs. :)

    Freedom of the press changed the world and was instrumental in creating the U.S. And I apologize, but it's become so rare for anyone to complain because they can't get something except in print...

    Retreating to my old hidey hole now, and going to work in the morning at a place where I can still hear massive presses doing their thing and shaking the whole city block.

    I apologize, Shop Girl, for my emotional response. It's just that these days it's so unusual to hear that something is available in print but not electronically. I understand that progress is progress. I just had a :) reaction.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 219
    Forum Member
    NewPark wrote: »
    If the set designers were in the U.S they should get an Emmy for their achievement. The sets are almost always wonderfully well thought out and subtle, like everything else about this series.

    DM is at once utilizing the structure and form of fairy tales and myths and poking fun at it, as in the opening scene of S3, E1.
    Interesting that MC has been quoted as saying, e.g., that the wedding coming off in S3E6 would have been "a fairy tale ending" and I think he said that disapprovingly. Perhaps a lot of the tension that hooks us in to DM is that we keep expecting a resolution that resonates with such traditional tale-telling, but so far it has never quite come, and it is like listening to a piece of music with the final chords still unresolved. (to mix metaphors wildly).

    On a lighter note, Last Romantic, you might enjoy googling for "tropes used in DocMartin." It's quite good fun.

    Somewhere earlier in this very long Part, we had a discussion of Joseph Campbell, and somehow that segued into a discussion of common themes in story telling. I learned a lot.

    And I am of the "chair-kicking" school. :)

    Well, to each his own, NewPark. I would bet that I am in a tiny minority when it comes to Berkeleyan philosophy.

    It's intriguing what you say about this show using the structure of fairy tale and myth, as in S3, E1 (if I had seen only that bit and nothing else, I would have immediately fallen hook, line and sinker.) And to follow the fishing metaphor, yes, they do seem to be trawling us in only to let us go again. I agree that we seem to crave the tension even though it frustrates us. There's something very Shakespearean about all this--hardly surprising considering where it's coming from.

    I shall look up the tropes and the Joseph Campbell discussion. Thank you, NewPark
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    DMfan wrote: »
    Wedding music

    If Martin and Louisa want to go traditional as they seemed to do in their first wedding, it would be "Love Divine, All Love Excelling," a traditional wedding song done near the blessing of the rings. The entry march could be an Elgar piece and the recessional something by Arnold Bax who spent a lot of time in nearby Tintagel, the site of the wedding reception.

    For the first dance at the reception, I vote for "At Last," the Etta James version.

    Oh, great choice ==
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Shop Girl wrote: »
    I just tried to pre-order the Kindle edition of the first book and was told I could not purchase it outside of the UK.

    What kind of sense does that make? It's an electronic book -
    anyone, anywhere should be able to purchase if they are willing to pay for it?


    Digital rights seem to be an entirely different kettle of fish than print rights, don't they. Why should one be able to get an UK book shipped to the US but not an Ebook? I understand where Biff is coming from, but still, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. My daughter is legal counsel to a University press -- I'll ask her.

    (And I must add here that it's high time that popular shows were released simultaneously or much closer to it on both sides of the Atlantic. It's the only way really to deal with the multiple ways that people, me among them, try to get around digital copyrights. Mad Men, a very popular American series, just finished its season in the U.S. and is now going to start in UK. Wouldn't it be nice if DM made it available to PBS on a similar time frame?)

    I could not download from Amazon.uk to my Kindle even when I was in the UK with a real UK ISP, because the Kindle itself is registered in the US and Amazon knows it (along with everything else about you, apparently). However, I could then download to my computer and from thence to the Kindle. Now, if you could only figure a way to get a UK ISP.......
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 219
    Forum Member
    robspace54 wrote: »
    I submit Van Halen and "Love Walks In"

    In the chorus:

    So when you sense a change
    Nothing feels the same
    All your dreams are strange
    Love comes walking' in...

    And the last lines:

    Ohh, there she stands in a silken gown,
    Silver lights shining down.

    Thanks for your submission, robspace54. I knew nothing of this piece and looked it up. Seems to be a very powerful, forceful tune--a lot of energy in that You Tube version. The lyrics are so evocative of the change in perception when one falls in love. I liked:

    Contact is all it takes
    To change your life , to lose your place in time...

    Another world, another time
    You lay your sanity on the line...

    Oh sleep and dreams; that's all I crave
    I travel far across the milky way...

    And that last line is so lovely. Just makes you think of Louisa in that gown--she is standing, waiting... perhaps a full moon over Port Wenn... Terrific! Thanks, Rob!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 219
    Forum Member
    mmDerdekea wrote: »
    I see people reading about fairy tales and magic and etc in the show and I simply do not see it that way.

    I see DM and LG being two of the most real human beings there are. They are very imperfect, they have issues, they make mistakes, they both have the similar dream of being a couple, but do not really have the capacity to make that dream come true in any easy manner.

    I see real life. I do not see DM as a fairy tale in other way. i see it as a fantastic show illustrating two damaged humans trying to do their best and trying to find and keep love. That's the reality of planet Earth. He's not a prince and she's not a princess. He's Martin Ellingham, good guy trapped in messed up psyche and she's Louisa Glasson, good gal trapped in messed up psyche.

    That's as real as it gets.
    Biffpup wrote: »
    Of course you're right, in a sense. But I think they've intentionally sprinkled fairy tale references here and there throughout each series just to keep the fairy tale ideal in our minds, the once upon a times and the happily ever afters and handsome prince and beautiful princess. And the reason they've done that, in my opinion, is to produce contrast and even frustration for the viewers. They dangle that fairy tale ending like a carrot but then show us the reality of Doc and Louisa being so flawed or confused that they simply can't get it right. They can't even quite make it to Roger Fenn's "gravel road". For Martin and Louisa, the road floods and cracks and develops potholes and sinkholes and sometimes becomes practically impassable.

    It would seem that the descriptions here are showing us two sides of the same coin. And this is the genuis of this show. Some will see it as a kind of sincere representaion of a relationship, while others will find elements of imaginative imagery that awaken our sense of wonderment and the mysteriousness of life. In one interview Ian McNeice said he thought there was "a little bit of magic" in the show. For me, this says it all.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 219
    Forum Member
    Mofromco wrote: »
    Morning all....not the forum for "Two and a Half Men" eh?

    Hardly!!!
This discussion has been closed.