Doc Martin (Part 15 — Spoilers)

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  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
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    Conniej wrote: »
    I decided to watch Midsomer Murders on Netflix and the very first scene was Ian McNiece playing a doctor. :D. It's series 4, episode 4, 'Who Killed Cock Robin'. I just started it but he appears to be a central character in this ep.

    I ran into this interesting page today. It's called, "Finished Doc Martin and Ballykissangel...what next?"

    Funny - because BallyK is another favorite of mine ;)

    http://ask.metafilter.com/236328/Finished-Doc-Martin-and-Ballykissangelwhat-next
  • ConniejConniej Posts: 972
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    Conniej wrote: »
    I decided to watch Midsomer Murders on Netflix and the very first scene was Ian McNiece playing a doctor. :D. It's series 4, episode 4, 'Who Killed Cock Robin'. I just started it but he appears to be a central character in this ep.

    Just now, 'Clive' (Malcolm Storry) appeared in this same ep!:)
  • dcdmfandcdmfan Posts: 1,540
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    NewPark wrote: »
    I had forgotten, or maybe not noticed before (so intent on pursuing the love story) how funny some of these episodes are. This one is also. I love the moment when the runner knocks the megaphone out of Penhale's hands.

    Was there ever a more ominous ending in the series than "don't tell Martin" ?

    This time around also, I spared a thought for Louisa's dilemma. I had always had sympathy for Martin -- his life turned upside down by a crying baby, the smell of "regurgitated breast milk", laundry drying in the kitchen etc., but poor Louisa also -- on somebody else's territory, no space to call her own, dealing with gadgets like the espresso machine that she doesn't understand, her parenting skills continually subject to moralistic carping like, "I told you where that comfort cuddling would lead," etc. And he's still harping at her to stay home with the baby.

    Also in this episode, either Martin Clunes or Doc Martin looks pretty haggard. I'm not entirely sure it was done for effect.

    And finally, what's the matter with cous-cous? Surely AR has encountered it before. A great grain!

    I wonder if Eileen Atkins inflections are interpreted by us Americans as being sort of smarmy, when they are actually genuine. Her "hello to the family" is said sort of the same way. I think maybe they are genuine, whereas if an American said it that way, it would be smarmy. I think her Christmas card line is said a little differently. Her "happy to meet you" is said the same way, but I think as a cover to the Dunwiches - it's supposed to be ironic. Anyway, maybe a British forum member could explain it for us.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    Shop Girl wrote: »
    Yes - and their mother played Mrs McLynn.

    A couple of friends recommended the series "Jam & Jerusalem" so I have watched a couple of episodes so far on YT. Funny series - reminds me a bit of DM, but wackier. It is filmed in a town in Devon quite near Cornwall and the residents could be Portwenians. It is a French & Saunders production and Dawn French is hilarious - Joanna Lumley is also in it and she is a very wacky character - possibly the worst church organist ever :D. Part is set in a doctor's surgery and in the 2nd episode someone working in the surgery seems to have a bit of a blood phobia.

    But DM family - one of the characters is played by the actress who played DM's first patient ("Collect 1,000 loyalty points, you get a free coffin"). And in E4, Shirley Dunwich shows up as a patient.

    And I go back to Harry Potter - Phil Pratt (Roger Lloyd Pack) and Mrs Dunwich (Miriam Margoylyes) and in the movies - the 2nd one - Pam Ferris - who gives him the Cloutie. I think there is one other one but it slips my mind now. HP used all English actors and their MuggleNet site had a lot of fan fiction.
    PS I am not a kid. HP was very inventive writing/story telling and all his fans yearned for him to have a romantic interest.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    Shop Girl wrote: »
    I ran into this interesting page today. It's called, "Finished Doc Martin and Ballykissangel...what next?"

    Funny - because BallyK is another favorite of mine ;)

    http://ask.metafilter.com/236328/Finished-Doc-Martin-and-Ballykissangelwhat-next

    Thanks so much, what an interesting list.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    A long lost friend also loves Doc Martin

    I called an old friend the other day, we had not spoken for probably 10 years, even lost the thread of Christmas cards but found that we both loved Doc Martin. She is watching only on her PBS stations (another city from me) but her stations have also shown Reggie Perrin and W&M, as well as some of the horse specials. She has not seen Ballykissangel however and is a confirmed lover of Ireland, having been about 4 times. DCI Banks is not playing there for her either. We talked about a number of the British comedies that play on PBS. A great catching up call.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 330
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    NewPark wrote: »
    I think a third season of this would border on farce. Also, I wonder how I could possibly continue to have sympathy for a female character who would opt for taking back a man with such difficulties of character and commitment a FOURTH time. He asked for "one last chance." Why a reasonably sane woman would give him one more after that is well beyond my ken.

    Actually, I know a lot of reasons why to take DM back. He has quite a lot endearing qualities. He isn't the most chatty or sociable person, but if Louisa was looking for that, she chose the wrong man to start with.
    However, he is "straightforward" and "moral", as Louisa described him before the non-wedding, besides he does his duty, cares for his family and is honest. In the long run, I'd say this is the ground to build working relationships on.

    I have far more difficulties to understand DM's affection. I could see why he fell in love in S1-3, but in S4-5 Louisa's character has taken a turn to the worse. At times she can be quite annoying and she is against him whenever possible.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 330
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    I just wish the unfinished ones out there would get finished. I'm hanging by my fingernails trying to hold on. There are some really good ones that haven't ever gotten finished. Yeah, I know, writer's block, real life, etc. but I can hope still, can't I?:cry::cry::cry::)
    I wish a whole bunch of people would write some new fan fiction at warp speed. I need something new to read! :):)

    It is a bit slow going on that side, isn't it?
    To spice things up - try to write a story yourself! It might be not as difficult as you think. That's the easiest way to get fan fiction going.
    As for the speed to finish stories, it needs some time to sit down and do it, so you've got to be patient.
    Besides, the comments are a little slow-going lately, too, except for the faithful robspace54 and Chapin. Maybe a bit of feedback would enhance the motivation:)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 455
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    Shop Girl wrote: »
    I ran into this interesting page today. It's called, "Finished Doc Martin and Ballykissangel...what next?"

    Funny - because BallyK is another favorite of mine ;)

    http://ask.metafilter.com/236328/Finished-Doc-Martin-and-Ballykissangelwhat-next
    Shop Girl - Thanks for this link. Ballyk was one of the shows that got me through this last dry DM period. There were some other good suggestions. Also, someone recently (March) posted all of the BallyK episodes on Youtube. Before that, it was just the most popular scenes and fanvideos.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 330
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    Perhaps he storms out because of a medical emergency, or he forgot the rings in the taxi etc. I bet it's because he has to and not because he wants to.
    ...
    But I bet we have that bit (if he does storm out) where we are left hoping he comes back to seal the deal. I very much doubt after all they have been through and with James that he would throw it away. He knows this is his last chance with Louisa.

    Or maybe last minutes nerves. After all, he did run and hide when he went to Louisa to make up the morning after the concert row. He is not immune to that.
  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
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    BodminDM wrote: »
    Or maybe last minutes nerves. After all, he did run and hide when he went to Louisa to make up the morning after the concert row. He is not immune to that.

    I don't see that happening. The nerves he had when he ran away had more to do with Louisa rejecting him. For the wedding I'm assuming she has shown up, so I can't see him getting a case of nerves in that situation.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    BodminDM wrote: »
    Actually, I know a lot of reasons why to take DM back. He has quite a lot endearing qualities. He isn't the most chatty or sociable person, but if Louisa was looking for that, she chose the wrong man to start with.
    However, he is "straightforward" and "moral", as Louisa described him before the non-wedding, besides he does his duty, cares for his family and is honest. In the long run, I'd say this is the ground to build working relationships on.

    I have far more difficulties to understand DM's affection. I could see why he fell in love in S1-3, but in S4-5 Louisa's character has taken a turn to the worse. At times she can be quite annoying and she is against him whenever possible.

    I'm with you BodminDM - he had every reason not to speak to her again after the thing with Mylow's sister. And being unwilling to confront her mother - not to mention her father. And Danny. And keeping the pregnancy a secret. And then continually pushing him away (and everyone else) when there was any offer of help. Face it, unless a man was head over heels would he be willing to put up with so much drama? Our Doc may be a social dufus but he has put up with it all.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 137
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    BodminDM wrote: »
    It is a bit slow going on that side, isn't it?
    To spice things up - try to write a story yourself! It might be not as difficult as you think. That's the easiest way to get fan fiction going.
    As for the speed to finish stories, it needs some time to sit down and do it, so you've got to be patient.
    Besides, the comments are a little slow-going lately, too, except for the faithful robspace54 and Chapin. Maybe a bit of feedback would enhance the motivation:)

    I currently have two on there, and have been playing around with a couple more. One of them has a premise that may cause die-hard Louisa fans to stone me, so I hesitate posting that one! :p:rolleyes:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 330
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    I currently have two on there, and have been playing around with a couple more. One of them has a premise that may cause die-hard Louisa fans to stone me, so I hesitate posting that one! :p:rolleyes:

    Go ahead, please post it! OK, I'm no die-hard Louisa fan,but being stoned through the net might be difficult. So I say you're reasonably safe.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 340
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    dmbesotted wrote: »
    And I go back to Harry Potter - Phil Pratt (Roger Lloyd Pack) and Mrs Dunwich (Miriam Margoylyes) and in the movies - the 2nd one - Pam Ferris - who gives him the Cloutie. I think there is one other one but it slips my mind now. HP used all English actors and their MuggleNet site had a lot of fan fiction.
    PS I am not a kid. HP was very inventive writing/story telling and all his fans yearned for him to have a romantic interest.

    Duh - I looked up Sophie Thompson - and recalled that she is the other person from Harry Potter. I rewatched it one day and saw her familiar face.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 137
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    BodminDM wrote: »
    Go ahead, please post it! OK, I'm no die-hard Louisa fan,but being stoned through the net might be difficult. So I say you're reasonably safe.

    I have been working on it for a long time...still haven't managed to pluck up the courage! I don't take rejection well....:o:p
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
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    BodminDM wrote: »
    Actually, I know a lot of reasons why to take DM back. He has quite a lot endearing qualities. He isn't the most chatty or sociable person, but if Louisa was looking for that, she chose the wrong man to start with.
    However, he is "straightforward" and "moral", as Louisa described him before the non-wedding, besides he does his duty, cares for his family and is honest. In the long run, I'd say this is the ground to build working relationships on.

    I have far more difficulties to understand DM's affection. I could see why he fell in love in S1-3, but in S4-5 Louisa's character has taken a turn to the worse. At times she can be quite annoying and she is against him whenever possible.


    So your question is a good one -- why does he continue to put up with her? And this takes us back to Adelie's proposition that it's up to Louisa this season to make or break their relationship. She has to decide once and for all whether what he can offer her is enough, or she can continue to waver and lash out and take umbrage, etc. and maybe one of these times DM will be the one who has had enough. Could happen.

    She has always been the one to walk away from their romantic entanglement, which she has done now 5 times. 1) Throwing him out the cab after breath comment; 2) slapping him and walking away after he accused her of erotomania; 3) taking umbrage after being told that she had a fainly-urine smell 4) deciding to call off their wedding (mutual) and 5) going back home to mother.

    It's possible to look at her behavior as over-reactions to small incidents, particularly 1) and 3). Perhaps the common thread, though, is his inability to allow himself to feel and express the love he has for her. I understand that he BEHAVED in devoted ways in S5; I think that Louisa's problem has always been that he cannot seem to be emotionally open with her, except in extreme situations. Each time she has relented possibly with the hope that things would be different. If he once again was unable to go through with the wedding, I think Louisa would have to decide whether she was going to give up on what wants from him and stay with him because she loves him and he's a good man, or; she has to leave him because ALTHOUGH she loves him and he's a good man, he won't be able to give her what she most wants and that lack would eventually corrode their marriage. She has to be the one to decide how important that is to her, or not. My basic point is, at some point, it's time to stop wavering around, and make a choice and live with it.
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
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    She does get pretty shrewish in S5, though. In E4, I'm thinking of the episode at the breakfast table where she is rather snappish when he asks for reassurance that she will be home in time for him to see his first patient.

    I still don't quite understand the look she gives Martin after her mother says "and you must be..." and he clips out, "yes."
  • mazziebluemazzieblue Posts: 263
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    dcdmfan wrote: »
    I wonder if Eileen Atkins inflections are interpreted by us Americans as being sort of smarmy, when they are actually genuine. Her "hello to the family" is said sort of the same way. I think maybe they are genuine, whereas if an American said it that way, it would be smarmy. I think her Christmas card line is said a little differently. Her "happy to meet you" is said the same way, but I think as a cover to the Dunwiches - it's supposed to be ironic. Anyway, maybe a British forum member could explain it for us.

    I thought nothing of this phrase because my grandmother used to say it all the time. Whenever some driver was rude or a person at a store was snippy, she would say "well, they're off the Christmas card list." I think it was just a way of saying "So, we're not going to friends. Meh."
    I still don't quite understand the look she gives Martin after her mother says "and you must be..." and he clips out, "yes."

    I also questioned this. It's the same look she gives when Eleanor says something like "speak to your man" when he's arguing with Chippy. Is she embarrassed about DM? Is it that she can't explain DM? Is it that she can't explain her relationship and looks embarrassed when they are referred to each other as a couple?
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
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    NewPark wrote: »
    .

    If he once again was unable to go through with the wedding, I think Louisa would have to decide .....

    The flaw with this argument is that if he were the one that decided not to go through with the wedding, there wouldn't BE anything for Louisa to decide. It's hard to imagine that they would keep on living together as a couple after publicly failing to at two weddings.
    mazzieblue wrote: »
    I also questioned this. It's the same look she gives when Eleanor says something like "speak to your man" when he's arguing with Chippy. Is she embarrassed about DM? Is it that she can't explain DM? Is it that she can't explain her relationship and looks embarrassed when they are referred to each other as a couple?

    First of all, I didn't remember that it was Chippy that Eleanor was supposed to be in business with. I wonder if that has something to do with his role in S6?

    In The Look, Louisa seems to me to be annoyed. is it at Martin for not responding with more than one syllable?
  • dcdmfandcdmfan Posts: 1,540
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    I also questioned this. It's the same look she gives when Eleanor says something like "speak to your man" when he's arguing with Chippy. Is she embarrassed about DM? Is it that she can't explain DM? Is it that she can't explain her relationship and looks embarrassed when they are referred to each other as a couple?[/QUOTE]

    Her looks showed me that she knows the two of them are not going to get along. I know others have interpreted it as embarrassment. I never saw it that way, rather exasperation with her mother and knowing she is going to rub Martin the wrong way. If it is embarrassment she is feeling, I think her mother embarrasses her - not Martin.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 594
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    To assuage the Doc Martin between season blues, I have posted a short - Dear Martin on FF.

    And before you think about whining for more, there isn't any more on that one! :)

    Rob
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 330
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    NewPark wrote: »
    I still don't quite understand the look she gives Martin after her mother says "and you must be..." and he clips out, "yes."

    I took it as a sign that she didn't speak in his favour in the letter to her mother. When she wrote the letter, she was alone in London after they split up. I suppose she simply poured her heart out ("It wasn't a rational thing"). Now, when her mother is on the doorstep (How does she knows Louisa's not in London anymore?), Louisa might be afraid her mother will tell Martin what Louisa has written in her letter about him.
    I suppose it was quite nasty.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 594
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    I have been working on it for a long time...still haven't managed to pluck up the courage! I don't take rejection well....:o:p

    And if we do not like your story we would throw electronic stones at you? :/ Unlikely. Why be afraid?

    What do you have to lose? You have sweated bullets over the thing so pull the trigger. Do it! Do it now!

    Now we WANT to read it!
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
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    robspace54 wrote: »
    To assuage the Doc Martin between season blues, I have posted a short - Dear Martin on FF.

    And before you think about whining for more, there isn't any more on that one! :)

    Rob

    Short and very sweet. :)
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