I'd like to see Miranda in Port Wenn - she'd have things in such a turmoil it would take several series just to get things back on track.
Even better she could be DM's receptionist, and with some of the Port Wenn fairy dust Morwena could take over the chemist shop.
What a great idea -- also, she could be a locum, or a GP in training. Be great to see them striding down the street together.
Re: Mark and the 'Big Boy' comment. Here's my take.
Mark is feeling pretty good about himself at this point in the episode. He has successfully pulled off that dance, which saw half of Portwenn's females panting after him. He has for once in his life been the dumper rather than the dumpee. And he has, in subtle ways been taking the Doc down a peg, thoughout their whole interaction over Stewart -- saying that it may not be a new problem, just a new doctor, showing up the Doc's lack of legal knowledge by saying that sectioning must happen when the patient is behaving erratically in a public place. Now when the Doc capitulates to Mark's superior local wisdom by finding a more "creative solution" to help Stewart, Mark comments "I reckon Portwenn's had an effect on you; that was a good call you made back there if you don't mind me saying, and I think the locals will really appreciate it." How annoying would it be from within what we know of the Doc's personality and insecurities to have been proved wrong, and then to be complimented for having seen that the village-wisdom was right all along? What Mark says to Martin may have been intended kindly. In a way it was Mark extending him the hand of friendship, and more than that -- the pass into real-villager status. "The way you behaved back there makes us think that you really could be one of us." The Doc feels keenly that he is being patronised, and finds he is too proud to accept what Mark is extending on these terms. He doesn't really want to be Mark's friend if it means conceding that this man (a moron who is gullible enough to buy enlargment tablets from the internet) is his equal, and he doesn't really want the village's seal of approval if it means conforming his medical practice to the standards set by so inferior a doctor as the Late Great Jim Sim. GIven where this episode falls in the series, the overarching theme is still "how will the Doc make it in this peculiar place?" "How will he make it given his considerable social handicaps." He could easily have said nothing in response to Mark, but the fact he hits back with "then I hope you won't mind me saying, that I don't carry vitamins but fortunately you do....you'll get over it, Big Boy." This is Martin putting up a boundary -- splashing a bit of cold water -- replying to Mark's offer of friendship with: "I think you're slightly ridiculous and I really don't like you all that much," and replying to Mark's offer to sponsor his induction into the village with: "I think this village is ridiculous and I don't need its approval, or spend one moment worrying about its judgment on how I do medicine." So how do we read that? As a mark of how "damaged" Martin is -- that he can't enter easily into the current of social life? As the mark of the bullied child who is pitiable for the fact he is being bullied, but who is really not that sympathetic, because he is a natural born target, bringing a lot of negative attention to himself by the way he reacts to things? I am not inclined to feel that Martin is at his best in the moment he responds teasingly, but with a sharp edge, to Mark, but despite the worries Mark confesses to Martin in his office, Mark has all the power in this episode: he's got Martin's girl, he's in the right over Stewart and he holds the keys to village acceptance. I think Martin feels that in order to protect what he needs to of his self-respect, he needs to take Mark down a peg or two, and unfortunately he has the ammunition to do it.
It's interesting to read the comments on "In Loco" re: Richard Stoneman's Doc vs. that of Dominic Minghella, and to hear the majority of you say that this is not a favourite episode. I find that it ranks up there in my top five favourites, and that it is one I can keep going back and watching without any diminution of pleasure. I guess I just like the dynamic that is set up between the Doc and Peter, and I like the way the episode allows us to envision the fantasy where the Doc becomes a father. I don't really think that a child for the Doc and Louisa can have been planned this early in the series, but a character like Peter allows us to live out that fantasy without all the fancy plot maneovers it took to get us to that place in reality. We will also probably never get to see the Doc parenting James Henry as a 10 year old, which is a lot funnier, sweeter, and more interesting than seeing him parent an infant IMO. I love the "rats scrabbling through cottages" word picture, because it gives us a glimpse of another part of the Doc's intelligence. To fully imagine something like that draws upon humour and imagination, not just the forms of doctorly brilliance we regularly see in him.
Yes, Mrs. Cronk bugs me. Her asthma/panic attacks are annoying, mostly for the way it forces her son to be the adult in the household. Bert bugs me (he just does) and he gets a rather large part in the subplot of this episode. It also bugs me that the relationship between Peter and the Doc ends on such a low note (the Doc telling Peter that zoonosis generally afflicts children "because they're disgusting", and then with the Doc sadistically jabbing Peter with the penicillin). The conclusion seems to be that the strange, un-asked-for but interesting aspects of having a 10 year old house guest do not finally outweigh the annoyance of it, and the Doc is glad to get back to his uninterrupted life. I wish it had been the other way around. I also have a sense of lyrical disappointment in this episode when the Doc has that moment with Louisa in his kitchen but can't be unsuspicious, and lets his suspicion ruin it, because he lacks the confidence to believe that Louisa could be straightforwardly saying the "nice things" to him that she is saying. So in some ways this episode is bittersweet/thwarted/frustrated and frustrating (including that last scene where the Doc is standing on his porch, unable to take up Louisa's invitation to join her at her victory party), but at least there has been an experience (of fathering a 10 year old boy, of hearing how our two main characters judge one another: (M: "the best candidate by far," L: "I quite like the way you are") the transformative power of which can break through at another time.
At the end of this episode where the Doc injects the dog, I must say I was assuming that it was a lethal injection. I wasn't relieved of that assumption until the next episode where the dog appeared hale and hearty. A lethal injection would indeed have been shocking and really hard to forgive. Instead the doc goes from wanting to send Gremlin "to the big doggie basket in the sky" to "not wanting him put down, just taken to another village." to actually using his medicine to heal the dog (I am left to assume that the injection was penicillin). When AJ is in the collision with Mrs. McLynne in S4 she asks Martin to examine Buddy for broken ribs, a suggestion which Martin greets with absolute disdain: he's not a vet. His medicine is too good for the likes of animals (and so he would have said to Mr. Porter also, had he not been over a barrell at the time). So if there's any "redemption" in this episode, it is not in Martin's relationship with Louisa or Peter, but in his relationship with the dog.
Clever episode title "In loco" (parentis) (in the place of a parent) could be seen as alluding to the role Peter must take on with his Mum and the role that Al must take on with his Dad as well as the role that Martin must take on with Peter. It also suggested to me as it did to Mona the allusion to craziness (after the Spanish). Certainly there is a bit of craziness going on in that fish and chip shop!
I also found it surprising that Louisa could be as protective of her self-interest as Martin in turning Peter from her door in favour of swotting for her interview. We see a new side of Louisa in this episode: her ambition for professional success, her protectiveness of her own space, her complete conviction that her way of doing things is the right way and her anger when that is challenged. In Martin we would call those "crusty bachelor" traits, but Louisa's need for those same things is at least an equal contributor to the problems they experience in trying to form a life together in S5, and according to MC, also in season 6.
I
I also found it surprising that Louisa could be as protective of her self-interest as Martin in turning Peter from her door in favour of swotting for her interview. We see a new side of Louisa in this episode: her ambition for professional success, her protectiveness of her own space, her complete conviction that her way of doing things is the right way and her anger when that is challenged. In Martin we would call those "crusty bachelor" traits, but Louisa's need for those same things is at least an equal contributor to the problems they experience in trying to form a life together in S5, and according to MC, also in season 6.
When you talk about Louisa's conviction that her way is right and her anger when this is challenged, are you thinking of the decision she took to segregate the children with "impetigo" and her anger when she was challenged about it?
I saw it a little differently -- that she tried to communicate with DM that having the parents stay home from work was very difficult for them and he put up a stone wall -- just didn't want to hear it. So, deciding that trying to talk to him about it was useless, she went ahead with a plan that seemed rather appropriate to me, and might even have seemed appropriate to DM if he had given any signals at all that he was willing to discuss it. Now, I don't think she explained what she had done at all well in the "rats scrabbling" conversation, so perhaps she was wrong to shout at him about "stitching her up" when she hadn't fully informed him as to what she had done. I thought she was just ticked off that he hadn't been receptive to any alternative and decided not to even bother to explain.
I guess what I'm saying is that she probably wouldn't have been so high-handed and close-mouthed about her arrangements if he hadn't been so dismissive in the beginning.
But it does seem to be a pattern that we will see again.
I just finished re-watching this episode and I must say that I agree with PoorRichard that it is definitely one of my favorites. I love the interaction between Martin and Peter. They're two peas in a pod, and the fact that Peter isn't the least bit intimidated by our grouchy doc adds so much flavor to it. He admires him, obviously, and seems to see him as some kind of father figure, but he isn't phased by some of Doc's comments, like his comment about children, "because they're disgusting". Peter in some ways appears to view the Doc as an equal of his, as if they're buddies or medical partners, and that's fun! I do love this episode.
About the "in loco" business, everyone, it seems, in this episode has a locum or is a locum or suffers for the lack of a locum. All of those mothers have no choice but to send their kids to school because they have no one to fill in at home and must work. Louisa is therefore also a locum, providing a place for the sick kids while their mothers work. Doc's a locum, taking care of Peter. Bert's a locum, filling in for Mrs. Cronk. Al's a locum, keeping the plumbing business going while his dad is busy frying (or not) fish and chips.
As for Doc being extra Doc-ish, being mean or impatient or whatever, to me this episode is SO necessary and SO perfect. I mean, come on, if we didn't have episodes like this, what would we have to hang our hats on? He's The Doc in this ep, the absolute epitome of The Doc. He hangs up on the lab fellow who calls with the zoonosis diagnosis, he growls at the dog, he gives us that fantastic "rats scrabbling" scene, he wants to send the dog to that "big doggie basket in the sky", when Mrs. Richards asks him if he's made a mistake in diagnosing impetigo, he says, "No. Perfectly reasonable hypothesis", he's unconcerned and/or clueless when Mrs. Richards sarcastically says she'll just call up her ex-husband in Scotland and he's sure to leave his girlfriend and rush down to help out (I'm sorry; I love his "good" response). In this episode, we really, really get to know the guy. We don't yet know why he is the way he is, but now we know him. This is a transitional episode in which we first really get to see some of the "meat" of this character.
It's also a funny episode. Martin gives us some real zingers. To Louisa, he says, "You're a woman." When she replies that she's glad he noticed, he responds, "Years of medical training." When she tells him it's funny how Peter looks up to him, he replies, "It's probably because I don't have a criminal record." In the interview panel, when the female candidate hems and haws and can't quite seem to form an answer, he asks, "More importantly, how long would it take you?" When the male candidate goes on and on after saying, "It goes without saying," Doc eventually asks, "If it goes without saying, why are you saying it?"
Louisa also has her zingers. For example, when Martin goes to the school to confront her about the infected kids, she says, "You just can't seem to stay away from me, can you?" Accidentally, right in front of the board of governors, she tells Peter she'll throttle him and feed his body to the seagulls.
Peter zings Doc by asking if TV was invented when he was a child. He also gets him when he asks Doc why he said what he said to his mother, causing her to go into a panic attack. Doc says he was only trying to reassure her. Peter says, "Maybe next time you could put her into a coma or something. Pauline zings Doc when he asks her what will happen if Louisa doesn't get the job. "No one in the village will talk to you."
So, well, I just love this episode. Sharp, tight writing. Quick wits. Funny lines. The Doc at his Doc-est.
Just to keep us happy and to keep things moving along, we also hear Louisa tell Martin that she quite likes the way he is. His initial response and the expression on his face tells us so much. "You do?" And then, naturally, he ruins it because he can't believe it, feels sure she must have an ulterior motive, surely this beautiful woman I'm so attracted to can't really mean this. So we see a glimpse of his insecurity in the midst of his being so gruff, rude, and monosyllabic.
In this episode we also see Louisa being quite firm about her own career. This is information we need for later.
There are other good things in this ep. Bert believes in the five second rule. Doc asks Peter to write down the names of people he's been in contact with, his friends. Peter says, "I'm like you. I don't have any friends." Doc, who supposedly wants the dog killed, talks to it as if it's human when it scratches his door. "Stop it! Look what you've done. Just look!"
Just a few moments later, we see Louisa and Martin looking at each other. He can't go down to the harbor to join in the celebration because socially he's so shy and inept. This is one of many scenes in this episode that is necessary. Would we have understood the significance of his going to Penhale's party in S3 if we hadn't had this scene? Would we have understood the importance of any gains he made in S3, 4, and (well, sort of) 5 if not for this episode?
I also like the way he deals with the "disgusting" kids. I had a pediatrician who did the same kind of thing when I was a kid. In giving me a shot, "Did you feel that?" "No." That's because I haven't given it to you yet." That kind of thing works for terrified kids, makes them relax, then bang, you got 'em before you they know it. The scene with the kid pretending to be deaf rung true too. My little brother attempted something along those lines when we were kids and our family doctor outed him.
I love this episode! It's a foundation kind of episode that sets the stage for so much. I think at this moment in the story we shouldn't be looking so much at the Doc's flaws in a critical way. This is when we should be learning about him and hoping he can overcome his hurdles and his personality flaws. Love it. Love it! Fantastic episode!
Oh, and, PoorRichard, I never in a million years would think the Doc would have given the dog a lethal injection. It just wouldn't fit with the feel of the show, despite Martin's "doggie basket" comment.
Biffpup remarked, rightly, that Martin couldn't go down to the harbor to join Louisa in her celebration because he was so "shy and inept." I think that is underlined by the way he roars at the dog after he goes inside -- "Get out" at the top of his lungs. It seems he is relieving his anger at himself for his own ineptitude by taking it out on the dog!
Re: Mark and the 'Big Boy' comment. Here's my take.
Mark is feeling pretty good about himself at this point in the episode. He has successfully pulled off that dance, which saw half of Portwenn's females panting after him. He has for once in his life been the dumper rather than the dumpee. And he has, in subtle ways been taking the Doc down a peg, thoughout their whole interaction over Stewart -- saying that it may not be a new problem, just a new doctor, showing up the Doc's lack of legal knowledge by saying that sectioning must happen when the patient is behaving erratically in a public place. Now when the Doc capitulates to Mark's superior local wisdom by finding a more "creative solution" to help Stewart, Mark comments "I reckon Portwenn's had an effect on you; that was a good call you made back there if you don't mind me saying, and I think the locals will really appreciate it." How annoying would it be from within what we know of the Doc's personality and insecurities to have been proved wrong, and then to be complimented for having seen that the village-wisdom was right all along? What Mark says to Martin may have been intended kindly. In a way it was Mark extending him the hand of friendship, and more than that -- the pass into real-villager status. "The way you behaved back there makes us think that you really could be one of us." The Doc feels keenly that he is being patronised, and finds he is too proud to accept what Mark is extending on these terms. He doesn't really want to be Mark's friend if it means conceding that this man (a moron who is gullible enough to buy enlargment tablets from the internet) is his equal, and he doesn't really want the village's seal of approval if it means conforming his medical practice to the standards set by so inferior a doctor as the Late Great Jim Sim. GIven where this episode falls in the series, the overarching theme is still "how will the Doc make it in this peculiar place?" "How will he make it given his considerable social handicaps." He could easily have said nothing in response to Mark, but the fact he hits back with "then I hope you won't mind me saying, that I don't carry vitamins but fortunately you do....you'll get over it, Big Boy." This is Martin putting up a boundary -- splashing a bit of cold water -- replying to Mark's offer of friendship with: "I think you're slightly ridiculous and I really don't like you all that much," and replying to Mark's offer to sponsor his induction into the village with: "I think this village is ridiculous and I don't need its approval, or spend one moment worrying about its judgment on how I do medicine." So how do we read that? As a mark of how "damaged" Martin is -- that he can't enter easily into the current of social life? As the mark of the bullied child who is pitiable for the fact he is being bullied, but who is really not that sympathetic, because he is a natural born target, bringing a lot of negative attention to himself by the way he reacts to things? I am not inclined to feel that Martin is at his best in the moment he responds teasingly, but with a sharp edge, to Mark, but despite the worries Mark confesses to Martin in his office, Mark has all the power in this episode: he's got Martin's girl, he's in the right over Stewart and he holds the keys to village acceptance. I think Martin feels that in order to protect what he needs to of his self-respect, he needs to take Mark down a peg or two, and unfortunately he has the ammunition to do it.
Great insights here -- and points up once again that the other major theme of the series, and the one which I think they started out intending to be the dominant theme -- is the relationship between DM and the villagers. I don't think DM has really relented one bit from his early stance as "other." Almost everything about him proclaims his defiant "other" stance. His suits (that we love) and his car as well as his accent, are meant to be markers of that.
As we see at the end of S5, that relationship has not progressed at all. DM is making speeches about how much he loathes Portwenn and its inhabitants.
I think that PoorRichard had hopes that he might move toward some reconciliation with the villagers as the series ends, but with the fragmentary clue that we have, it looks like they'll be focusing again on the DM-LG relationship.
I think his flaws are more on display here -- or rather I'm picking up on them more -- because MC has said so often that they made a conscious decision to ramp up the not so nice aspects of DM, or play down the softer, sweeter side, in S2, and I'm interested in how that is playing out. I do think that if you put S2E2 side by side by S1E2, you will see a "darker" DM.
I agree, it's all foundational and necessary for how they want us to view him later on, and even as the darker Doc, there are a number of redeeming moments, as with the grilled fish sticks for Peter.
the weirdest thing just happened and it happened yesterday too -- all of a sudden I started getting like a quick hodge-podge of voices from several different ads -- not the ones on the top or bottom of the screen, totally different and one from a locally based company. The source didn't show up on my task manager, and only went away when I closed the DS tab, It doesn't occur on other sites (and I am not generally hearing voices). Has it happened to anyone else?
Sorry but I really cannot see how anyone could envisage Our Doc administering a lethal injection to Gremlin....I know he wanted rid in the very first episode but he took him down to Mark.
Our Doc is a professional HEALER for goodness sake.
NewPark - it happened to me last evening while on here and it almost sounded like MC doing a Churchill commercial. but it faded in and out, then another commercial came through, then things I couldn't decipher. Then I thought:: it's bad enough with all these commercials that pop up on top of what you are reading or at the bottom of what you are viewing , but now they are invading the DS forum. I was waiting for it to happen to someone else here before my thoughts ran to: Can I be going bodmin?:eek:
NewPark - it happened to me last evening while on here and it almost sounded like MC doing a Churchill commercial. but it faded in and out, then another commercial came through, then things I couldn't decipher. Then I thought:: it's bad enough with all these commercials that pop up on top of what you are reading or at the bottom of what you are viewing , but now they are invading the DS forum. I was waiting for it to happen to someone else here before my thoughts ran to: Can I be going bodmin?:eek:
I guess someone should notify the DS authorities. How does one do that? (and not sound like a crazy person) Is it happening in England?
Re: Mark and the 'Big Boy' comment. Here's my take.
Mark is feeling pretty good about himself at this point in the episode. He has successfully pulled off that dance, which saw half of Portwenn's females panting after him. He has for once in his life been the dumper rather than the dumpee. And he has, in subtle ways been taking the Doc down a peg, thoughout their whole interaction over Stewart -- saying that it may not be a new problem, just a new doctor, showing up the Doc's lack of legal knowledge by saying that sectioning must happen when the patient is behaving erratically in a public place. Now when the Doc capitulates to Mark's superior local wisdom by finding a more "creative solution" to help Stewart, Mark comments "I reckon Portwenn's had an effect on you; that was a good call you made back there if you don't mind me saying, and I think the locals will really appreciate it." How annoying would it be from within what we know of the Doc's personality and insecurities to have been proved wrong, and then to be complimented for having seen that the village-wisdom was right all along? What Mark says to Martin may have been intended kindly. In a way it was Mark extending him the hand of friendship, and more than that -- the pass into real-villager status. "The way you behaved back there makes us think that you really could be one of us." The Doc feels keenly that he is being patronised, and finds he is too proud to accept what Mark is extending on these terms. He doesn't really want to be Mark's friend if it means conceding that this man (a moron who is gullible enough to buy enlargment tablets from the internet) is his equal, and he doesn't really want the village's seal of approval if it means conforming his medical practice to the standards set by so inferior a doctor as the Late Great Jim Sim. GIven where this episode falls in the series, the overarching theme is still "how will the Doc make it in this peculiar place?" "How will he make it given his considerable social handicaps." He could easily have said nothing in response to Mark, but the fact he hits back with "then I hope you won't mind me saying, that I don't carry vitamins but fortunately you do....you'll get over it, Big Boy." This is Martin putting up a boundary -- splashing a bit of cold water -- replying to Mark's offer of friendship with: "I think you're slightly ridiculous and I really don't like you all that much," and replying to Mark's offer to sponsor his induction into the village with: "I think this village is ridiculous and I don't need its approval, or spend one moment worrying about its judgment on how I do medicine." So how do we read that? As a mark of how "damaged" Martin is -- that he can't enter easily into the current of social life? As the mark of the bullied child who is pitiable for the fact he is being bullied, but who is really not that sympathetic, because he is a natural born target, bringing a lot of negative attention to himself by the way he reacts to things? I am not inclined to feel that Martin is at his best in the moment he responds teasingly, but with a sharp edge, to Mark, but despite the worries Mark confesses to Martin in his office, Mark has all the power in this episode: he's got Martin's girl, he's in the right over Stewart and he holds the keys to village acceptance. I think Martin feels that in order to protect what he needs to of his self-respect, he needs to take Mark down a peg or two, and unfortunately he has the ammunition to do it.
Well written, poorrichard. Much to think about!
The fact is, still, that in that ending line DM breaches doctor/patient relationship (we are not allowed to joke with our patients on our own about the conditions they've brought our way--their infertility, their ulcerative colitis or their asthma, etc; it's simply not done) and is mean.
I think this pushes my buttons more because I am a physician and I teach at a medical school and if I saw a student making fun of a patient's problems like that, to them, the student would get in big trouble. I guess I am surprised that the "teasing" aspect of it seems fun and enjoyable to some forum viewers. I doubt if folks were personally on the receiving end it would be that humorous.
But, this is more personal to me, because I do connect with DM professionally, although I realize I am reacting no doubt too strongly for a TV show and a fictional character. It's just that folks may know I really like this show! In some ways DM makes me want to be a better doc and in others, I'm so glad I'm me and not him!
It's odd that DM is a good doc in the end with Stewart, for whom he is sympathetic, and an inappropriate one for Mark, for whom he was jealous and then disdaining. He's not an ideal doc as we know, and one thing any good doc does is keep one's emotional reaction to a patient separate from one's caring of the patient. It's not always easy to do that, but a doc really needs to strive to do so. DM simply does not even try to honor that aspect of doctoring.
At the end of S5 at the Castle I think the strongest line Louisa fed the doc was: "Tell her you're a difficult person." It just opened up DM to profess his love for LG, he realizing that Louisa knows him after all, and she is still there for him.
The fact is, still, that in that ending line DM breaches doctor/patient relationship (we are not allowed to joke with our patients on our own about the conditions they've brought our way--their infertility, their ulcerative colitis or their asthma, etc; it's simply not done) and is mean.
I think this pushes my buttons more because I am a physician and I teach at a medical school and if I saw a student making fun of a patient's problems like that, to them, the student would get in big trouble. I guess I am surprised that the "teasing" aspect of it seems fun and enjoyable to some forum viewers. I doubt if folks were personally on the receiving end it would be that humorous.
But, this is more personal to me, because I do connect with DM professionally, although I realize I am reacting no doubt too strongly for a TV show and a fictional character. It's just that folks may know I really like this show! In some ways DM makes me want to be a better doc and in others, I'm so glad I'm me and not him!
It's odd that DM is a good doc in the end with Stewart, for whom he is sympathetic, and an inappropriate one for Mark, for whom he was jealous and then disdaining. He's not an ideal doc as we know, and one thing any good doc does is keep one's emotional reaction to a patient separate from one's caring of the patient. It's not always easy to do that, but a doc really needs to strive to do so. DM simply does not even try to honor that aspect of doctoring.
Obviously you're in a solid position to make a call on this one. I suspect they were going for laughs and think it related to Mark's gullibility, just my opinion, but I certainly understand your point and respect your opinion, especially on this question. After all, you're a physician; I'm not.
That brings up another question. What do you think of DM, in S5 E3, calling Penhale from a waiting room full of people to report that Mrs. Dunwich has arsenic poisoning and he thinks the son might be trying to kill the mother? He behaves as if he's on the phone in his private consulting room, but he isn't, and you can see that the room is full of patients.
At the end of S5 at the Castle I think the strongest line Louisa fed the doc was: "Tell her you're a difficult person." It just opened up DM to profess his love for LG, he realizing that Louisa knows him after all, and she is still there for him.
That is a great line and the fact that DM at first reacts with a funny face when he says, "What?", but then goes along with it is a very special moment for both of them. I think you're right. That's when the dam bursts, or at least gets its first leak. He follows it up with an admission that he knows he's hard to talk to, that one all on his own, and that's special too. I also love LG signalling to him that he's an idiot, and he goes along with it. "Why, Doctor, why?" "Because I'm an idiot."
If these two could manage in S6 to have this kind of conversation without there being a crisis, with them in their kitchen or bedroom rather than at a remote castle/folly, then they might manage to make it through.
That is a great line and the fact that DM at first reacts with a funny face when he says, "What?", but then goes along with it is a very special moment for both of them. I think you're right. That's when the dam bursts, or at least gets its first leak. He follows it up with an admission that he knows he's hard to talk to, that one all on his own, and that's special too. I also love LG signalling to him that he's an idiot, and he goes along with it. "Why, Doctor, why?" "Because I'm an idiot."
If these two could manage in S6 to have this kind of conversation without there being a crisis, with them in their kitchen or bedroom rather than at a remote castle/folly, then they might manage to make it through.
IF... If ONLY... Then ME and LG would live happily ever after. That is likely to happen at the end of Season 6, I suspect.
I read that Martin Clunes was stopped on the street by an old man who told him that he (the old man) would not live forever and for heaven's sake the Doc needs to marry Louisa! Yeah. He does. They need to do it and not just for one night stand either. For better and for worse; all that.
I guess someone should notify the DS authorities. How does one do that? (and not sound like a crazy person) Is it happening in England?
I haven't noticed it here, but I often keep my PC's volume off unless I'm at YouTube or somewhere like that. I'll turn the sound on and see if I hear anything.
OMG! I hear it! A very faint male British voice, too low to understand even when the sound is turned up all the way. When the commercials kick in, they run over that background voice, so you even hear a little of it then. I just put my ear directly to a speaker and it sounds like he's reporting sports news.
IF... If ONLY... Then ME and LG would live happily ever after. That is likely to happen at the end of Season 6, I suspect.
I read that Martin Clunes was stopped on the street by an old man who told him that he (the old man) would not live forever and for heaven's sake the Doc needs to marry Louisa! Yeah. He does. They need to do it and not just for one night stand either. For better and for worse; all that.
I remember reading that. Marry that woman before I die. Something like that. No kidding.
I'm confused by MC's comments about S6. First he said they will cohabit (which they've already done, so I guess he means as a real couple). Then he said they will marry (but he followed it with "I think"). Now in the most recent press release we're back to the cohabiting thing, followed by the word disaster or disastrous results. Geez. How seriously should all of this be taken?
Biffpup remarked, rightly, that Martin couldn't go down to the harbor to join Louisa in her celebration because he was so "shy and inept." I think that is underlined by the way he roars at the dog after he goes inside -- "Get out" at the top of his lungs. It seems he is relieving his anger at himself for his own ineptitude by taking it out on the dog!
Yes, I think you're right. He is angry at himself and takes it out of that wonderful, moppy dog. But the dog still adores him. I wish I had been keeping count through the rewatch of the number of times DM says, "It's not my dog." I know he says it to Stuart MacKenzie in this episode and, I think, to Pauline in the previous ep, and to Elaine's father and his fiance in the previous series, and he'll continue to say it on through the Carrie Wilson episode in S3.
At the end of S5 at the Castle I think the strongest line Louisa fed the doc was: "Tell her you're a difficult person." It just opened up DM to profess his love for LG, he realizing that Louisa knows him after all, and she is still there for him.
I have always thought the strongest thing in this scene was what DM didn't say. It is the first time in an end of series episode he didn't ruin the mood by reverting to diagnosing the situation medically. Of course they have the walk down the hill, but I'm optimistic he has seen the light.
I have always thought the strongest thing in this scene was what DM didn't say. It is the first time in an end of series episode he didn't ruin the mood by reverting to diagnosing the situation medically. Of course they have the walk down the hill, but I'm optimistic he has seen the light.
Why haven't I noticed that before? You're right! It's a first.
That is a great line and the fact that DM at first reacts with a funny face when he says, "What?", but then goes along with it is a very special moment for both of them. I think you're right. That's when the dam bursts, or at least gets its first leak. He follows it up with an admission that he knows he's hard to talk to, that one all on his own, and that's special too. I also love LG signalling to him that he's an idiot, and he goes along with it. "Why, Doctor, why?" "Because I'm an idiot."
I love the "idiot" line also. I think that might be one of MC's favorite terms. I seem to remember him using the term on himself in many interviews. I also remember him calling himself an idiot in William & Mary when he was trying to wallpaper the ceiling. It just tripped off his tongue so easily!
Comments
What a great idea -- also, she could be a locum, or a GP in training. Be great to see them striding down the street together.
Mark is feeling pretty good about himself at this point in the episode. He has successfully pulled off that dance, which saw half of Portwenn's females panting after him. He has for once in his life been the dumper rather than the dumpee. And he has, in subtle ways been taking the Doc down a peg, thoughout their whole interaction over Stewart -- saying that it may not be a new problem, just a new doctor, showing up the Doc's lack of legal knowledge by saying that sectioning must happen when the patient is behaving erratically in a public place. Now when the Doc capitulates to Mark's superior local wisdom by finding a more "creative solution" to help Stewart, Mark comments "I reckon Portwenn's had an effect on you; that was a good call you made back there if you don't mind me saying, and I think the locals will really appreciate it." How annoying would it be from within what we know of the Doc's personality and insecurities to have been proved wrong, and then to be complimented for having seen that the village-wisdom was right all along? What Mark says to Martin may have been intended kindly. In a way it was Mark extending him the hand of friendship, and more than that -- the pass into real-villager status. "The way you behaved back there makes us think that you really could be one of us." The Doc feels keenly that he is being patronised, and finds he is too proud to accept what Mark is extending on these terms. He doesn't really want to be Mark's friend if it means conceding that this man (a moron who is gullible enough to buy enlargment tablets from the internet) is his equal, and he doesn't really want the village's seal of approval if it means conforming his medical practice to the standards set by so inferior a doctor as the Late Great Jim Sim. GIven where this episode falls in the series, the overarching theme is still "how will the Doc make it in this peculiar place?" "How will he make it given his considerable social handicaps." He could easily have said nothing in response to Mark, but the fact he hits back with "then I hope you won't mind me saying, that I don't carry vitamins but fortunately you do....you'll get over it, Big Boy." This is Martin putting up a boundary -- splashing a bit of cold water -- replying to Mark's offer of friendship with: "I think you're slightly ridiculous and I really don't like you all that much," and replying to Mark's offer to sponsor his induction into the village with: "I think this village is ridiculous and I don't need its approval, or spend one moment worrying about its judgment on how I do medicine." So how do we read that? As a mark of how "damaged" Martin is -- that he can't enter easily into the current of social life? As the mark of the bullied child who is pitiable for the fact he is being bullied, but who is really not that sympathetic, because he is a natural born target, bringing a lot of negative attention to himself by the way he reacts to things? I am not inclined to feel that Martin is at his best in the moment he responds teasingly, but with a sharp edge, to Mark, but despite the worries Mark confesses to Martin in his office, Mark has all the power in this episode: he's got Martin's girl, he's in the right over Stewart and he holds the keys to village acceptance. I think Martin feels that in order to protect what he needs to of his self-respect, he needs to take Mark down a peg or two, and unfortunately he has the ammunition to do it.
Yes, Mrs. Cronk bugs me. Her asthma/panic attacks are annoying, mostly for the way it forces her son to be the adult in the household. Bert bugs me (he just does) and he gets a rather large part in the subplot of this episode. It also bugs me that the relationship between Peter and the Doc ends on such a low note (the Doc telling Peter that zoonosis generally afflicts children "because they're disgusting", and then with the Doc sadistically jabbing Peter with the penicillin). The conclusion seems to be that the strange, un-asked-for but interesting aspects of having a 10 year old house guest do not finally outweigh the annoyance of it, and the Doc is glad to get back to his uninterrupted life. I wish it had been the other way around. I also have a sense of lyrical disappointment in this episode when the Doc has that moment with Louisa in his kitchen but can't be unsuspicious, and lets his suspicion ruin it, because he lacks the confidence to believe that Louisa could be straightforwardly saying the "nice things" to him that she is saying. So in some ways this episode is bittersweet/thwarted/frustrated and frustrating (including that last scene where the Doc is standing on his porch, unable to take up Louisa's invitation to join her at her victory party), but at least there has been an experience (of fathering a 10 year old boy, of hearing how our two main characters judge one another: (M: "the best candidate by far," L: "I quite like the way you are") the transformative power of which can break through at another time.
At the end of this episode where the Doc injects the dog, I must say I was assuming that it was a lethal injection. I wasn't relieved of that assumption until the next episode where the dog appeared hale and hearty. A lethal injection would indeed have been shocking and really hard to forgive. Instead the doc goes from wanting to send Gremlin "to the big doggie basket in the sky" to "not wanting him put down, just taken to another village." to actually using his medicine to heal the dog (I am left to assume that the injection was penicillin). When AJ is in the collision with Mrs. McLynne in S4 she asks Martin to examine Buddy for broken ribs, a suggestion which Martin greets with absolute disdain: he's not a vet. His medicine is too good for the likes of animals (and so he would have said to Mr. Porter also, had he not been over a barrell at the time). So if there's any "redemption" in this episode, it is not in Martin's relationship with Louisa or Peter, but in his relationship with the dog.
Clever episode title "In loco" (parentis) (in the place of a parent) could be seen as alluding to the role Peter must take on with his Mum and the role that Al must take on with his Dad as well as the role that Martin must take on with Peter. It also suggested to me as it did to Mona the allusion to craziness (after the Spanish). Certainly there is a bit of craziness going on in that fish and chip shop!
I also found it surprising that Louisa could be as protective of her self-interest as Martin in turning Peter from her door in favour of swotting for her interview. We see a new side of Louisa in this episode: her ambition for professional success, her protectiveness of her own space, her complete conviction that her way of doing things is the right way and her anger when that is challenged. In Martin we would call those "crusty bachelor" traits, but Louisa's need for those same things is at least an equal contributor to the problems they experience in trying to form a life together in S5, and according to MC, also in season 6.
When you talk about Louisa's conviction that her way is right and her anger when this is challenged, are you thinking of the decision she took to segregate the children with "impetigo" and her anger when she was challenged about it?
I saw it a little differently -- that she tried to communicate with DM that having the parents stay home from work was very difficult for them and he put up a stone wall -- just didn't want to hear it. So, deciding that trying to talk to him about it was useless, she went ahead with a plan that seemed rather appropriate to me, and might even have seemed appropriate to DM if he had given any signals at all that he was willing to discuss it. Now, I don't think she explained what she had done at all well in the "rats scrabbling" conversation, so perhaps she was wrong to shout at him about "stitching her up" when she hadn't fully informed him as to what she had done. I thought she was just ticked off that he hadn't been receptive to any alternative and decided not to even bother to explain.
I guess what I'm saying is that she probably wouldn't have been so high-handed and close-mouthed about her arrangements if he hadn't been so dismissive in the beginning.
But it does seem to be a pattern that we will see again.
About the "in loco" business, everyone, it seems, in this episode has a locum or is a locum or suffers for the lack of a locum. All of those mothers have no choice but to send their kids to school because they have no one to fill in at home and must work. Louisa is therefore also a locum, providing a place for the sick kids while their mothers work. Doc's a locum, taking care of Peter. Bert's a locum, filling in for Mrs. Cronk. Al's a locum, keeping the plumbing business going while his dad is busy frying (or not) fish and chips.
As for Doc being extra Doc-ish, being mean or impatient or whatever, to me this episode is SO necessary and SO perfect. I mean, come on, if we didn't have episodes like this, what would we have to hang our hats on? He's The Doc in this ep, the absolute epitome of The Doc. He hangs up on the lab fellow who calls with the zoonosis diagnosis, he growls at the dog, he gives us that fantastic "rats scrabbling" scene, he wants to send the dog to that "big doggie basket in the sky", when Mrs. Richards asks him if he's made a mistake in diagnosing impetigo, he says, "No. Perfectly reasonable hypothesis", he's unconcerned and/or clueless when Mrs. Richards sarcastically says she'll just call up her ex-husband in Scotland and he's sure to leave his girlfriend and rush down to help out (I'm sorry; I love his "good" response). In this episode, we really, really get to know the guy. We don't yet know why he is the way he is, but now we know him. This is a transitional episode in which we first really get to see some of the "meat" of this character.
It's also a funny episode. Martin gives us some real zingers. To Louisa, he says, "You're a woman." When she replies that she's glad he noticed, he responds, "Years of medical training." When she tells him it's funny how Peter looks up to him, he replies, "It's probably because I don't have a criminal record." In the interview panel, when the female candidate hems and haws and can't quite seem to form an answer, he asks, "More importantly, how long would it take you?" When the male candidate goes on and on after saying, "It goes without saying," Doc eventually asks, "If it goes without saying, why are you saying it?"
Louisa also has her zingers. For example, when Martin goes to the school to confront her about the infected kids, she says, "You just can't seem to stay away from me, can you?" Accidentally, right in front of the board of governors, she tells Peter she'll throttle him and feed his body to the seagulls.
Peter zings Doc by asking if TV was invented when he was a child. He also gets him when he asks Doc why he said what he said to his mother, causing her to go into a panic attack. Doc says he was only trying to reassure her. Peter says, "Maybe next time you could put her into a coma or something. Pauline zings Doc when he asks her what will happen if Louisa doesn't get the job. "No one in the village will talk to you."
So, well, I just love this episode. Sharp, tight writing. Quick wits. Funny lines. The Doc at his Doc-est.
Just to keep us happy and to keep things moving along, we also hear Louisa tell Martin that she quite likes the way he is. His initial response and the expression on his face tells us so much. "You do?" And then, naturally, he ruins it because he can't believe it, feels sure she must have an ulterior motive, surely this beautiful woman I'm so attracted to can't really mean this. So we see a glimpse of his insecurity in the midst of his being so gruff, rude, and monosyllabic.
In this episode we also see Louisa being quite firm about her own career. This is information we need for later.
There are other good things in this ep. Bert believes in the five second rule. Doc asks Peter to write down the names of people he's been in contact with, his friends. Peter says, "I'm like you. I don't have any friends." Doc, who supposedly wants the dog killed, talks to it as if it's human when it scratches his door. "Stop it! Look what you've done. Just look!"
Just a few moments later, we see Louisa and Martin looking at each other. He can't go down to the harbor to join in the celebration because socially he's so shy and inept. This is one of many scenes in this episode that is necessary. Would we have understood the significance of his going to Penhale's party in S3 if we hadn't had this scene? Would we have understood the importance of any gains he made in S3, 4, and (well, sort of) 5 if not for this episode?
I also like the way he deals with the "disgusting" kids. I had a pediatrician who did the same kind of thing when I was a kid. In giving me a shot, "Did you feel that?" "No." That's because I haven't given it to you yet." That kind of thing works for terrified kids, makes them relax, then bang, you got 'em before you they know it. The scene with the kid pretending to be deaf rung true too. My little brother attempted something along those lines when we were kids and our family doctor outed him.
I love this episode! It's a foundation kind of episode that sets the stage for so much. I think at this moment in the story we shouldn't be looking so much at the Doc's flaws in a critical way. This is when we should be learning about him and hoping he can overcome his hurdles and his personality flaws. Love it. Love it! Fantastic episode!
Oh, and, PoorRichard, I never in a million years would think the Doc would have given the dog a lethal injection. It just wouldn't fit with the feel of the show, despite Martin's "doggie basket" comment.
And I miss Mark, as always.
Great insights here -- and points up once again that the other major theme of the series, and the one which I think they started out intending to be the dominant theme -- is the relationship between DM and the villagers. I don't think DM has really relented one bit from his early stance as "other." Almost everything about him proclaims his defiant "other" stance. His suits (that we love) and his car as well as his accent, are meant to be markers of that.
As we see at the end of S5, that relationship has not progressed at all. DM is making speeches about how much he loathes Portwenn and its inhabitants.
I think that PoorRichard had hopes that he might move toward some reconciliation with the villagers as the series ends, but with the fragmentary clue that we have, it looks like they'll be focusing again on the DM-LG relationship.
I agree, it's all foundational and necessary for how they want us to view him later on, and even as the darker Doc, there are a number of redeeming moments, as with the grilled fish sticks for Peter.
Sorry but I really cannot see how anyone could envisage Our Doc administering a lethal injection to Gremlin....I know he wanted rid in the very first episode but he took him down to Mark.
Our Doc is a professional HEALER for goodness sake.
I like your idea better than mind.
I guess someone should notify the DS authorities. How does one do that? (and not sound like a crazy person) Is it happening in England?
Well written, poorrichard. Much to think about!
The fact is, still, that in that ending line DM breaches doctor/patient relationship (we are not allowed to joke with our patients on our own about the conditions they've brought our way--their infertility, their ulcerative colitis or their asthma, etc; it's simply not done) and is mean.
I think this pushes my buttons more because I am a physician and I teach at a medical school and if I saw a student making fun of a patient's problems like that, to them, the student would get in big trouble. I guess I am surprised that the "teasing" aspect of it seems fun and enjoyable to some forum viewers. I doubt if folks were personally on the receiving end it would be that humorous.
But, this is more personal to me, because I do connect with DM professionally, although I realize I am reacting no doubt too strongly for a TV show and a fictional character.
It's odd that DM is a good doc in the end with Stewart, for whom he is sympathetic, and an inappropriate one for Mark, for whom he was jealous and then disdaining. He's not an ideal doc as we know, and one thing any good doc does is keep one's emotional reaction to a patient separate from one's caring of the patient. It's not always easy to do that, but a doc really needs to strive to do so. DM simply does not even try to honor that aspect of doctoring.
It is not happening in Australia - to me anyway.
Obviously you're in a solid position to make a call on this one. I suspect they were going for laughs and think it related to Mark's gullibility, just my opinion, but I certainly understand your point and respect your opinion, especially on this question. After all, you're a physician; I'm not.
That brings up another question. What do you think of DM, in S5 E3, calling Penhale from a waiting room full of people to report that Mrs. Dunwich has arsenic poisoning and he thinks the son might be trying to kill the mother? He behaves as if he's on the phone in his private consulting room, but he isn't, and you can see that the room is full of patients.
That is a great line and the fact that DM at first reacts with a funny face when he says, "What?", but then goes along with it is a very special moment for both of them. I think you're right. That's when the dam bursts, or at least gets its first leak. He follows it up with an admission that he knows he's hard to talk to, that one all on his own, and that's special too. I also love LG signalling to him that he's an idiot, and he goes along with it. "Why, Doctor, why?" "Because I'm an idiot."
If these two could manage in S6 to have this kind of conversation without there being a crisis, with them in their kitchen or bedroom rather than at a remote castle/folly, then they might manage to make it through.
IF... If ONLY... Then ME and LG would live happily ever after. That is likely to happen at the end of Season 6, I suspect.
I read that Martin Clunes was stopped on the street by an old man who told him that he (the old man) would not live forever and for heaven's sake the Doc needs to marry Louisa! Yeah. He does. They need to do it and not just for one night stand either. For better and for worse; all that.
I haven't noticed it here, but I often keep my PC's volume off unless I'm at YouTube or somewhere like that. I'll turn the sound on and see if I hear anything.
OMG! I hear it! A very faint male British voice, too low to understand even when the sound is turned up all the way. When the commercials kick in, they run over that background voice, so you even hear a little of it then. I just put my ear directly to a speaker and it sounds like he's reporting sports news.
I remember reading that. Marry that woman before I die. Something like that. No kidding.
I'm confused by MC's comments about S6. First he said they will cohabit (which they've already done, so I guess he means as a real couple). Then he said they will marry (but he followed it with "I think"). Now in the most recent press release we're back to the cohabiting thing, followed by the word disaster or disastrous results. Geez. How seriously should all of this be taken?
Yes, I think you're right. He is angry at himself and takes it out of that wonderful, moppy dog. But the dog still adores him. I wish I had been keeping count through the rewatch of the number of times DM says, "It's not my dog." I know he says it to Stuart MacKenzie in this episode and, I think, to Pauline in the previous ep, and to Elaine's father and his fiance in the previous series, and he'll continue to say it on through the Carrie Wilson episode in S3.
I have always thought the strongest thing in this scene was what DM didn't say. It is the first time in an end of series episode he didn't ruin the mood by reverting to diagnosing the situation medically. Of course they have the walk down the hill, but I'm optimistic he has seen the light.
Why haven't I noticed that before? You're right! It's a first.
I love the "idiot" line also. I think that might be one of MC's favorite terms. I seem to remember him using the term on himself in many interviews. I also remember him calling himself an idiot in William & Mary when he was trying to wallpaper the ceiling. It just tripped off his tongue so easily!