flash-backs don't have to be filmed. Easily done w/ a conversation/story told to the children at bedtime.... a` la "once upon a time, your daddy and I...." This keeps the aging actors in a more realistic frame of appearance, IMHO. It is a well-worn trope: the flash-back that wipes out a whole lot of .... script issues..... (think Dallas from the early 80s) and moves DM into a potentially unending story line/tv show --- like Coronation St ... 20 yrs right for that show, right?
My favorite sweet S7E8 ending is this one: DM and L w/ JH are picnicking on the bluffs overlooking the sea.... the site where L had her dream of DM and the earthquake, remember? This time it is real, they are happy and together (getting there w/ the marriage counselor pathway MC has mentioned -- but done ever so lightly), DM puts his hand to her cheek and says "You are my reason for living"..... Camera pulls back, helicopter shot gets higher and higher then fades to the blue sky and/or setting sun of Cornwall and voila`.... S7 and ?maybe the whole shebang is over. Done in sweet Portwenn style.... this would work for any age/stage of DM and L.
DM's medical cases are usually well-known med school case studies, iconic "patient presentations"... honed and polished and passed on orally over generations of physicians and by those big thick medical tomes. In real life, symptoms and presentations are almost never so clear-cut and easy to diagnose and, at least in first world countries, many visits are for psycho-social reasons w/out definitve treatment courses to take and/or declare as per DM's standards. But as a med school primer and recap, DM's cases are quite enjoyable as entertainment.
I'd just like to re-emphasize AR's comment to DM about "real medicine"... I think it clearly referred to general practice in Portwenn and was meant to reinforce us, the audience, to recognize that being a surgeon isn't necessarily more important or better than "just" being the GP in a little town. That sure is how I read that interchange.... and felt the writers were getting that message out to us. Anyone else?
I was led to believe that the medical cases were concocted during consultation with Dr. Martin Scurr and some stories from his colleagues. Every medical professional has his or her selection of these. (Ask me about the turquoise baby stool, sometime). They are not famous cases.......some are real zebras.......I never heard of trimethylammonuria but then I'm a pediatric specialist.....most kids don't stink...another reason I loved my specialty.. And believe it or not, there are somethings that you can spot almost immediately.....and he has done it, like Dennis's Parkinson's disease......do you know that these were famous cases, like presented in Grand Rounds or written up in journals? They seem a bit obscure for that?
Not really a reply but I don't know how to make an original post. I noticed on amazon,uk that season 3 of DCI Banks is out on DVD BUT it cannot be shipped to the USA (and possibly not to other countries). My guess is it will be released in the US after being broadcast here.
The most interesting thing to me was the cover. The original DCI Banks leads were Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe. Caroline Catz was substituted for Lowe in Season 2 because of Lowe's unavailability due to her pregnancy. CC was enough of a hit that the producers decided to keep her in Season 3. AND she now has second billing, listed before Andrea Lowe. I think it must have been that CC boosted the whole program's appeal.
Several thoughts. On functioning as an insomniac. As a physician Martin has probably had to do this throughout his career, particularly as a younger house officer and surgical registrar. He is reverting to that practice. I wasn't insomniac with my recent baby just typical lack of sleep. You get used to it and can function fairly well. It eventually reaches a point of collapse which I think Doc was approaching
Any woman who can walk up and down the hills of Portwenn pushing a baby carriage two days post partnum could easily deal with the effects of the car accident. More likely her arm would have been taped to her chest to stabilize the collarbone. But that would not allow her to carry James. For both of these and many others, I plead the Portwenn Effect
I think the show will end with Doc and Louisa in Portwenn. Those pat endings of compromise with Doc returning to surgery are not credible. We have not had anything work out the right way for Doc and Louisa, and I think the eventual ending will leave as much
ambiguity as in previous endings.
I also think Ruth has changed her view of Portwenn between series 5 and 6. She has become acclimated, moved into the village and is part of the community now. She may think Martin will no linger practice the serious medicine of surgery, but she may be happy to see him with a family on a village where both can earn a living and have a good life.
My concern for Martin staying in Portwenn is his disdain for most villagers. If he could return to even series 1 or 2 level of grumpiness that would be okay Even if it takes the Portwenn effect to do so, his interactions with his patients have to return to more humor
Rewatching S1 and even S2, it’s striking how much grumpier Martin has gotten, obviously by S6 and even by S5. I think it’s conceivable that he could return to a S1 or S2 level of irritability, though, if we believe that his growing agitation stems in large part from his internal conflict of wanting to maintain the predictable, controlled life he has constructed for himself while also being with Louisa and the terrifying leap into the uncontrollable world of a real relationship that that requires. We certainly wouldn’t expect (or even want!) a warm and fuzzy Martin, but I can envision that as he and Louisa progress toward defining their relationship, building trust, and communicating, he will feel less agitated and thus be able to return at least to a S1 level of personal interaction. That’s what I’d like to see anyway. Or if that isn’t possible, then yes, writers, please activate the Portwenn effect. and make it happen.
There will be a new dvd available September 30, 2014 entitled Martin Clunes's Wild Life which bundles together: A Man and His Dogs, Heavy Horsepower, Man to Manta, The Lemurs of Madagascar and A Lion Called Mugie. It is available on pre-order by either Amazon or Acorn.
As there was a full moon last night and I have found that I have trouble sleeping during those nights (am I a full-mooner?) my thoughts ran to the forthcoming filming of S7. I was wondering if ITV approached BP with funding for a S8, do you think MC and PB would be swayed to continue this series beyond S7? In answer to my question I would say no if there was a potential new series for MC waiting in the wings until DM ran its course, but if not, I think he should continue if the writers can come up with a path beyond S7.
Thank you, mmDerdekea. Taken individually, I do agree that some of these elements are a stretch, to say the least, and I can see how added up, could make the whole episode unsatisfying. My suspension-of-disbelief level is usually pretty low, so I am almost surprised that I have been able to overlook them here. I have to admit I am in the fairy tale camp and it’s only because I am so invested in the characters and their story that I am willing to look past some of these egregious examples.
The weight loss issue was the one that struck me the most, even at the time. For it to be noticeable, especially by someone else, Martin would have had to lose at least 10-15 pounds, and by that time, as you said, his clothes would be falling off ( let alone if he had lost even more weight). Any normal person would notice this about themselves immediately and it’s hard to come up with a plausible explanation of how he wouldn’t have.
As to concern about his heart, DM is indeed a brilliant diagnostician, but there’s a reason doctors don’t treat themselves or their own families. I took the fact that he keeps checking his heart rate long after he knows it is normal and fixating on a physical diagnosis as an indication of how completely unconnected he is to his real feelings. It seemed like a pretty obvious metaphor – there IS something wrong with his heart, it’s just not physical. Talk about somatization
That Louisa escaped the car crash without a head injury (apart from the AVM, but that was not due to the accident) also strained credulity, but such things do happen, so I’m willing to look past it for the sake of the story. That scene was very graphic; I know the writers got considerable criticism for it, and I have wondered why they chose to go that route. I don’t really think it was unreflected but I’m not sure why they wrote it that way.
Thanks, Hester! Good follow-up thoughts!
Absolutely, I saw the mind-body metaphor of DM spending around 6 episodes focused on his "heart", but....I still thought it was annoyingly too heavy-handed for a show which usually barely touches upon key themes and leaves it up to fans and forums to process things and make them a lot clearer. (Like we are doing right now!).
Can you imagine, if given exercises in communication as per standard couple's therapy, DM leaves Post It notes for L on the bathroom mirror with little love nothings written on them? or tucking a mash note into her packed lunch? As L said to him once, "You're not exactly Mr. Heart and Flowers" DM doing couple's therapy really could be funny.
Sorry, add me to bloodphobia's barf bag group!
I want DM to stay DM. That means no post its, no love notes in LG's lunch bag.
What I want is DM to say he loves LG and LG to answer "I love you, too". I want him to be a better communicator and to be more conscientious about being a better husband. I want LG to react less. I want DM/LG basically to get along as a basically happy couple, loads of humorous things thrown in, and be good parents to JH.
Then they can end the series and I'll be 100% content.
That's all I think we should expect and it's all, at least, I need.
The plot devices, laid out starkly, do seem repetitive, but consider that the trajectory of a series is that there be some kind of crisis, which is resolved, usually at the last minute. I think they have done well to make the crises and the way they are handled quite strikingly different, even if the vehicles (kidnapping, possible asphyxiation, artery malformation) strike one as repetitive.
Hey, NewPark, I wish I could agree that episodes wound up being "strikingly different" in how things were handled, but I honestly don't see it. The repetition has been too much, (plus combined with all the flaws of S6 production), at least too much for me to have enjoyed S6.
It's more disappointment in the creative team, I think. That's why I'm so desperate for them to do something new and fresh in S7, if at this point, they can.
Respectfully, Marchrand, I am 180 degrees away on this. The show already did turn serious when LG turned up pregnant! The last 3 seasons have spent more time being dreary than anything else. Based on the ratings, a majority of the fans must have wanted that, but I definitely was not one of them! I really, really miss the funny!
I think he possibly knew he had been losing weight and was surprised that someone else is noticing it. When he mom said that, he had a possible "oh sh*t she noticed" look to him. He had been avoiding the scale. Ignoring a symptom doesn't make the diagnosis go away - as he said to the beachcomber redhead. He was doing that on himself - avoiding the scale. So he finally walks over to the scale and is surprised at the large amount he has lost. Possibly more than he thought. Playing that scenario in my mind helps me to make the scene fall within the realm of possibities.
Yes, I see that, but....what about his clothes? We were told they had to take in all MC's suits for this season.
It is funny how one's mind can accept so much but then one or two niggling things just don't work.
Like, I can easily believe you can drive up the road from DM's house when we all know you can't. I can forgive and forget a window in the bathroom under the stairs. I guess the reason the weight thing annoys me is just because I was so annoyed with the entire season. And, I think I was so annoyed with the entire season because they started out with this masterpiece of E1 and then stomped and flattened all the fun of all the other episodes and never got back to that wonderful tone. So, when that happens, suspension of disbelief is harder for me. I can allow endless errors in what I love, but I am more critical of what I do not.
Several thoughts. On functioning as an insomniac. As a physician Martin has probably had to do this throughout his career, particularly as a younger house officer and surgical registrar. He is reverting to that practice. I wasn't insomniac with my recent baby just typical lack of sleep. You get used to it and can function fairly well. It eventually reaches a point of collapse which I think Doc was approaching
Any woman who can walk up and down the hills of Portwenn pushing a baby carriage two days post partnum could easily deal with the effects of the car accident. More likely her arm would have been taped to her chest to stabilize the collarbone. But that would not allow her to carry James. For both of these and many others, I plead the Portwenn Effect
I think the show will end with Doc and Louisa in Portwenn. Those pat endings of compromise with Doc returning to surgery are not credible. We have not had anything work out the right way for Doc and Louisa, and I think the eventual ending will leave as much
ambiguity as in previous endings.
My concern for Martin staying in Portwenn is his disdain for most villagers. If he could return to even series 1 or 2 level of grumpiness that would be okay Even if it takes the Portwenn effect to do so, his interactions with his patients have to return to more humor
I'm sorry, dcdmfan, but I have no idea what you are saying when you write that just because a woman can push a baby carriage two days after a five minute ridiculously simple childbirth she can thus easily handle being crashed into by a sedan which barely braked before smashing into her and throwing her to the pavement.
There is no protection against injury, soreness, bruising, and lacerations based on mild physical fitness. Football players (American sport) are in incredible shape and just hitting another player can cause terrible injuries and they are all super sore and stiff the next day after a game, living in jacuzzis on Monday. A knee injury takes them out for the season. Athleticism does not protect you from the consequences of being hit by a car.
Martin hates PW and the villagers. I believe DM will be with LG at the end of the series. I think for me the biggest question, and what I'm most curious about, is whether they are staying in PW/DM is a GP or moving back to London/DM is a surgeon.
Here are the standings for the eliminated episodes. I encourage you to vote on this list each week!
1 S6E7 Listen With Mother
2 S4E6 Midwife Crisis
3 S3E4 The Admirer
4 S3E7 Happily Ever After
5 S6E4 Nobody Likes Me
6 S4E7 Do Not Disturb
7 S5E2 Dry Your Tears
8 S2E2 In Loco
9 S4E3 Perish Together as Fools
10 S3E2 Movement
11 S6E3 The Tameness of a Wolf
12 S6E6 Hazardous Exposure
13 S5E6 Don't Let Go
14 S6E5 The Practice Around the Corner
15 S6E2 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
16 S5E5 Remember Me
Robspace - are you the author of some of the excellent fanfics?
Shop Girl - any chance your username is in reference to "You've Got Mail"? That's a favourite movie of mine, so perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part
You're 2 for 2! Not sure if anyone's answered this yet, but yes, that's our Rob who writes such great fanfiction. And you guessed right on my screen name. When I was signing up for DS, the first few names I tried were already taken. That popped into my head and I was surprised that it was available. I love that movie too. I remember watching it in the theatre when it first came out and as the credits rolled just sat there saying, "I LOVE this movie!" I wanted to watch it again right there and then.
flash-backs don't have to be filmed. Easily done w/ a conversation/story told to the children at bedtime.... a` la "once upon a time, your daddy and I...." This keeps the aging actors in a more realistic frame of appearance, IMHO. It is a well-worn trope: the flash-back that wipes out a whole lot of .... script issues..... (think Dallas from the early 80s) and moves DM into a potentially unending story line/tv show --- like Coronation St ... 20 yrs right for that show, right?
I've never bought into the whole "aging actors" discussion. I pay absolutely no attention to how old or young Martin or Caroline look. It's like the whole "it's always summer in Portwenn", "it's always sunny in Portwenn", "school holidays fall when they need them to", "babies are interchangeable - they can be bigger or smaller, more or less hair, just as long as they are laughing, crying, sleeping, whatever we need for the scene". BP winks at us and carries on giving us the great stories and the fabulous look that we all love so much. It all the Portwenn Effect.
Coronation Street? Try 54 years. I've been watching for about 40 years myself!
I'm sorry, dcdmfan, but I have no idea what you are saying when you write that just because a woman can push a baby carriage two days after a five minute ridiculously simple childbirth she can thus easily handle being crashed into by a sedan which barely braked before smashing into her and throwing her to the pavement.
There is no protection against injury, soreness, bruising, and lacerations based on mild physical fitness. Football players (American sport) are in incredible shape and just hitting another player can cause terrible injuries and they are all super sore and stiff the next day after a game, living in jacuzzis on Monday. A knee injury takes them out for the season. Athleticism does not protect you from the consequences of being hit by a car.
Martin hates PW and the villagers. I believe DM will be with LG at the end of the series. I think for me the biggest question, and what I'm most curious about, is whether they are staying in PW/DM is a GP or moving back to London/DM is a surgeon.
You quoted Bloodphobia's post. That wasn't my post you are commenting on.
Yes, I see that, but....what about his clothes? We were told they had to take in all MC's suits for this season.
It is funny how one's mind can accept so much but then one or two niggling things just don't work.
Like, I can easily believe you can drive up the road from DM's house when we all know you can't. I can forgive and forget a window in the bathroom under the stairs. I guess the reason the weight thing annoys me is just because I was so annoyed with the entire season. And, I think I was so annoyed with the entire season because they started out with this masterpiece of E1 and then stomped and flattened all the fun of all the other episodes and never got back to that wonderful tone. So, when that happens, suspension of disbelief is harder for me. I can allow endless errors in what I love, but I am more critical of what I do not.
What bothered me was Louisa holding that baby and pushing the stroller when the perfectly healthy Martin was right next to her. She pushes that stroller out of the hospital, and carries the baby to the car when she leaves in the final ep. I scream to myself for Martin to do those things.
Also the sling was pretty lame and looked like a home made temporary thing instead of something the hospital would give you to wear.
Anyway, those bothered me more than the weight loss thing. Seeing him walk beside her makes him look very inconsiderate. I don't understand that choice - or how they missed that when they were filming.
There are so many things I like that I don't let the little things that bother me spoil my overall enjoyment of the show.
What bothered me was Louisa holding that baby and pushing the stroller when the perfectly healthy Martin was right next to her. She pushes that stroller out of the hospital, and carries the baby to the car when she leaves in the final ep. I scream to myself for Martin to do those things.
Also the sling was pretty lame and looked like a home made temporary thing instead of something the hospital would give you to wear.
Anyway, those bothered me more than the weight loss thing. Seeing him walk beside her makes him look very inconsiderate. I don't understand that choice - or how they missed that when they were filming.
There are so many things I like that I don't let the little things that bother me spoil my overall enjoyment of the show.
I missed that little scene -- quite a contrast to his pushing her out of the hospital in a wheelchair at the beginning of S5 -- the proud father with his new little family. But perhaps the scene, where he is walking beside her as SHE, even with her damaged arm, pushes the stroller, was deliberate? To me, it's as if Louisa and JH are now a little circle from which she has shut out Martin, or from whom he, in pique or perhaps stunned, has now separated himself? Louisa has just delivered a shattering blow to Martin -- and her decision to be on her own with JH perhaps underlines this.
Of course, he should have reacted differently -- taken the stroller from her. But he should have reacted differently, less cluelessly, at many previous points, including the just prior scene where he appeared to have no idea how to react to her statement that they weren't happy.
I want DM to stay DM. That means no post its, no love notes in LG's lunch bag.
What I want is DM to say he loves LG and LG to answer "I love you, too". I want him to be a better communicator and to be more conscientious about being a better husband. I want LG to react less. I want DM/LG basically to get along as a basically happy couple, loads of humorous things thrown in, and be good parents to JH.
Then they can end the series and I'll be 100% content.
That's all I think we should expect and it's all, at least, I need.
Series 6...Just wondered why the bloodphobia returned....it happened before THE RETURN OF MRS T AND THE DOC'S mom, so they weren't the reasons....the series took a too-dark turn for me. Lifted only by the OCD nanny, oddly. Anything to do with MC himself being ill, or just run out of ideas maybe....
I missed that little scene -- quite a contrast to his pushing her out of the hospital in a wheelchair at the beginning of S5 -- the proud father with his new little family. But perhaps the scene, where he is walking beside her as SHE, even with her damaged arm, pushes the stroller, was deliberate? To me, it's as if Louisa and JH are now a little circle from which she has shut out Martin, or from whom he, in pique or perhaps stunned, has now separated himself? Louisa has just delivered a shattering blow to Martin -- and her decision to be on her own with JH perhaps underlines this.
Of course, he should have reacted differently -- taken the stroller from her. But he should have reacted differently, less cluelessly, at many previous points, including the just prior scene where he appeared to have no idea how to react to her statement that they weren't happy.
I would interpret it this way also. Piqued, stunned, and confused. Martin doesn’t understand nuance (except in medical matters, of course). “I need a break from you,” sounds to him like a total “I don’t want anything to do with you” rejection. My sense was that he felt she was clearly saying she wanted to be and handle things on her own, and if he offered to help she would get angry. Best to try to fade into the woodwork. I imagine he had this feeling as a child also – the only way not to anger his parents was to be invisible. He is not entitled to have, let alone assert, a wish or need.
Series 6...Just wondered why the bloodphobia returned....it happened before THE RETURN OF MRS T AND THE DOC'S mom, so they weren't the reasons....the series took a too-dark turn for me. Lifted only by the OCD nanny, oddly. Anything to do with MC himself being ill, or just run out of ideas maybe....
Hello, robbleona.
Yes, some of us are right there with you--confused about the inexplicable return of the bloodphobia. It began essentially right after a very lovely honeymoon episode, when we are lead to believe things are going quite well between DM and LG, and if there is no chimney soot, they are having an active sex life.
I think the only clue is it returned right when the stalker mentioned DM's family name, as if just the mention of Ellingham, no matter how well things were going, was enough to dredge up his terrible childhood and start the bloodphobia again. I am dissatisfied with this reasoning. DM developed the blood phobia because he saw a woman hugged by her husband, sister and children before her surgery, and DM subconsciously realized he lacked all that love in his life. Yet, in E2, he has obtained all that--he has a good relationship with his wife, and has a son he completely loves, and has a loving relationship with his aunt, (which we see clearly illustrated quite clearly in this episode when our physically cowardly DM is willing to fight a knife wielding mental patient to protect his aunt and she is willing to put herself at risk to save his life).
But, MC felt compelled to bring DM way down to make him admit his childhood damaged him and made him immensely more screwed up than we have ever seen him, and that was S6.
Although I could agree the concept is valid, S6 was just so poorly put together in so many ways, it didn't work for me. But, it worked for most fans, it seems.
There's been loads of discussion about these different POVs since even during the season broadcast. You can scout them all out going back in the Forum, if you wish.
I missed that little scene -- quite a contrast to his pushing her out of the hospital in a wheelchair at the beginning of S5 -- the proud father with his new little family. But perhaps the scene, where he is walking beside her as SHE, even with her damaged arm, pushes the stroller, was deliberate? To me, it's as if Louisa and JH are now a little circle from which she has shut out Martin, or from whom he, in pique or perhaps stunned, has now separated himself? Louisa has just delivered a shattering blow to Martin -- and her decision to be on her own with JH perhaps underlines this.
Of course, he should have reacted differently -- taken the stroller from her. But he should have reacted differently, less cluelessly, at many previous points, including the just prior scene where he appeared to have no idea how to react to her statement that they weren't happy.
I just went back and watched that scene of them leaving the hospital to refresh my memory. I think she had stunned him with her declaration, and she got off the bed, said "Let's just go", grabbed the handle of the stroller and headed out of the ward. My feeling was that he was still reeling from her announcement and had to move to follow her, but it think we are meant to believe that within a few steps he would have come to his senses enough to take the stroller from her. When they got out of the car at home he was holding James and getting her bag from the trunk and she had nothing in her hands when she walked into the house.
I do remember being surprised that he handed James to her on the porch when she was leaving. Maybe it was to symbolize what you said - that they were a separate unit from him and Martin continuing to hold James would have meant that he was still trying to hold the family together. We know from all that happened that morning that he wanted that, but just had no idea how to accomplish it - and, of course, from the mouth of AR, he didn't feel he deserved it. So handing James to her on the porch was a symbolic way to show he was letting him go. I did find it sweet watching him put him into the taxi - fulfilling one last "daddy duty".
, if we believe that his growing agitation stems in large part from his internal conflict of wanting to maintain the predictable, controlled life he has constructed for himself while also being with Louisa and the terrifying leap into the uncontrollable world of a real relationship that that requires.:)
Series 6...Just wondered why the bloodphobia returned....it happened before THE RETURN OF MRS T AND THE DOC'S mom, so they weren't the reasons....the series took a too-dark turn for me. Lifted only by the OCD nanny, oddly. Anything to do with MC himself being ill, or just run out of ideas maybe....
Yes, some of us are right there with you--confused about the inexplicable return of the bloodphobia. It began essentially right after a very lovely honeymoon episode, when we are lead to believe things are going quite well between DM and LG, and if there is no chimney soot, they are having an active sex life.
I think the only clue is it returned right when the stalker mentioned DM's family name, as if just the mention of Ellingham, no matter how well things were going, was enough to dredge up his terrible childhood and start the bloodphobia again. I am dissatisfied with this reasoning. DM developed the blood phobia because he saw a woman hugged by her husband, sister and children before her surgery, and DM subconsciously realized he lacked all that love in his life. Yet, in E2, he has obtained all that--he has a good relationship with his wife, and has a son he completely loves, and has a loving relationship with his aunt,
There's been loads of discussion about these different POVs since even during the season broadcast. You can scout them all out going back in the Forum, if you wish.
My take on the return of the blood phobia is this: it is not really, or just being reminded of his terrible childhood. And it is not about whether or not he has loving family at this point. A phobia could be thought of (and I think the writers are thinking of it this way) as a defense against experiencing some other intense anxiety. So I think we are encouraged to ask, what is he so anxious about?
To me, Hester's remark above points to the key issue: his defense against experiencing anxiety has been rigid control of his environment, including relationships. He might always have been wired to be a little anxious; surely the experience of being parented by the terrible Christopher and Margaret must have given him the sense that the world was not a safe place and that he was virtually alone in it. Also, that uncontrolled behavior on his part could lead to swift and unpredictable retaliation by said parents. Also, that his parents were abusive to him because there was something wrong with him. So although part of him would always long for love and nurturance, to admit this to consciousness would arouse intense anxiety -- b/c he would have to admit how unlikely this was for him.
Being a parent himself, sensing how vulnerable he must have been and contrasting Louisa's parenting with what he knows at some level Margaret's must have been -- that brings up a lot of feelings that have to be sternly suppressed.. Additionally, he has Louisa now, but does he really "have" her? Will she leave him, can he count on her, will his deficiencies not drive her away? And finally, there is the situation that his house is not his own any more, much more mess and noise than he is comfortable with, once the novelty (honeymoon) of living with Louisa has worn off.
So I think there is plenty going on to make him very anxious, and the return of the blood phobia is a defense against realizing what his real problems are, as it gives him something to focus on, rather than looking inside himself, something which he is terrible at and which he fears.
My take on the return of the blood phobia is this: it is not really, or just being reminded of his terrible childhood. And it is not about whether or not he has loving family at this point. A phobia could be thought of (and I think the writers are thinking of it this way) as a defense against experiencing some other intense anxiety. So I think we are encouraged to ask, what is he so anxious about?
To me, Hester's remark above points to the key issue: his defense against experiencing anxiety has been rigid control of his environment, including relationships. He might always have been wired to be a little anxious; surely the experience of being parented by the terrible Christopher and Margaret must have given him the sense that the world was not a safe place and that he was virtually alone in it. Also, that uncontrolled behavior on his part could lead to swift and unpredictable retaliation by said parents. Also, that his parents were abusive to him because there was something wrong with him. So although part of him would always long for love and nurturance, to admit this to consciousness would arouse intense anxiety -- b/c he would have to admit how unlikely this was for him.
Being a parent himself, sensing how vulnerable he must have been and contrasting Louisa's parenting with what he knows at some level Margaret's must have been -- that brings up a lot of feelings that have to be sternly suppressed.. Additionally, he has Louisa now, but does he really "have" her? Will she leave him, can he count on her, will his deficiencies not drive her away? And finally, there is the situation that his house is not his own any more, much more mess and noise than he is comfortable with, once the novelty (honeymoon) of living with Louisa has worn off.
So I think there is plenty going on to make him very anxious, and the return of the blood phobia is a defense against realizing what his real problems are, as it gives him something to focus on, rather than looking inside himself, something which he is terrible at and which he fears.
Thank you so much for this analysis. It makes perfect sense to me and I appreciate your insight. I've struggled to understand the phobia for a long time.
I just went back and watched that scene of them leaving the hospital to refresh my memory. I think she had stunned him with her declaration, and she got off the bed, said "Let's just go", grabbed the handle of the stroller and headed out of the ward. My feeling was that he was still reeling from her announcement and had to move to follow her, but it think we are meant to believe that within a few steps he would have come to his senses enough to take the stroller from her. When they got out of the car at home he was holding James and getting her bag from the trunk and she had nothing in her hands when she walked into the house.
I do remember being surprised that he handed James to her on the porch when she was leaving. Maybe it was to symbolize what you said - that they were a separate unit from him and Martin continuing to hold James would have meant that he was still trying to hold the family together. We know from all that happened that morning that he wanted that, but just had no idea how to accomplish it - and, of course, from the mouth of AR, he didn't feel he deserved it. So handing James to her on the porch was a symbolic way to show he was letting him go. I did find it sweet watching him put him into the taxi - fulfilling one last "daddy duty".
I think you are spot on in the interpretation of the hospital scene--that's how I saw it, too, though I must say that all the feeling of my broken collarbone came back to me watching LG start out of the room. I found that not so plausible, but LG's stubbornness overrides even her physical well-being it seems. And yes, Doc was stunned but recovered to help appropriately at home. He just won't always stand up for himself. And he has always allowed LG to make her decisions, which I've quite liked about him!
I am not sure that the blood phobia returned because I never thought it was gone. Martin managed to suppress it with his DIY therapy in series 4, but it was evident at the end of series 4 when he was supposedly cured and ready to return to surgery and it continues throughout series 5 and 6. In the honeymoon episode, he was able to control it with the farmer he wounded. Maybe because he felt momentarily secure with his new wife?
The phobia is a symptom, like his series 6 depression, of his many unresolved issues
Comments
I was led to believe that the medical cases were concocted during consultation with Dr. Martin Scurr and some stories from his colleagues. Every medical professional has his or her selection of these. (Ask me about the turquoise baby stool, sometime). They are not famous cases.......some are real zebras.......I never heard of trimethylammonuria but then I'm a pediatric specialist.....most kids don't stink...another reason I loved my specialty.. And believe it or not, there are somethings that you can spot almost immediately.....and he has done it, like Dennis's Parkinson's disease......do you know that these were famous cases, like presented in Grand Rounds or written up in journals? They seem a bit obscure for that?
The most interesting thing to me was the cover. The original DCI Banks leads were Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe. Caroline Catz was substituted for Lowe in Season 2 because of Lowe's unavailability due to her pregnancy. CC was enough of a hit that the producers decided to keep her in Season 3. AND she now has second billing, listed before Andrea Lowe. I think it must have been that CC boosted the whole program's appeal.
Maybe it was alphabetical order, but I doubt it.
Rewatching S1 and even S2, it’s striking how much grumpier Martin has gotten, obviously by S6 and even by S5. I think it’s conceivable that he could return to a S1 or S2 level of irritability, though, if we believe that his growing agitation stems in large part from his internal conflict of wanting to maintain the predictable, controlled life he has constructed for himself while also being with Louisa and the terrifying leap into the uncontrollable world of a real relationship that that requires. We certainly wouldn’t expect (or even want!) a warm and fuzzy Martin, but I can envision that as he and Louisa progress toward defining their relationship, building trust, and communicating, he will feel less agitated and thus be able to return at least to a S1 level of personal interaction. That’s what I’d like to see anyway. Or if that isn’t possible, then yes, writers, please activate the Portwenn effect. and make it happen.
As there was a full moon last night and I have found that I have trouble sleeping during those nights (am I a full-mooner?) my thoughts ran to the forthcoming filming of S7. I was wondering if ITV approached BP with funding for a S8, do you think MC and PB would be swayed to continue this series beyond S7? In answer to my question I would say no if there was a potential new series for MC waiting in the wings until DM ran its course, but if not, I think he should continue if the writers can come up with a path beyond S7.
Thanks, Hester! Good follow-up thoughts!
Absolutely, I saw the mind-body metaphor of DM spending around 6 episodes focused on his "heart", but....I still thought it was annoyingly too heavy-handed for a show which usually barely touches upon key themes and leaves it up to fans and forums to process things and make them a lot clearer. (Like we are doing right now!).
Sorry, add me to bloodphobia's barf bag group!
I want DM to stay DM. That means no post its, no love notes in LG's lunch bag.
What I want is DM to say he loves LG and LG to answer "I love you, too". I want him to be a better communicator and to be more conscientious about being a better husband. I want LG to react less. I want DM/LG basically to get along as a basically happy couple, loads of humorous things thrown in, and be good parents to JH.
Then they can end the series and I'll be 100% content.
That's all I think we should expect and it's all, at least, I need.
Hey, NewPark, I wish I could agree that episodes wound up being "strikingly different" in how things were handled, but I honestly don't see it. The repetition has been too much, (plus combined with all the flaws of S6 production), at least too much for me to have enjoyed S6.
It's more disappointment in the creative team, I think. That's why I'm so desperate for them to do something new and fresh in S7, if at this point, they can.
I oh so much agree with you, Zarwen!!
Yes, I see that, but....what about his clothes? We were told they had to take in all MC's suits for this season.
It is funny how one's mind can accept so much but then one or two niggling things just don't work.
Like, I can easily believe you can drive up the road from DM's house when we all know you can't. I can forgive and forget a window in the bathroom under the stairs. I guess the reason the weight thing annoys me is just because I was so annoyed with the entire season. And, I think I was so annoyed with the entire season because they started out with this masterpiece of E1 and then stomped and flattened all the fun of all the other episodes and never got back to that wonderful tone. So, when that happens, suspension of disbelief is harder for me. I can allow endless errors in what I love, but I am more critical of what I do not.
I'm sorry, dcdmfan, but I have no idea what you are saying when you write that just because a woman can push a baby carriage two days after a five minute ridiculously simple childbirth she can thus easily handle being crashed into by a sedan which barely braked before smashing into her and throwing her to the pavement.
There is no protection against injury, soreness, bruising, and lacerations based on mild physical fitness. Football players (American sport) are in incredible shape and just hitting another player can cause terrible injuries and they are all super sore and stiff the next day after a game, living in jacuzzis on Monday. A knee injury takes them out for the season. Athleticism does not protect you from the consequences of being hit by a car.
Martin hates PW and the villagers. I believe DM will be with LG at the end of the series. I think for me the biggest question, and what I'm most curious about, is whether they are staying in PW/DM is a GP or moving back to London/DM is a surgeon.
S3E6 Nowt So Queer
New survey this week:
S2E8 Erotomania vs S4E2 Uneasy Lies the Head
Here are the standings for the eliminated episodes. I encourage you to vote on this list each week!
1 S6E7 Listen With Mother
2 S4E6 Midwife Crisis
3 S3E4 The Admirer
4 S3E7 Happily Ever After
5 S6E4 Nobody Likes Me
6 S4E7 Do Not Disturb
7 S5E2 Dry Your Tears
8 S2E2 In Loco
9 S4E3 Perish Together as Fools
10 S3E2 Movement
11 S6E3 The Tameness of a Wolf
12 S6E6 Hazardous Exposure
13 S5E6 Don't Let Go
14 S6E5 The Practice Around the Corner
15 S6E2 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
16 S5E5 Remember Me
Complete survey results: http://portwennonline.com/SurveyResults.html
New survey: http://portwennonline.com/SurveyCurrent.html
Episode title survey (suggestions for the eliminated episode):
http://portwennonline.com/SurveyEpisodeTitles.html
You're 2 for 2! Not sure if anyone's answered this yet, but yes, that's our Rob who writes such great fanfiction. And you guessed right on my screen name. When I was signing up for DS, the first few names I tried were already taken. That popped into my head and I was surprised that it was available. I love that movie too. I remember watching it in the theatre when it first came out and as the credits rolled just sat there saying, "I LOVE this movie!" I wanted to watch it again right there and then.
I've never bought into the whole "aging actors" discussion. I pay absolutely no attention to how old or young Martin or Caroline look. It's like the whole "it's always summer in Portwenn", "it's always sunny in Portwenn", "school holidays fall when they need them to", "babies are interchangeable - they can be bigger or smaller, more or less hair, just as long as they are laughing, crying, sleeping, whatever we need for the scene". BP winks at us and carries on giving us the great stories and the fabulous look that we all love so much. It all the Portwenn Effect.
Coronation Street? Try 54 years. I've been watching for about 40 years myself!
You quoted Bloodphobia's post. That wasn't my post you are commenting on.
What bothered me was Louisa holding that baby and pushing the stroller when the perfectly healthy Martin was right next to her. She pushes that stroller out of the hospital, and carries the baby to the car when she leaves in the final ep. I scream to myself for Martin to do those things.
Also the sling was pretty lame and looked like a home made temporary thing instead of something the hospital would give you to wear.
Anyway, those bothered me more than the weight loss thing. Seeing him walk beside her makes him look very inconsiderate. I don't understand that choice - or how they missed that when they were filming.
There are so many things I like that I don't let the little things that bother me spoil my overall enjoyment of the show.
I missed that little scene -- quite a contrast to his pushing her out of the hospital in a wheelchair at the beginning of S5 -- the proud father with his new little family. But perhaps the scene, where he is walking beside her as SHE, even with her damaged arm, pushes the stroller, was deliberate? To me, it's as if Louisa and JH are now a little circle from which she has shut out Martin, or from whom he, in pique or perhaps stunned, has now separated himself? Louisa has just delivered a shattering blow to Martin -- and her decision to be on her own with JH perhaps underlines this.
Of course, he should have reacted differently -- taken the stroller from her. But he should have reacted differently, less cluelessly, at many previous points, including the just prior scene where he appeared to have no idea how to react to her statement that they weren't happy.
Series 6...Just wondered why the bloodphobia returned....it happened before THE RETURN OF MRS T AND THE DOC'S mom, so they weren't the reasons....the series took a too-dark turn for me. Lifted only by the OCD nanny, oddly. Anything to do with MC himself being ill, or just run out of ideas maybe....
I would interpret it this way also. Piqued, stunned, and confused. Martin doesn’t understand nuance (except in medical matters, of course). “I need a break from you,” sounds to him like a total “I don’t want anything to do with you” rejection. My sense was that he felt she was clearly saying she wanted to be and handle things on her own, and if he offered to help she would get angry. Best to try to fade into the woodwork. I imagine he had this feeling as a child also – the only way not to anger his parents was to be invisible. He is not entitled to have, let alone assert, a wish or need.
Thank you for correcting me. I'm very sorry for the mix-up!
Hello, robbleona.
Yes, some of us are right there with you--confused about the inexplicable return of the bloodphobia. It began essentially right after a very lovely honeymoon episode, when we are lead to believe things are going quite well between DM and LG, and if there is no chimney soot, they are having an active sex life.
I think the only clue is it returned right when the stalker mentioned DM's family name, as if just the mention of Ellingham, no matter how well things were going, was enough to dredge up his terrible childhood and start the bloodphobia again. I am dissatisfied with this reasoning. DM developed the blood phobia because he saw a woman hugged by her husband, sister and children before her surgery, and DM subconsciously realized he lacked all that love in his life. Yet, in E2, he has obtained all that--he has a good relationship with his wife, and has a son he completely loves, and has a loving relationship with his aunt, (which we see clearly illustrated quite clearly in this episode when our physically cowardly DM is willing to fight a knife wielding mental patient to protect his aunt and she is willing to put herself at risk to save his life).
But, MC felt compelled to bring DM way down to make him admit his childhood damaged him and made him immensely more screwed up than we have ever seen him, and that was S6.
Although I could agree the concept is valid, S6 was just so poorly put together in so many ways, it didn't work for me. But, it worked for most fans, it seems.
There's been loads of discussion about these different POVs since even during the season broadcast. You can scout them all out going back in the Forum, if you wish.
I just went back and watched that scene of them leaving the hospital to refresh my memory. I think she had stunned him with her declaration, and she got off the bed, said "Let's just go", grabbed the handle of the stroller and headed out of the ward. My feeling was that he was still reeling from her announcement and had to move to follow her, but it think we are meant to believe that within a few steps he would have come to his senses enough to take the stroller from her. When they got out of the car at home he was holding James and getting her bag from the trunk and she had nothing in her hands when she walked into the house.
I do remember being surprised that he handed James to her on the porch when she was leaving. Maybe it was to symbolize what you said - that they were a separate unit from him and Martin continuing to hold James would have meant that he was still trying to hold the family together. We know from all that happened that morning that he wanted that, but just had no idea how to accomplish it - and, of course, from the mouth of AR, he didn't feel he deserved it. So handing James to her on the porch was a symbolic way to show he was letting him go. I did find it sweet watching him put him into the taxi - fulfilling one last "daddy duty".
My take on the return of the blood phobia is this: it is not really, or just being reminded of his terrible childhood. And it is not about whether or not he has loving family at this point. A phobia could be thought of (and I think the writers are thinking of it this way) as a defense against experiencing some other intense anxiety. So I think we are encouraged to ask, what is he so anxious about?
To me, Hester's remark above points to the key issue: his defense against experiencing anxiety has been rigid control of his environment, including relationships. He might always have been wired to be a little anxious; surely the experience of being parented by the terrible Christopher and Margaret must have given him the sense that the world was not a safe place and that he was virtually alone in it. Also, that uncontrolled behavior on his part could lead to swift and unpredictable retaliation by said parents. Also, that his parents were abusive to him because there was something wrong with him. So although part of him would always long for love and nurturance, to admit this to consciousness would arouse intense anxiety -- b/c he would have to admit how unlikely this was for him.
Being a parent himself, sensing how vulnerable he must have been and contrasting Louisa's parenting with what he knows at some level Margaret's must have been -- that brings up a lot of feelings that have to be sternly suppressed.. Additionally, he has Louisa now, but does he really "have" her? Will she leave him, can he count on her, will his deficiencies not drive her away? And finally, there is the situation that his house is not his own any more, much more mess and noise than he is comfortable with, once the novelty (honeymoon) of living with Louisa has worn off.
So I think there is plenty going on to make him very anxious, and the return of the blood phobia is a defense against realizing what his real problems are, as it gives him something to focus on, rather than looking inside himself, something which he is terrible at and which he fears.
Thank you so much for this analysis. It makes perfect sense to me and I appreciate your insight. I've struggled to understand the phobia for a long time.
I think you are spot on in the interpretation of the hospital scene--that's how I saw it, too, though I must say that all the feeling of my broken collarbone came back to me watching LG start out of the room. I found that not so plausible, but LG's stubbornness overrides even her physical well-being it seems. And yes, Doc was stunned but recovered to help appropriately at home. He just won't always stand up for himself. And he has always allowed LG to make her decisions, which I've quite liked about him!
The phobia is a symptom, like his series 6 depression, of his many unresolved issues