Finally getting to the last two episodes on my public TV station...last night was E7. To me, it seemed like Martin snapped out of his self-centered funk when Louisa got hit by the car, BUT at the same time he seemed to sink much deeper into despair over everything that has transpired all the way to the end of the episode. The deep sadness over Louisa's hurt seems to hit home with him as she goes upstairs to bed after arriving home from the hospital. All of a sudden it seemed like he realized it was no longer about HIM and that maybe it finally dawned on him that he has hurt her in a very deep way. Can't wait to watch the finale next Sunday night to see if I see anything different.

On a side note....let me just say that the quality of HDTV broadcast on public TV is even much better than the DVD's. The details are much more striking and I noticed things that I did not notice when watching my DVD's. Does CC have a scar or is it just a crease that runs across the area above her upper lip? It was very pronounced in the scene at the hospital where Martin is standing above her checking her for a concussion and I had not noticed it before. Also, I've noticed in DCI Banks that she wears earrings, but in DM she wears none and has no holes in her ears. I thought clip earrings had gone by the wayside LOL!! Maybe not? It will be interesting to see a bare chested MC in HD!

Has anyone heard any more about Arthur & George? I noticed somewhere that Buffalo Pictures is leading the production with ITV but that's all I saw. Still curious and hopeful it will be good. I'm only part way through the book and like Mofromco said, it's awful until you get through the first couple hundred pages even though it does provide some background for the rest of the book. After I'm done reading it, I'm going to read the copy of the stage play and compare. It will be interesting to see how the writers script the adaptation.

My son uploaded the digital pictures he took on our trip to England about a month ago, and in going through them, he took a photo of the back of the church of St. Nonna in Altarnun which we visited. There is a statement at the top of the framed snapshots of the wedding. The wedding was filmed here on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 (actual time, not Portwenn time!) Just a little trivia.

Eileen Atkins is in the latest Woody Allen movie "Magic in the Moonlight" set in France in the 1920's. Some of the co-stars are Colin Firth and Emma Stone. It hits the theaters on July 25th. There is a short trailer on you tube.

My choice for a therapist for couples counseling, psychiatrist (whatever): First choice Neil Morrissey, second choice Amanda Hart. Looking at the latest doings of NM, he is still acting but has also invested his money wisely over the years. I don't know if they will bring in a succession of therapists, psychiatrists in S7, but Amanda Hart could be both funny and quite serious in her acting. Given her stature, she must have been teased as a child so would have first hand knowledge of what DM went through in his childhood, but DM for different reasons.

Are you thinking of Miranda Hart? She is indeed wonderful, and I would love to see her in Doc Martin. I think she would be great as a therapist. Also, I think if he had a locum or assistant, she would be terrific.

I wonder if Neil Morrisey and Martin Clunes pairing would not remind viewers too much of MBB.

If this is their last series (who knows) perhaps they'll bring in more old friends or reprise a few characters from earlier series.

Yes, I am thinking of Miranda Hart - thanks for correcting me. Perhaps Neil Morrissey would remind viewers of NM and MC's wild days. It would sure be great for ratings!

Another person who I am thinking of is Julian Fellows - MC has hinted he wants a bit part in Downton Abbey - why not extend an invitation to him first to be DM & LE's disastrous couples counselor and see what happens. In the olden days of radio, before television, stars of those shows would appear in each other's program.

Neil Morrisey...not sure..a bit weird. Miranda Hart...I'm not sure she would be strong enough. Who the heck knows. They have multiple persons up their sleeve..I'm sure whomever it is will have to be an actor and a half. Can't wait.

". . . disastrous couples counselor . . . " This is why I probably won't watch S7. Just sayin'.

You will too watch S7. I believe that there won't be a disastrous marriage counselor. There will be someone who will be wise and competent. There is too much at stake for the Doc and Louisa to have an incompetent practioner. It has to be a strong character...no question. I can't wait to see who it is.

Well, Mofromco, if I do, it will be after everyone else already has, so I can hear their reviews before I decide whether I want to spend the time.

Your willpower is admirable. I'll probably have to get a better computer and try the VPN route again. It was no great shakes the last time, but Diane Alecock always got it on quickly as well as Francesca Castillo in Argentina. I can't wait.

Sorry to burst your bubble, Mofromco, but will power has nothing to do with it. After S6, I'm just not interested to see any more.

Have you noticed that MC has old earring holes? He wore an earring in "Hunting Venus" and in a flashback in MBB. Shades of a punk rocker. Just funny.

There's no bubble to burst Zarwen, it's truly to each his own. Period.

Zarwen, we'll watch it together, since we see the show in such similar views.

Why bother to watch it at all? I know this is a provocative question, but Game of Thrones is intriguing and Mad Men is interesting. If BP has messed everything up why not give it up? Shields up...full power..phasers on heavy stun. Really...why waste precious time?

I am somewhere in the middle I thought the last season was extremely well acted and written but the characters were no longer Martin and Louisa but some new people in a deeply troubled marriage. I will watch the new season 7 out of curiosity. I want to see if BP can bring back the old version of Doc Martin. If they can't I will see what happens to the two hapless beings in a sad marriage. It will be entertaining but Doc and Louisa left the building with Elvis in season 6

Fair assessment but time marches on and people and circumstances evolve. After all that has transpired it seems unlikely that they can suddenly revert to the innocent comedy about a grumpy doctor and the unpredictable antics of the town of Port Wenn. They have made their grown up bed and now have to lay in it. If others cannot deal with the mature aspects of the plot then they should seek out other entertainment. I've heard "Parks and Recreation" is funny. Maybe they would like that.

I may not like what has transpired with the story and may not like where they will take things in S7, but I think the show needs to move forward and play itself out. Everyone will just have to accept it in their own ways good or bad, positive or negative.

All good things must come to an end and perhaps for some people, that end came in S4 or S5 while some of us will be there to the program's finale.

Yes, Mofromco, that was the point I was making earlier.

Ok, so I'm going to throw this out there for fodder...

The producers/writers, et.al. have always seemed to leave a lot to the imagination from what we actually get to see on screen. To me, that seems to lead to (perhaps) some perceptions that may or may not hold true about our characters, about the storyline, about their relationship, etc.

Do you suppose people have gotten more frustrated about the program because as time has gone on they almost leave TOO MUCH to the imagination? Too many unanswered questions, too much change in personality without reasons why and so on.

Lizzie I agree that the writers have left out too much. For example, Martin and Louisa's relationship was presumably harmonious enough in the 4 months following the walk from the castle that they decided it was safe to marry. Then the marriage deteriorated quickly. No hints that Martin was unsure or was miserable beyond his funereal taxi ride to the wedding.

Martin's personality change in S. 6 could be attributed to his emotional and physical deterioration but we don't know which came first or which caused which. Louisa's personality also changed beyond what would be considered normal. As I said I loved S. 6 but there were two different personalities on the screen than in S. 1-4. S. 5 was a muddle, and I am still not sure what to make of it.

Mofromco, remember, people who truly disliked S6 (and for me, almost all of S5) feel that way not to piss off those who liked it (and it is odd how it does piss off some people) but out of their own desires for wanting DM to be as it used to be, not as it became.

I have hopes that BP and MC are going to "get it right" and go back to humor and fun, some physical attachment of DM/LG, while moving forward with character development. I know they can do it, and I believe they will. Or yeah, I'm done with the show.

Look, even for those who liked S6, I'm betting that most don't want DM to develop cancer and die painfully, after having lost all his financial investments, so LG winds up homeless with one baby (newly diagnosed with Tay Sachs disease), and one on the way, because her mother drowned in the ocean, Aunt Ruth had a fatal brain aneurysm, and her dad murdered Jonathan in jail and will never get out.... I mean, yes, I am being extreme, but I for one am done with angst-ridden storylines, which for me, were not that well written, anyway.

I'm willing to bet good money most, perhaps not all, but most, of us want DM to return to some humor (without Penhale's idiotic antics), some fun, a couple of head knockings on doorways, maybe a drunk scene, some sexual innuendo, while, sure, DM learns about himself and etc, and grows, etc, and G-d only hopes LG does, too, etc?

Oh, absolutely, Lizzie, absolutely!

In a way, S6 and to some extent S5, are logical extensions of two "prime directives" for BP - this is not a cozy show -- said about a million times by MC, and they feel they must keep it fresh and avoid repetition. (I know, Mona, you feel that they didn't even do that, especially with the medical cases.) I suppose altering Louisa's character for the worse, and sending Martin into a funk meets both those criteria. I also wonder if MC didn't want more of an acting challenge. I think S6 was a tad self-indulgent in all of the above respects.

That said, I don't know why any of us should have expected that two people with as much baggage, as much difficulty communicating, one partner volatile, the other more than a bit controlling, marrying late in life and with little time to develop a real relationship before the birth of their child, would have anything like an easy time of it. The first few months after the castle was probably their honeymoon period, which we of course wanted to see more of. But at some point, the reality of being married to someone with whom compatibility is a real issue, has to set in, and I guess that's what we watched in S6. I still feel that I would rather they had ended at the castle scene, then make us go through all this angst, with the reconciliation probably stretched all the way out until the last couple of episodes of S7.

Of course, nobody "made" me do anything. I just couldn't keep away, even though I wanted to. It was like gawking at an accident, I guess both literally and figuratively.