One more add this week. Our hero, ConnieJ, agreed to let me link to her videos, so she has her own page on the site. Connie and I worked together to identify all of the clips in her compilations. One of the reasons for deciding to create this site is because neither YT nor Flickr really give you good tools to organize your content. With this site I can do just about whatever I please . You'll find Connie's videos on a page linked from the "Links" page. And, of course, the S6 favorite episode survey continues...

www.portwennonline.com

Makes me wonder if it isn't CC that doesn't want to stay with the show. She's such a mystery, you just don't see a whole lot of her on the talk show circuit and even then, she doesn't say much. Seems to have enough other work on her plate too. Even MC doesn't talk much about her. I can't see MC paired with anyone else on DM if CC were to leave the show. Seeing what happened in S4 w/E was more of a turn-off than a turn-on. Good thing L reappeared in S4E2 but for a while I thought she was gone for good.

Thank you for your work and dedication to this site. It will be fun to see where it goes in the future.

I never thought that. I think she chooses to let MC be the spokesperson. If you see S5 series on dvd, at the end there are several interviews with some of the supporting actors, CC being one of them. She remarked that she is given a lot of imput in her thoughts and ideas about how LE should be played; MC's interview gave high phrase for her role in this series, too.

Going back to series 5 and the blue onesie that Joan bought for the baby that Martin finds at her house. It is disappointing that we never saw the baby in that outfit.

With a 2 month old, I know they grow quickly. That was a small sleep suit and James may have outgrown it quickly. But I agree that there should at least be a photo of the newborn in the outfit. Maybe in a double frame with a photo of Joan on one side and of James in the outfit on the other side. Funny, too, that there are no photos of Joan at the surgery residence or of the baby or wedding. That may be too common for Martin, but I think Louisa would have photos

Did anyone hear, or take part in an Acorn Q and A with Ian McNeice and Joe Absolom? I tried to find it at the correct time and emailed them...they said it was at 3pm. I had emailed them at what would have been 3:15 pm with the time correction. Did this just "go away?"

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie, having just discovered this forum and am enjoying everyone's comments and POV - so many are like my own!
ShopGirl: Over the past day or so I've been checking out your new site, and it's awesome! A big THANK YOU to you (and Connie) - such a lot of work you've put into it. Checking out all those links will certainly keep me busy during our long cold Minnesota days/weeks. And I absolutely can't wait for S7

I agree that Christopher probably has died (it would be too easy to confirm if he wasn't). However, I doubt that they got back together before his death. i think Margaret was told of his death as they were probably still married, if living apart, or was still listed as his next-of-kin. She immediately ran to his side for the reading of his will and there found out he's been living off of whatever settlement Martin gave him. I think she followed the money. (She had probably been expecting to inherit whatever her husband left and was shocked to find it zero).

I also think it was her plan to be a wedge between LG and DM. He has a family to support and can't be spending money on his alienated (and alienating) mother. However, a divorced son with a clear child-support payment can easily spend the rest of his money on his only remaining family, aka mummie dearest. Hence the grin from the window as Louisa'a taxi drives down the hill. (BTW, the way she stood there grinning reminded me of Mrs. Danvers in a movie production of Rebecca...just as creepy.) I think taking the clock was her way of getting her inheritance - I came back to England for my share of Christopher's property and if this is it, then I'm at least taking this much.

I think we've milked the Ellinghams enough - they were awful, selfish people who only see people as steps to their own desires. The relationships I would be curious about now are LG's parents. Eleanor, as annoying as she was, seemed to have soften a bit on Martin before she left. She even seems to have invited them down as a family. I also wonder how Terry would react to Louisa having a family now. Also, I imagine they once loved each other, since they were able to clearly love their daughter, but couldn't live together which would be more interesting to look at in terms of our story. (Although if I had to place my bet, DM and LG stay together. Those franchise fees pay for a lot of horse feed and I can't image the Germans, Brazilians, etc will want to keep forking over money for scripts if they end up splitting.)

I think he wears it to Joan's funeral, no?

Mazzieblue. We may be rid of the Christopher Ellingham storyline, but I think Ruth Ellingham and Margaret Ellingham (at least by reference) are going to be a big part of season 7. I think Terry Glasson and his daughter got along well. Each seemed to understand the other's foibles. Bringing Terry and Eleanor back might help Louisa address her childhood issues with her parents available for explanations. Maybe the same for Margaret and Martin, but she would have much more to explain

Welcome..Igike...it is fun to find people who think like you do...I started watching all of Doc Martin because of my drop dead serious crush on Martin Clunes...which still is in high gear...what is it about this man?....but the more you watch the more you start picking up subtleties and clues and connections in the story. The writers and production people put out a product that is far more intelligent than what is usually made in the US...welcome welcome

I love your comments about Margaret wanting to drive a wedge between Martin and Louisa. So much of her behavior points to that. I'm sure that was her plan as soon as she realized they were married. I also like your theory about Margaret and Christopher's relationship and the will. That is very plausible to me.

I also think we won't see Margaret in series 7. She is gone and that story is done. It might be interesting to see Louisa's parents, although I don't want them to come back for more than one episode. It would be a distraction from the story if they are there for very long. I want the story to be squarely on Louisa and Martin along with the disease of the week. Other stories will be Al and Morwenna, and Bert and Jenny will have some story lines as well. I do not think Mrs Tischell will come back. I think it was a mistake to bring her back in series 6.

I, too, believe that Martin and Louisa will remain together. I think they will be together for the whole of series 7. The final scene showed me that they are both on the same page in terms of their relationship. Series 7 will show us the ups and downs of them trying to make it work. It will be two steps forward and one step back. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.The will they - won't they is finally over. They will.

He is wrapped in a blue blanket for most of the funeral, but he does have it on when they move into the surgery. Thank you for pointing that out, it has bugged me for quite a while.

I did. Due to the time difference, I got on at 12 noon west coast time, and asked a question and got it answered by Joe. Doing it through FB was a bit hectic as everyone could ask questions faster than they could answer. I finally asked a second question, but it was over in 30 minutes, so it didn't get answered. Was fun anyhow.

For a season which many of us disliked and found major flaws with, your over the top praise of the entirety of it is a bit surprising. At least, it makes me wonder, honestly, how many would wholly agree with your laudatory pronouncements.

I mean, LOL! It really sounds like you're on the Buffalo Productions PR/Marketing payroll.

In viewing the series as a whole again, I'm good with it, too. It isn't perfect, but neither have any of the others been in my eyes. But it is so much better than anything I could have dreamed of and it entertained me, and still allowed me to think analytically and be fascinated at how they do it.

Dcdmfan, pick up my check for me while you're at it!

Well, I for one am really enjoying series 6 - I am 2/3s of the way through on Acorn. This is the first time I've watched on a lap top, up close and personal - i wonder if this colors the experience.

Do I care about the characters of Portwenn - yes I do
Do I care about ME and LE s little family - yes I do
Do I watch each episode several times - yes I do
Do I think about families, change, happiness, can one really live without sex - yes I do

I love the discussion on this forum - the good, bad and the cranky - everyone cares about this show

I did a rewatch of S6 and found after all the hysteria died down and getting used to the way Martin looked, the shows, as a series and continuing piece of work held together much better than I thought it did at first. And I loved it at first so I like it more now.

Oh yeah, Dcdmfan, could you pick up my check too? There actually may be two.

I'm actually quite sorry to say that I won't be re-watching any of it. I really did not like the plot line, and I will try and probably fail, to avoid watching S7, at least until I hear from reliable sources that all is once again well (enough) in the Ellingham household.

New Park. Please tell us more. You have always been a good observer and analyst of the show. I am still grappling with my feelings about S6 and your insight would help. Thank you

And good morning to you, too.

Your comment reminds me of the Eminem song "Without Me". The refrain goes "Now this looks like a job for me so everybody just follow me, cuz we need a little controversy, cuz it feels so empty without me."

You sound tan, rested, and ready. Welcome back.

Sorry, late reply. I meant marital. Just a typo.

I think my feelings about this won't be very edifying -- in fact, I think they're quite childish.

From the moment I read MC's off-hand remark that, since they had a child together, DM and LE would have a relationship, even if they weren't a couple, I started dreading what I was pretty sure was going to happen, in S6. That is, a long down-hill slide into pain and misery for both, followed by a two year waiting period to see how and if they resolved things so that they were once more a couple.

I think the odds are that they will resolve things mostly positively, basically for the reason that it just would not be a good business decision to do otherwise. And also, I strongly feel that it would make nonsense of all that has gone before. But I think a part of MC flirts with the idea of proving once and for all that this is not a "cosy" show, and choosing the edgy, painful ending over the comforting one. I can imagine that the way this tension might be resolved is to end S7 on a hopeful, but still somewhat ambiguous, note. So I don't entirely trust BP in this respect.

I know that, with some lapses,it was artistically done, and beautifully acted. Also, I do think DM's downhill path, and LE's inability to understand or deal with what was happening, are quite plausible really, given their general levels of emotional maturity and dysfunction. And a friend has just emailed me with a comment very similar to the one that triggered my post == that when she watched the series originally, episode by episode, she was still seeing it through the veil of all the pleasant scenarios her imagination had built up over the last couple of years, and on first watching, was disappointed. But then, watching it as one piece and knowing the ending, she liked it much better. She also believes, though, that the ending strongly points to a positive resolution in S7. And I understand that point and am glad that is the case for some people.

Still, all that being said, I guess I just feel that there are a number of alternate Portwenn universes, in which different and less painful, but still entertaining, scenarios might have played out. Did they really have to go right to the one that would inflict maximum pain to their characters and viewers (well, OK, they didn't kill Louisa off, as some feared). I feel that it was more than a little manipulative, but then, I also understand that's the name of the game in good drama -- to hook people and keep them dangling as long as possible!

I don't even want to think about what weakness in me that it reveals, but I get way too caught up in this narrative, and probably have way too much sympathy for each of them, and so I just found it very, very painful to watch, and I'm not sure I want to put myself through that again, at least without being convinced that ultimately, they will come through this in a stronger and better relationship.

It used to be, maybe still is, that in the U.S. "two weeks" was not uncommon for a honeymoon period for a newly married couple. (That was when people were marrying in a traditional way, I guess.)

Is it that way in England? Because I am thinking now of that "two week anniversary" moment in E2, when DM is working on his clock instead of attending to his bride.

I think that was the writer's way of saying to us, OK, the honeymoon is over. Now we get down to business.