Totally off topic but did anyone watch The Sound of Music tonight? It was hideous. I could only take 10 minutes

No, but I had seen the preview with Carrie Underwood ( who I don't know from I a hole in the wall) and I shuddered at the prospect of a blonde Barbie doll as Maria. Then I heard some singing previews and it didn't sound remotely the same. Then I crossed that one out and I'm glad I did from what you say, Blood. It sounds like my suppositions were correct. Was the acting bad as well? I thought it might be.

I found this interesting especially for the viewership info on public television stations in the US. http://www.current.org/2013/12/there...on-doc-martin/

The 's got it!
Thanks for playin'!

statesidefan--I have to say I didn't much care for the non-wedding dress - too old-fashioned - but I understand they were looking for something to cover her deltoid tattoo. How many wedding dresses for young women have sleeves? As long as we're making predictions, want to bet on sleeves versus non-sleeves with airbrushed-out tattoo?

SusieSagitarius--But I would like to see her in the original dress just to sort of give the first non-wedding memories a nice resolution. 1252

Adelie Manchot--New wedding dress. The old one is jinxed.
Think she might use the old engagement ring just because it is Joan's mum and they both viewed Joan as a surrogate mother. But don't hold me to this one. 1255

marchrand--I am predicting that Louisa will wear the same wedding dress as in S3. She probably bought it from her own funds, and as we have seen throughout the series, it doesn't seem DM contributes to her wardrobe funds. If that was me, I would wear the same dress again. No, I don't consider it "bad luck" to wear it again, I would see it as the scheduled wedding in S3 was "too soon" after their engagement and they needed more time together. She is in a small fishing village where she has to make her salary stretch, and having a new wedding dress would make the villagers gossip as to where she got the funds to able to do this. If I read Louisa right, I don't think she would want the doc to buy her a new one. After all, she has carried that famous brown purse throughout the series. 1260

NewPark--Different dress. Not very frilly, with sleeves. Minimal veil, if any. Traditionalist that I am, I think some very light color, not bridal white. Not floor length -- mid-calf. Actually, I am describing the original dress, aren't I --- but still think it will be same in effect, but different dress. 1261

DMfan --Prediction Louisa will wear the same wedding dress. 1263

dcdmfan --I don't think she will wear the same wedding dress, she is a mother now and at a very different stage of her life than in series 3. She may have known she was pregnant then, but like Martin said, "It's different now that it's here.". But I have no preference for what she wears, as long as she looks good and doesn't look dowdy. 1265

Biffpup --Oh, and about the dress, my prediction is that she'll wear a different one. I think Louisa got rid of the first one. Too depressing. I hope she does something different with her hair too. Just put it up or something. I thought that "do" from the non-wedding, in which her long hair is semi-sort of put up into a style that looks like short hair, was weird. 1268

I was really off base in my prediction about whether Louisa would wear the same wedding dress as she wore in S3. Just goes to show me, I really can't foretell what will happen in future episodes.

I have a question about the operating room scene in S6E8: when LE was on pre-meds I can't understand how she can have such a conversation with DM, asking him "You actually own any swimming trunks?" DM: "I beg your pardon?" LE: I don't mean like those tong things, like proper, proper trunks" . . . and then goes on to say that he would not like the hot weather. Can a person, in my words, "part-way under and fuzzy" have such a distinct conversation, knowing what DM's swimming attire would be and that he hates hot weather and also remembering that shortly before she saw him on the airplane?

'thongs' not 'tongs'. :s

OMG you are right! That's what I get for posting at 7 A.M.

Sorry it's been awhile. I've been reading, but haven't had time to keep up!

I think DM pointed out the direction of Series 7 when he asked Louisa to TEACH him how to be a husband.(Prior to the surgery)OK, she was under the effects of midazolam/fentanyl (anesthesthetics) but I think, he is going to rely on her to cue him.

Louisa has been his coach and teacher on how to be a father to JH. So far, all her instincts have been correct. He knows now that his own parents were not good role models.

Now that Louisa has met Margaret Ellingham, she will never sugarcoat Martin's childhood. She may be more understanding of why DM is the way he is.

It would be really interesting if LE as a teacher, encounters a child, very similar to DM. A student who currently is being abused verbally, emotionally, and physically. Seeing a child who is bullied and abused(like another Peter Kronk)may help her to explore DM's childhood. LE may have a lot more empathy and insight into how painful DM's life was. She may come out of the experience loving her husband more and not asking him to change.
As the head mistress, she stood up to a domineering mother. The child's mother is so outraged, she tries to have LE fired.

If so, she needs to do a better job of it. Her exasperated or angry responses to him in S6 came off as bitchy. Not sure if that was on purpose or if CC couldn't quite get it right.


This would be an interesting line...maybe not for the entire series, but for an episode (one of the steps toward the deeper understanding in their relationship and a solid reconciliation).

They can have a conversation that is very clear with premeds. That's the scary thing. In the past, they used to use pentobarbital as "truth serum". The lower filtering device in the brain is turned off but the cerebral cortex is still able to talk. That's why it's possible to say private or embarrassing things...without remembering. They don't use pentobarbital today, but other drugs have similar effect.

I thought the drugged conversation between Martin and Louisa was right up there with Martin's declaration of love to Louisa via Mrs Tishell. Just another example of the Portwenn effect stretching credulity

What's in a name? That which we call a Rose would smell as sweet by any other name.One day I started to think about the names and their characters on the DM show. First names do have meaning at least for PB and MC. I started to guess about some of the characters and their meaning. I also went through interviews where he explained names of animals. This is what I came up with. I really would appreciate any input.
These name origins could then be added to the Portwenn site.

Adieu******************************

Martin Christopher Ellingham (from Dominic Minghella's came scrambled)
Louisa (PB's thoroughbred Bee's foal's name is Alice Marie Louise) Glasson: from Glasgow
Bert Large (Larger) Beer
Al Large (Al is Short for Albert)
Put the name together: Albert

Margaret Ellingham: (Named after Princess Margaret: for the type of life she led- life of the party, scandalous, feeling cheated)

Doctor Ruth (Advise): Dr. Ruth Westheimer the advise guru
Auntie Joan:?
Christopher: Christopher Robin Milne was born August 21, 1920 in Chelsea. (His father, despite the affability which his children's books suggest, was distant, with his one and only son. In keeping with Middle Class English tradition in the 1920's, Christopher Robin was brought up by a Nanny who looked after him most of the day. He was taken formally downstairs three times a day to visit his parents. Small, shy and unself possessed, Christopher Milne was clever with his hands. He loved sewing, knitting and making tapestry pictures. He dismantled (clocks)and locks, rigged up burglar alarms, and even turned a toy pistol into a dangerous weapon.

James Henry: Son, named after their (Dog)
Stewart James= Jimmy Stewart, actor
PC Penhale
Edith Montgomery (EM’s Initials are Mirror Opposite of ME) It shows the type of character ME would choose when he was younger, A person who would mirror him precisely, but would be a female version of Martin himself.
Peter Kronk: Krank: german name for sick

Truly, Bloodphobia, of all the things that happened in E8 that was the closest to reality. When I was practicing medicine and in the operating room, people would carry on with the most lucid appearing and logical diatribes that they truly didn't know they were saying. That is why, as a Doctor myself, I was a bit nervous when I had surgery (not that anything I had to say would be shocking). Oh my, in the OR we would hear language and thoughts come out of little old ladies that would make your ears turn blue. A lot is Port Wenn effect, but this part was realistic.

Aunt Joan? How about Joan of Arc, savior figure

Peter Cronk -- Peter is a name that some men would not name their son due to the teasing around the slang for a very personal body part.

OOOhhhhh, better looking smilies... Cool!
and more

Great guesses. Paperchase! I especially like EM and Kronk. I do think that Louisa is named for a daughter of Dominic Minghella, though.

[I see the regular smilies are back]

If he's wearing tongs, God knows they're much skimpier than a thong - and what are the tongs attached to?

Re: The Large's
Al is short for Albert
Bert is short for Albert, hence they are both named Albert

The word for beer is "lager", not "larger"
Bert Large because Ian McNeice is large or just a name Dominic Minghella pulled out of his pocket...more likely...maybe he knew a person named Large

Actually Mofromco, I agree with what you are saying. My husband recently had surgery and he was pretty darn funny before they took him into theater. My point is that BP never allows Martin and Louisa to have a face to face, in the moment discussion. Martin tells her she is beautiful and that he loves her while he is under the influence of wine. Martin tells Louisa that he loves her but tells Mrs. Tishell not her. Martin tells Louisa that he needs her help to be a better husband, etc., while she drugged prior to surgery. My point is that BP needs to have them alone together under no influence -- except their love -- and tell each other how they feel.

Sorry MOfromco, the quote I was referring to did not go through in my previous post. Hope this makes sense now.

No prob, just wanted to let Bloodphobia know from a real medical person that such things are real and not "Port Wenn Effect"

OK, I'm a medical person, but I don't have a real understanding of psychotherapy and the processes that go with it. What do you mental health professionals propose will be the next step in DMs quest? I have been led to understand that psychotherapy is an in depth treatment and exploration of motivation as opposed to regular treatment....well, you're depressed, take these pills. Where does Martin have to go and who does he have to see to help him next. I have a feeling that he has to explore his past and isolate the incident that is the source of his blood phobia to get beyond it. There are so many factors that go into it...frogs, glass, blood, Mummy, clocks, watches, the closet under the stairs, time....what is next? What do you think "the man on a mission" has to do?

I have to preface this by saying that if three therapists got together to try to figure out a treatment plan (as in a case conference, e.g.) you would probably wind up with 4 or 5 different ideas of where to start and how to proceed.

i do have to say also that I don't buy into the notion that some particular "trauma" caused his phobia. E.G. he didn't see his mother cut herself badly while slicing onions, and her hysterical reaction. It may have provided a template, but I highly doubt any particular incident was causal. So therapy to "uncover" this cause would not be helpful.

Martin Ellingham has three different things going on, at least. First and foremost, his marriage is in immediate, deep trouble. Second, he has recently had an episode of what looks like anxiety mixed with depression. Third, he has long-term issues, amounting to a kind of personality disorder. Each of these has different treatment implications.

Let's say that the anxiety-depression problem has temporarily at least, gone into remission. Given the confident way he strode out of the hospital, and his behavior in general after his "breakthrough" session with Doctor Ruth, I think that's a fair assumption. If it hadn't, and that was at this point, his only problem, his therapist might refer him for meds of some kind - which wouldn't help particularly with the blood phobia itself, but might help him better sleep and eat, and generally be more functional. That, combined with some kind of short-term talking therapy, probably of the cognitive re-structuring variety, (helping him to reframe his thinking in more realistic and less catastrophic ways) would probably be where most therapists would go, at least initially, until the greater scope of his problems became clearer.

The longer-term personality issues are far more difficult to treat, and I think that there would be less agreement about how to go about treating him. First of all, there is the "differential diagnosis" issue. Is he really on the autistic spectrum? at the better functioning end, as in Asperger's? If you thought that, the treatment implications are different, it seems to me. I don't happen to think that, despite the many people who passionately believe that he is. I just think he has developed long-term, deeply rooted character traits to protect himself, and they are now so much a part of him that he would think of them as just the way he is, rather than experiencing these traits as symptoms of anxiety or depression, as in insomnia, loss of appetite, diminished libido, etc.

So those traits, that are dysfunctional and cause him real pain, are very difficult to treat. Some would argue for long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy -- basically talking, with a focus on identifying defense mechanisms, how they play out in his life, how family of origin issues influence him in his life today, and so on. Others, and I think I would be in this camp, would argue that one could also do cognitive-behavioral work on these personality issues (and I will spare you the reasons why I think that).

To me, however, the real place to start would be couples counseling. His issues, where he really is dysfunctional, are in relationships. Working out, in real time, what is going on with him when he interacts with Louisa, is likely to both help his issues AND his marriage -- the burdens and breakdowns of which are the precipitating issues in his recent "breakdown." And, since neither he nor Louisa apparently have the slightest idea how to communicate with each other, they do need a lot of coaching. So that is where I would recommend starting.

I must say that I got so that I hated doing couples counseling. That is because by the time I saw most couples, they were so angry and bitter and determined to blame the other person for the major share of marital dysfunction, that sessions were often quite unpleasant, and even made things worse. Also, I have to say, I wasn't very good at it, and that is always off-putting! But Martin and Louisa are not at that point; they actually want their marriage to work, rather than the useless exercise of assigning blame and punishing the other. So they are good candidates for this kind of work.


But I doubt that BP will go that way. In fact, I am a little concerned that, given the way they should him "resolving' in E8, that they won't go in that direction at all.

I should say also that couples therapy is a starting point. Often, one or both of the individuals in couples therapy will identify issues that they want to work on in more depth, and start their own individual treatment. Possibly (and optimally) that would happen with Martin, at least. But that works better, imo, if the partner is on board and supportive, and even occasionally engaged as a "collateral" part of treatment. So it still seems to me that the place to start is shoring up the foundations of their marriage, which at this point are a little shaky.

Throw rotten tomatoes or eggs at me if you must, but I hated the first wedding dress and updo. Made L look too much like a Barbie doll IMHO.

I liked the second dress better and it is amazing with all of the delicate lace on the arms that that damned tattoo didn't show through, especially in the close up scene with her left side (sorry, I just really despise tattoos on women, especially when they are on arms or hands).

I guess I prefer more of a 30's era romantic style...and the dress for the second wedding seems to fit better with the overall look of the sets, the village and the characters though set in modern times (today).