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WWell, what in the culture is going on here? Of all the things I would have thought the US would be interested in to the point of doing a sequel, Doc Martin wouldn’t be one of them. And here we are: The creation of Dominic Minghella, which stars Martin Clunes as a crotchety GP in the fictional Cornish village of Portwenn, which ran 10 times on ITV between 2004 and 2022, has been adapted for a new market and renamed Best Medicine because it never worked as a pun on Dr Marten. Like 99% of puns, really, but maybe that’s a discussion for another time.
Clunes is now Josh Charles. The man’s name is Dr Martin Best instead of Ellingham, otherwise the new name wouldn’t work, and he went to Harvard Medical School instead of Imperial College London. But he’s still calm – according to the tea clinic drama, which means he doesn’t reach the usual level of angry people. And he is still a neurosurgeon who developed a fear of blood, he had to stop surgery and instead decided to destroy his behavior without a bed for good people. Port Wenn, now two words and in Maine, where he spent summers as a child.
His love interest remains the local school teacher Louisa (Abigail Spencer), but this is complicated by the fact that he has just canceled his marriage to the local sheriff, Mark Mylow (Josh Segarra), after realizing, perhaps, that he can, and should, succeed. Louisa has lived in New York, but knows that small town life suits her. I wonder if he can also help open Dr Best’s eyes to his charms?
Many of the other versions – more than it sounds like to call them characters – are there, too, they give knowledge, charm and lines in the same way. Father and son handyman duo Bert (John DiMaggio) and Al Large (Carter Shimp) have, respectively, health problems for a good doctor to investigate and an unrequited love for Best’s internet host, Elaine (Cree). Sally Tishall has become Mark’s mother, Sally Mylow (Clea Lewis, steals all his scenes), there is a dog that forces him to adopt Best, Aunt Sarah (Annie Potts) instead of Aunt Joan (who fishes instead of farms) and the spread of medical secrets that will not interfere with any medical events.
The new team has added a gay couple, Greg (Stephen Spinella) and George (Jason Veasey), who run a bar and restaurant that creates the background of many urban events that unite the community, and Best’s childhood bully who has grown up to become a common bully. I wonder if old scores will be settled?
Charles is great as a professional doctor with a heart of gold. It’s not his usual hit – the smooth setting is what he’s known for, thanks to his long run as Alicia’s real-life fan that is The Good Wife, although anyone who’s seen Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt knows he can make it funny, too – and you have to be generous enough not to be surprised if the part isn’t well-made. But Best Medicine encourages generosity. This has been done with interest in the media, without doing anything that is needed, for nothing (gynocomastia due to continuous use of estrogen cream, slowly known glaucoma), little problems or pieces (supper cooked beans.
Best Medicine is softer than Doc Martin. The best, for example, are given credit for expressing their frustration that the original was allowed to stand, and there is more hugging and learning than any Briton would allow. But it does exactly what it sets out to do – comfort viewers with a celebration of small movements, secret goodies hidden behind the most stupid men and the promise that nothing in the next 42 minutes including commercials will disappoint us. It’s a great piece of junk and we really need it.
