{"id":12767,"date":"2015-12-09T13:01:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T18:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12767"},"modified":"2015-12-09T13:17:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T18:17:19","slug":"dvd-doc-martin-season-7-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=12767","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Doc Martin – Season 7 (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\"DocMartin_S7\"<\/a>Film<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: n\/a<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Acorn Media<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a01 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 December 8, 2015<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Comedy \/ TV \/ Britcom<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0Dr. Martin and Louisa Ellingham try couples counseling to mend their marriage amid the usual medical emergencies and daft blunders.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 (none)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

From a North American stance, it is unusual for a series to motor on, especially as seasons produced every few years in response to a loyal fan base rather than a pre-ordained plan, and a show where pretty much everyone who\u2019s been associated with the production returns to do their humble part, creating another chapter in the life of a central character whose growth comes in odd spurts \u2013 sometimes resetting things right back to zero.<\/p>\n

Season 7<\/strong> of ITV\u2019s ever-popular Doc Martin <\/strong>proves a relationship reset won\u2019t bugger up the character arc of British TV\u2019s most socially challenged physician, largely because enough care went into each of the episodes to form a cohesive and logical flow. The secondary characters may not get the lengthy one-episode moments of prior seasons<\/a>, but they remain true to their original designs, and the writers have made sure the good doctor has interactions with all of the core characters.<\/p>\n

Picking up where Season 6<\/a><\/strong> left off, Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) awaits the return of wife Louisa (Caroline Catz) and their toddler James from a vacation in Spain, while the entire town knows his marriage is on the rocks. While a brilliant surgeon, Doc Martin is the same tosser that flew into town in 2004: the local teenage girls still laugh and cackle whenever their paths cross, and even Louisa semi-humorously admits that upon their first meeting, she never figured he\u2019d last a few hours before he\u2019d flee back to London.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s aunt Ruth (the marvelous Eileen Atkins) suggests he address his imperfect social skills with Dr. Timoney (In the Flesh<\/strong>\u2019s Emily Bevan), preferably with Louisa by his side, and their couple counseling becomes the season\u2019s main thread as the pair try to repair broken connections and attempt an emotional reunion.<\/p>\n

The peaks and valleys that follow are often affected by the show\u2019s main conceit: that Doc Martin is always on call; and destined to treat new and old characters that appear within the first minutes of every episode. Even when he\u2019s billeted himself in town to give Louisa time and space to rethink their commitment, he ends up saving the life of his next-door neighbour, a new arts teacher whose own divorce has funneled bitterness into some bizarre class projects, and a case of serious tone deafness to her daughter\u2019s sub-Jack Benny fiddle playing.<\/p>\n

Bert Large (Ian McNeice) moves from restauranteur to bootlegger, while son Al (Joe Absolom) struggles to keep his new B&B business afloat after the first clients are prone to experience poorly execulted culinary and leisure activities. P.C. Joe Penhale (John Marquez) must choose between an out-of-town promotion versus staying in Portwenn, where a new love named Janice (Robyn Addison) also resides.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a new radio host, the return of arrogant snot Peter Cronk, and Louisa\u2019s former flame Danny \u00a0(Tristan Sturrock), and a finale that has the good doctor put in danger by a couple whose epic marriage is threatened by a terminal diagnosis. Mrs. Tishell\u2019s husband Clive also returns for a second go at their marriage, and the white dog Martin loathes is never far off in tormenting the good doctor.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one major issue with Season 7<\/strong>, it\u2019s the convenience with which Doc Martin is perpetually running back & forth between Louisa, the surgery, and patients and soon-to-be patients, but this strict format\u2019s been in play since the first season<\/a> and is only obvious when one attempts a steady binge-watch. The encounters are too neat, but their formulaic design is augured by razor sharp dialogue and amusing characters (although the return of Danny feels very<\/em> contrived, given he disappears from the narrative after a vocal attempt to convince Louisa that her future still belongs with him). A guest starring role for Sigourney Weaver is amusing but also feels contrived, as though the show-runners were fulfilling a request for the series\u2019 American distributor to ensure it and the episodes\u2019 shorter running times of roughly 45 mins. keep American viewers content.<\/p>\n

Clunes owns Martin Ellingham lock, stock, and barrel, and he\u2019s sublimely comfortable revisiting the role with Martin\u2019s unique physical behaviour \u2013 jaunting through streets and marching with precision \/ social awkwardness \u2013 and sharp, improper barbs; in this season alone, one could enjoy a drinking game based on the amount of \u2018Shut Ups\u2019 uttered every 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

The final episode is a bit silly, but it works within the show\u2019s genial reality in which violence is often the result of earnest desperation that doesn\u2019t necessarily mandate a cold arrest and fast lock-up; forgiveness is very much on the writers\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n

Doc Martin and Louisa have their needed rapprochement (as do several other characters), satisfying fans who want the closest to a happy ending, while easily leaving the door open for another season.<\/p>\n

Season 7<\/strong> is just as handsomely produced as the rest, with a high level of tight dialogue and direction, and splendid footage of the town and countryside \u2013 some conveyed with aerial cinematography that\u2019s a new visual element to the show. Colin Towns\u2019 main themes arte back with slight variation, and it\u2019s worth noting how the series has continued to blossom in other countries as variants and direct remakes, including Austria (Der Bergdoktor<\/strong>), the Czech Republic (Doktor Martin<\/strong>), France (Doc Martin<\/strong>), Germany (Doktor Martin<\/strong>), Greece (Kliniki Periptosi<\/strong>), Holland (Doktoer Tinus<\/strong>), and Spain (Doctor Mateo<\/strong>)!<\/p>\n

Although released exclusively on DVD in the U.K. in spite of later series broadcast in HD, Acorn Media\u2019s release of Season 7<\/strong> marks the show\u2019s first Blu-ray release, which may pave the way for proper HD editions should it perform well in North America.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> —Album Review<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a>\u00a0— Composer Interview<\/a>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From a North American stance, it is unusual for a series to motor on, especially as seasons produced every few years in response to a loyal fan base rather than a pre-ordained plan, and a show where pretty much everyone who\u2019s been associated with the production returns to do their humble part…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[55,2520,2521],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3jV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12767"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12787,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12767\/revisions\/12787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}