{"id":604,"date":"2010-02-08T00:06:39","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T04:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/?p=604"},"modified":"2010-02-08T00:06:39","modified_gmt":"2010-02-08T04:06:39","slug":"paging-doctor-grumpy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=604","title":{"rendered":"Paging Doctor Grumpy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"If

If anyone lacks a medical emergency, get out of my surgery!<\/p><\/div>\n

The home video release pattern of British shows in Canada and the U.S. \u00a0is an odd one when it concerns Doc Martin<\/strong>, arguably ITV\u2019s most successful comedy series in recent years.<\/p>\n

In Canada, the Image DVD set of Season 1 debuted around the same time the show started airing on Vision TV (roughly during the summer of 2007), and then came a long, LONG wait for Season 2 to arrive on DVD (like, two years), whereas in the fall of 2007 one could purchase both seasons in Britain.<\/p>\n

That big gap may be attributed to Image testing the waters and gauging North American audience interest in the series, as well as stations like Vision airing of Season 2 on TV (since it\u2019s only fair that a broadcaster has some window of exclusivity before everyone can buy the DVD and watch it at home without any bleepin\u2019 commercials).<\/p>\n

But added into the mix is a change in North American home video distributors for Seasons 2 and 3, which certainly isn\u2019t the case in Britain where Momentum Pictures handles the entire series run.<\/p>\n

Acorn Media snapped up the season rights in Region 1 land, but they were smarter than Image by playing catch-up and releasing Season 3 in February. To get that far may have cost the label more for the home video rights, which perhaps explains why Acorn\u2019s Doc Martin<\/strong> sets are more expensive than the U.K. Region 2 releases, but Acorn was wise to include the Christmas special that preceded Season 3 in their Season 2 set \u2013 something not done in England.<\/p>\n

This probably sounds like retentive release minutia mush, but it\u2019s significant for viewers who demand some regular release pattern so the wait isn\u2019t so grueling. Take Martin Clunes\u2019 other series, William & Mary<\/strong>, which is available as a boxed set with all 3 seasons in the U.K., but thus far Image has only released Seasons 1 and 2 in a single set way back in 2007, leaving Region 1 viewers hanging, since there\u2019s been no word on when the final season will appear over here.<\/p>\n

(Actually, I know how it ends, because I bought the British box during the fall of 2008, and will feature reviews in about a month.)<\/p>\n

Clunes shot William & Mary<\/strong> in between the Doc Martin<\/strong> seasons, and it\u2019s a typical example of how the lower episode runs of British series makes it possible for actors to do other things before production for the next season starts up again.\u00a0That limited tally mostly guarantees a series has no filler episodes, \u00a0and character arcs can be plotted with greater care.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Seasons 1 and 2 of Doc Martin<\/strong> are perfect. Utterly, utterly perfect in scope, stories, characters, and Clunes\u2019 brilliant creation of a grumpy but brilliant doctor having to deal with folks he finds thoroughly dim.<\/p>\n

Season 3 has some fumbling, and that might be due to the unusually long wait between seasons in Britain that perhaps affected the writers\u2019 focus. Season 1 debuted in 2004, Season 2 in 2005, and then came a wait that was hastily filled with a feature-length Christmas special in 2006 (Doc Martin: On the Edge), after which Season 3 debuted in 2007, and Season 4 followed in 2009. There are some other flaws within Season 3 that are addressed in the review, as well as the finale that was just so bloody cruel to fans.<\/p>\n

In any event, I\u2019ve uploaded reviews of Seasons One<\/a>, Two<\/a> (plus the Christmas Special), and Three<\/a>, and I\u2019ll have Season 4 up when it\u2019s released March 1st in Britain. Tied to Season 4 will also be reviews of a pair of documentary shows hosted by Clunes, Martin Clunes: A man and His Dogs<\/strong> (2008), and Martin Clunes: Islands of Britain<\/strong> (2009).<\/p>\n

Those curious about the character\u2019s lineage can also read prior reviews of the film Saving Grace<\/a><\/strong> (2000) where Doc Martin first appeared, as well as the two spinoff TV movies, Doc Martin<\/a><\/strong>, and Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie<\/a><\/strong> (both from 2003).<\/p>\n

Lastly, if you\u2019re curious about the show\u2019s music, there\u2019s also a prior interview with series composer Colin Towns<\/a>, and a review of the soundtrack album<\/a> which is worth snapping up.<\/p>\n

And when enough time has passed since I last saw Clunes\u2019 version of the good doctor, I\u2019ll take a poke at Doktor Martin<\/strong>, the German version of the series (!) which replicates the stories of the first two seasons with an all-German cast, and a northern German location.<\/p>\n

(If you\u2019re curious about how Doc Martin plays in Deutsch, the trailers for the DVD releases of Staffel Einz<\/a> und Zwei<\/a> are up on YouTube. For Clunes fans, it\u2019s all so bloody surreal.)<\/p>\n

Coming next: \u00a0Panic in Year Zero<\/strong> (1962) \u2013 the film, as well as the new soundtrack album released by La-La Land Records.<\/p>\n

– MRH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Complete reviews of Doc Martin, Seasons 1 thru 3…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-9K","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604"}],"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=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}