Product Details

• Actors: Martin Clunes
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: ACORN MEDIA
• DVD Release Date: July 28, 2009
• Run Time: 373 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001V7YZHA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,885 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Doc Martin: Series 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Throughout the eight episodes comprising the second series of Doc Martin, the cold, severe Doctor Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) may not get too much friendlier but he does reveal, in the oddest ways, his affinities for people he truly cares about. As a man who, in the first series, was kicked out of London back to his hometown, Portwenn, a remote Cornish fishing village, Doc Martin is set-up as a bitter medicine man who cures with his brain instead of his heart. In the first episode, "Old Dogs," Martin's confidence is undermined by two cases he solves incorrectly. First, his mother's friend, Mrs. Steel (Margaret Tyzack), grows senile while Martin believes she is fine with tragic results. Weirder is the tale of fisherman Eddie, who continually comes to Martin's office with cuts, bruises, and worse. While Martin searches for clues in this episode as well as in the subsequent few, the gripping medical mysteries are leavened by humor introduced through petty town gossip. Whether in line at the grocery, or walking to work, Martin is accosted by curious townsfolk who probe him and seek his advice, to his chagrin. The show illustrates small-town life, in the tradition of American classics Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks, and in fact shares some of its more bizarre plots with Lynch's.

In this second series, other characters become central to the community's movement, and the quiet, friendly demeanors of others offset Martin's gruffness. "In Loco" focuses on the local primary school, where Martin's crush, the beautiful brunette, Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz), prepares to interview for a headmaster position while an outbreak of an infectious disease spreads like wildfire through the student population. Teenager Peter (Curtis O'Brien), whose mother burns herself frying fish in the fish 'n' chips shop, attaches himself to Martin as a stand-in father figure. More, the grungy dog pawing his way into Martin's house is the carrier of this dread illness. Throughout the series, one sees Martin attempting to connect to women, children, and animals, with minimal success, minus a few miracles. His jovial receptionist, Pauline Lamb (Katherine Parkinson), shakes her head and occasionally cracks a joke at his attempts. In "Erotomania," Martin even tries to bond with Police Constable Mark Mylow (Stewart Wright), who suffers when he discovers that his fiancé, Julie Mitchell (Angeline Ball), is not who she claims to be. Ultimately, Doc Martin is about the dramas of small-town health, the ways people connect, but more interestingly, the ways people isolate to maintain semblances of privacy in places where there is little. --Trinie Dalton

Product Description

He’s surly, tactless, self-centered, and uptight--but he’s the only doctor in town.

As a hard-charging London surgeon, Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes, Men Behaving Badly) didn’t need a bedside manner. His patients were unconscious, so he could be as rude and arrogant as he pleased. All that changes when he develops a crippling fear of blood and is forced to give up surgery. Now a GP in a sleepy, picturesque Cornish fishing village, Doc Martin offends everyone in town, including the one person he wants to impress, beautiful teacher Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz, Murder in Suburbia). Getting her attention proves even more difficult when Louisa’s old flame returns to the village and becomes his new rival.

Martin Clunes shines in this award-winning comic drama set amid eccentric townsfolk and spectacular scenery. As the doctor says, "It’s good to be loathsome."

DVD FEATURES INCLUDE photo gallery and cast filmographies.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FUNNY BRITISH TV SERIES FROM 2005-06, June 21, 2009

By 

Harold Wolf "Doc" (Wells, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Doc Martin: Series 2 (DVD)

What makes this British Drama TV series so funny? What's so funny about a surgeon who is mentally and physically indisposed at the sight of blood? Why do you find yourself laughing at the sight of the townsfolk in this serene, beautiful little seaside Cornwall town of Portwenn? It is what happened with most scenes, in all 9 episodes of this 3 DVD series. In almost every scene, I'd lift my eyebrows to the Mrs (we watched together), she'd pick up a corner of her mouth, and we'd both begin laughing.

We thoroughly enjoyed the stories and the quirky British people of this small town. Doc Martin (Martin Clunes) and his stern, grumpy, all-business, rude, and seeming heartless bedside manner, just adds to the hilarity--as he fails to see any of the joy in the village. The medical conditions he is faced to address are often as hilarious as the character that complains of the symptoms. Mix with that a love triangle the Doc in involved in, but fails to acknowledge, and you have a season of some of the best British Comedy/Drama ever produced.

This second season (Doc Martin: Series 2) is even better than the previously released first season.
___For starters, it's 50% longer, 9 50-minute episodes rather than just the 6 in Series One.
___The episodes seem to have several plots woven together, much more complex stories, than in the original set. The action moves quickly and keeps you spellbound every minute. You'll be so happy, that by owning the DVD, you don't have to wait a week for the next episode. Episodes do tend to have a carry-over link.
___And this series, unlike the original set, has SDH subtitles, something we found to be helpful with some of the dialect as well as British terms. Their biscuit is our cookie, tea is a meal, etc.
___Extras include some star cast filmographies.
___I still recommend you watch Series One as well, but it's not completely necessary. But after watching series 2 you will want the earlier set.

After seeing the zany activity in Doc Martin's surgery (GP office), I decided if American doctors had patients as quirky and strangely symptomatic, all of them would give up and turn to plumbing or painting.
This comedy series about a doctor's practice, reminded me of the hugely funny comedy "Pie In The Sky", a British comedy/drama about a detective who really wanted to be a cook. I've reviewed both and recommend both.

Just a few Details:
Episode 1__Doc Martin gets a new receptionist (Katherine Parkinson as Pauline) only better in some ways. He gets in hot water with Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole), because of her friend Muriel, who's son Danny, reunites with teacher, Louisa (Caroline Catz), whom Doc just recently kissed, a carry-over from Series One. I told you this had some woven plots.
2__Doc gets stuck with childcare for Peter while his mother gets stuck in the hospital. Bert Large (Ian McNeice), handyman, fries fish.
3__Doc has to compete with a herbal/nature remedy seller who is the sis to Mark (town cop) plus help the odd family with multiple problems who strongly object to house calls. Romantic question: Is Bert the REAL father of Al Large, now falling romantically for the new receptionist after being jilted by her sister?
4__Local radio host drinks and Mr. Cooke stinks--really, really stinks. And what's the new town's female bombshell doing with the local cop?
5__Mr. Pratt blames Doc for his wife's death but takes revenge by using pesticides that threaten Aunt Joan's organic farm license. Romance is muddled between cop/bombshell, Al/receptionist, and Doc/Louisa while another local teacher battles obsessive-compulsive disorder.
6___Doc's parents arrive in town to vex Aunt Joan. Doc forgets his manners while dealing with rapid weight gains of a local 50-year-old lady. Doc has to help his rival in the romantic triangle with Louisa. Doc, finally get's his own often used phrase, "Shut Up", told to him.
7__Mark (cop) and Al (his best-man after Doc rudely said "NO") get lost in the woods, Marks get's a snake bite, they get lost, the crazy forester who lived with a giant squirrel (season one) leads Doc toward them, and of course they both get lost too. Just another day of laughs in the forest.
8__Mark has an anatomy problem, his fiancee has her own problem, Doc is involved & making more problems, Danny and Louisa have a problem, the pharmacy neck brace lady has a problem, and Doc muddies the lives of all.
9__Birdwatchers, lunatics, explosives, guns, knives, romance and tourism all tickle the funny bone to an explosive degree.

Some touching moments, but mostly just beautiful scenery and hilarious activity in the life of a doctor in a small town. You will want more. But you'll have to wait for Series 3. That's the only negative I can state for this DVD set. "I want more."

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great British series, June 28, 2009

By 

Katherine (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doc Martin: Series 2 (DVD)

I have this entire series and can strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys and admires the quirky, subtle humor of our British cousins. Very much in the style of "Hamish Macbeth", another stellar series, "Doc Martin" takes place in picturesque Cornwall and while the scenery is a star in it's own right, the acting is just as brilliant and understated. Martin Clunes, especially, plays the brilliant fish-out-of-water surgeon to perfection. Other standouts are Stewart Wright as the charmingly sincere and clueless town Constable and Caroline Catz as the schoolteacher who loves Martin but is constantly frustrated by his rude and difficult demeanor. The town of Portwenn is populated by an odd, neckbrace-wearing pharmacist, a father and son handyman team (much like Lachie and Lachie Jr. of "Hamish Macbeth", and a receptionist that defies description. If you think Will Ferrell movies are funny, you're probably not going to like or appreciate "Doc Martin", but if you enjoy subtle, quirky, oddball humor that punches you in the gut one moment and makes you laugh out loud the next, you'll love it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mystery lover, October 2, 2009

By 

Jacquelyn Carter "Mystery Lover" (So.Ca. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Doc Martin: Series 2 (DVD)

I am a great fan of British TV and this series..1 and 2 is one of the best I've ever seen. It is quirky, different, the Cornish scenery is wonderful and even the sound track is loud and clear. A delightful surprise and I highly recommend the series. Can't wait for #3 to be released.