New Season 8 premieres Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV!
Martin Clunes ("Men Behaving Badly") returns for Season 5 of DOC MARTIN as the brash doctor Martin Ellingham, whose blunt opinions and tactless manner cause mayhem in a small Cornish community.
Ellingham – once a celebrated London surgeon – flees from his position after developing a phobia to blood.
After retraining as a general practitioner, Ellingham gets a job in the beautiful but sleepy village of Portwenn replacing their deceased local doctor.
But his abrasive personality doesn’t exactly mesh with the pace of life in Cornwall.
This season, Doc Martin continues to deal with the strange cases and stranger personalities of Portwenn.
He deals with the mysterious illnesses and odd events that plague the town, including a hub-cap stealing intruder on a local farm, a culinary showdown during the town's "Fun Day" and a resident who may be being slowly poisoned by her son.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: "Preserve the Romance" repeats Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 at 9 p.m. - Dr. Ellingham is struggling to come to terms with fatherhood. The baby boy born to him and his estranged partner, Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz), is about to change their lives dramatically.
Doc Martin had planned to resume his high-flying career as a consultant in London. He had packed his bags and moved out of the surgery to make way for the new GP, Dr. Di Dibbs (Joanna Scanlan).
However Dr. Ellingham begins to have serious doubts about the competency of the new GP after she misdiagnoses a patient, and dishes out prescriptions for totally inappropriate drugs.
Dr. Dibbs realizes she has to go, and Dr. Ellingham agrees to resume duties at the surgery until a replacement GP can be found.
With all the upheaval the doc is unprepared for a devastating personal blow with the death of Aunt Joan.
Episode 2: "Dry Your Tears" repeats Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 at 9 p.m. - With the departure of Dr. Dibbs, Dr. Ellingham moves back into his old surgery, agreeing to stay for a couple of months until a replacement can be appointed.
Determined to get to grips with fatherhood, he asks Louisa to move into his house so he can help to raise their child. He even suggests that Louisa and still unnamed "baby" could move to London with him.
Aunt Joan's sister Ruth Ellingham (Dame Eileen Atkins) attends the funeral and demonstrates the same cantankerous character as her nephew.
She has no more intention of staying in Portwenn than Martin does, but Joan has left her the house and farm.
Episode 3: "Born With a Shotgun" repeats Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 at 9 p.m. - Sleepless nights are taking their toll on Martin and Louisa. Tempers are frayed as they try to find ways to comfort their constantly wailing baby.
Aunt Ruth has problems of her own: She is dealing with an intruder on the farm who has stolen the hub caps from her car. The thief is identified as Michael Dunwich (Andrew Lee Potts), who lives with his mother Shirley (Miriam Margolyes) on a neighboring farm.
Shirley makes an appointment with Martin to discuss the crippling stomach pains she has been suffering. When her son is out of the room, Shirley tells the doc she thinks her son is trying to poison her.
The results of the tests on Shirley Dunwich show a heavy concentration of arsenic in her system.
The doc immediately calls P.C. Penhale (John Marquez) suspecting that Shirley is actually being poisoned by her son!
Episode 4: "Mother Knows Best" repeats Friday, Dec. 14, 2018 at 9 p.m. - It's Portwenn Fun Day and the village is buzzing with excitement about this major fund raising event. P.C. Penhale is in his element rallying the runners and whipping up support.
The event sparks culinary rivalry between Bert Large (Ian McNeice) who runs Large's restaurant with son Al (Joe Absolom) and Mark (Tim Goodman Hill), the landlord of the Crab and Lobster pub.
Louisa's mum Eleanor (Louise Jameson) arrives in Portwenn unexpectedly and Louisa is far from happy about her arrival. She hasn’t seen her mother for years, so why the sudden interest?
Episode 5: "Remember Me" repeats Friday, Dec. 21, 2018 at 9 p.m. - P.C. Joe Penhale has an unexpected visitor — his ex-wife Maggie (Julie Graham).
She appears to have completely forgotten that they split up a couple of years ago. When he tries to tell her they are no longer married she accuses him of over-reacting, and wants to know why he packed his bags and left her.
Joe struggles with a mixture of distress and elation at seeing Maggie again. He has thought about her every day since they parted.
He realizes she is clearly not well, and tries discreetly to ask Dr. Ellingham about her symptoms without telling him that he is talking about his ex-wife.
Meanwhile, Martin and Louisa's baby still doesn’t have a name, and P.C. Penhale warns them that time is running out. If they don’t register a name for the baby soon the State will step in and name the baby. After protracted discussions the couple finally reaches an agreement.
Episode 6: "Don't Let Go" repeats Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 at 9 p.m. - P.C. Joe Penhale is desperate to keep Maggie and show her he's changed; that he's the macho husband she wants.
But Maggie plans to return to Bude. Penhale resorts to desperate measures to convince her to stay, including surreptitiously paying people to be nasty to her so he can step in and assert his authority, and show her he can be tough.
Aunt Ruth uncovers a chest of family heirlooms when she clears out a barn at the farm, including photos as Martin as a six-year-old schoolboy.
The photos bring back poignant memories of an unhappy childhood for Martin and it prompts him to think of registering their son for boarding school.
But Louisa is horrified at the thought of sending him miles away to school. Tension is mounting between Louisa and Martin. They can’t seem to agree on anything.
The final straw for Louisa comes when she discovers Martin has set a date for their baby’s christening without even consulting her. Louisa decides she has had enough. She packs a bag, and takes the baby back home to her mum.
Episode 7: "Cats and Sharks" repeats Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at 9 p.m. - Bert Large's restaurant business is in financial trouble. He can’t even afford the food and drink for a charity event to raise money for Florence Dingle’s (Anne Reid) cat sanctuary.
Mrs. Dingle is distraught. She desperately needs the money to continue to look after the cats and kittens in her care.
Eleanor comes to Bert's rescue with a plan to boost business at the restaurant, suggesting they have a Spanish theme night to attract customers. She rolls up her sleeves and begins preparing for the Spanish feast.
But she begins to feel very ill and Louisa insists she must see the doc. Morwenna calls an ambulance, but the Doc decides there is no alternative: he must operate now on Eleanor in his surgery or she could die.
Dr. Martin Ellingham is planning to leave Portwenn in a week's time to resume his career as a surgeon, leaving Louisa and the baby in the village. They have the christening to organize before he leaves.
But as usual the doc shows little interest in the event, leaving it all to Louisa.
Episode 8: "Ever After" NOT SCHEDULED TO BROADCAST - Mrs. Tishell's (Selina Cadell) long-standing crush on Dr. Martin Ellingham takes a dramatic turn in this final episode in the series.
Fuelled by a cocktail of drugs Mrs. Tishell can no longer hide her unrequited love for the doc, and decides she must take drastic action.
Her husband Clive (Malcolm Storry) arrives back unexpectedly from his work on the oil rigs announcing his intention to retire so they can spend more time together.
It’s now or never for Mrs. Tishell to make her romantic notions of a relationship with the doc come true. With Doc and Louisa's baby in her care, she boards a bus out of the village leaving an enigmatic message for Dr. Ellingham to meet them at the castle.
