'Doc Martin' TV series offers comedy and drama

PORTWENN, Cornwall, England - The television series, Doc Martin, took place in this village (really Port Isaac) and after watching four seasons worth of it, I think I am ready to move there.

Move again? Madre mia!

Doc Martin

The village reminds me faintly of our place in Arroyo Seco, Jalisco, Mexico, except it's populated by, obviously, English-speaking people. The people in both places are both kind and occasionally not-so-kind in their interactions with everyone. But always interesting to watch.

Always.

And in the middle of all of it is Doc Martin, actually Dr. Martin Effingham, actually actor Martin Clunes who gives a tour-de-force performance as a former big-time surgeon, reduced to being a small town general practitioner when he suddenly couldn't stand the sight of blood.

Carolyn Catz

The people of the town like the Doc, who is about the rudest person - but still charming - I have seen as a major chararacter in a teleplay. Still, he is a great doctor, manages to fall in love, and is heading toward an escape from the small town toward the end of the series.

Doc Martin has a, well, interesting past that is revealed over the episodes. He proves to be a much more complex character that what you see in first few shows.

He even ends up with a girlfriend, sort of (actress Carolyn Catz). But you need to see those episodes to understand and what that situation evolve.

Doc Martin is highly recommended - but watch it from the very first episode.

Doc Martin on the scene of an emergency