Another biggish guest star arrives: Julie Graham memorably spent three years as Martin Clunes’s screen wife in William and Mary, and here they are again, reunited. Except they’re not quite, because in Doc Martin, Graham plays the wife of PC Penhale (John Marquez). That’s odd, considering we didn’t know he was married. It’s even odder that his wife thinks he’s only just arrived in Portwenn.Meanwhile, Cornwall’s worst restaurateur Bert Large (Ian McNeice) is deeper in debt than ever, a fisherman keeps fainting, Eileen Atkins desperately deserves more screen time as Aunt Ruth, and Louisa’s mother is still causing trouble, above and beyond her annoyingly nomadic accent.
As for the Doc himself, an episode full of the customary, satisfying sight of him being rude to people who fully deserve it has a glimpse of warmth at the end. That it’s hard-won makes it all the more affecting — Clunes is brilliant at letting those little flickers shine through.
About this programme
PC Penhale is shocked by the unexpected arrival of his ex-wife Maggie (Julie Graham), who appears to have forgotten that they separated years ago and wants to know why he left her. Eleanor goes on a date with local fisherman Paul Hale, an old friend she has not seen since school, while Martin and Louisa finally agree on a name for their baby - James Henry. With Martin Clunes, John Marquez and Caroline Catz.
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