Despite the fact that Dr. Lawrence Barnes is not afraid of blood, he doesn’t kick stray dogs and is not even close to being as curmudgeonly as Dr. Martin Ellingham, a.k.a. Doc Martin, “Doc Barnes” is leading a seemingly familiar mid-20th century doctor’s life to his fictional counterpart.

Working surgeries between the two fishing villages of Cawsand/Kingsand and Torpoint,  Barnes still makes house calls, much like Portwenn’s Dr. Ellingham, he can be seen daily walking from appointment to appointment, doctor’s bag in hand, because the streets are too narrow for a motorcar.

Dr Barnes says that as he passes people on the street, they’re likely to nod and say, “Hello, Doc”, adding, “That’s when you feel like you’re stepping back in time.” Let’s hope he has better luck with assistants. What has he had now, four in four seasons? And, let’s hope the culinary choices exceed Portwenn’s finest, owned by Bert Large (Ian McNeice), the county’s finest plumber.

Needing a Doc Martin fix?

A reminder to Doc Martin fans, the series, starring Martin Clunes and Caroline Catz, will return for a fifth series this Fall on ITV in the UK and, most likely, Spring 2012 in the United States on public television stations.

In: Drama,Odds & Sods