MovieChat Forums > Doc Martin (2004) Discussion > Who is the worst local character?

Who is the worst local character?


3rd worst: the large plumber
2nd worst: Elaine
Worst of all: the park ranger

Where's your crew?
On the 3rd planet.
There IS no 3rd planet!
Don't you think I know that?

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Worst: Elaine, by FAR!!!!
2nd Worst: Bert Large (such a loser)
3rd Worst: Mark Mylow (ditto)

I think I'll have a large order of prognosis negative.

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Mrs.Cronk really annoys me.

Are you my Mummy?

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I can't stand Mrs. Cronk either. She is clearly an unfit mother. Lying there on the floor in a fake fit when Peter had the playground accident and was very ill upstairs. He could have died because of her so-called panic attacks.

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Elaine was so beautiful...so beautiful...so...beautiful.

Robert Johnson The Deadly Years

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That silly pack of judgmental girls who are always walking around and tittering.

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Elaine. No one else is even in the running.

But the absolute worst character is not a local. Martin's mother is arguably the worst person on tv. The father is horrible too.

I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

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That woman was the most chilling example of an ice-b*tch I've ever seen. Poor Martin.

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I love this show despite the several very poor recurring characters.


Here is my list of who's bad and why, and who should get more airtime.

Worst Character: PC Penhale. Stupid. Shallow. Irrational. If this character did not exist, the show would be better. (I did like the original cop, PC Mylow character).
2nd worst: Large Bert. Who would put up with a guy like this and not give him a very very wide berth after the first half-dozen awful things he has done? No redeeming characteristics.
3rd worst: Auntie Joan. Quite shallowly written for such an important character who had a lot of scenes focused on her. Oh well, I guess we can't change much of that now, right?


Who they should focus on more:

-- Caroline, the local radio interview lady. Her acidic interchanges with Martin, often on-air, were always sparkling. Re-introduce her! Have her run for mayor or something.
-- Auntie Ruth. Good actor. Now give her more issues and worries.
-- the priest. Crotchety old so and so, if I remember right. (Not the drunken priest). All sorts of issues need to be shared between a small town's priest and a small town's doctor. The emergencies need not ALL be at the schoolhouse.
-- the Greek Chorus of young girls. Morwenna graduated from that group into Doc's office. One of them had a weird mole once. In any case, they could all get better developed characters, why not, coming by to visit Morwenna and putting up with a variety of exotic STDs.

I have had no problem at all with any of the surgery's office assistants; thought they were all great.



WARNING!
Objects under T-shirt are larger than they appear!

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I dunno,I laughed my head off when Penhale shot himself in the foot with an airgun;-) It was a Webley OMEGA air rifle(just to show I know something.)

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I agree with you. At first I found him grating but now he, or the writing for him, seems to be getting better. I think he had tough shoes to fill with Stewart Wright as PC Mylow. Wright was perfect for the role as he was in Wild West (Dawn French).


Pretentious, moi?



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Penhale is hilarious! I love it when he nails himself to the telephone pole and says something like, "I know that if you get a pole stuck in your hand, you leave it in and seek medical attention."

Also, it was sweet how he offered to drive Martin to the morgue to identify Ruth, in case the Doc felt "wobbly". I'd take him over the cops in my town any day.


Nothing is what it seems. Everything is a test. Rule #1: Don't...get...caught.

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All sorts of issues need to be shared between a small town's priest and a small town's doctor.

This would make for some hilarious line deliveries from Martin Clunes, especially since no issues need to, or should, be shared between a priest and a doctor of medicine, unless it's the Middle Ages (but then this isn't Blackadder). One is a qualified professional and a necessary member of the community, the other is redundant, unless you want a traditional wedding or require funerary assistance for burial. Or, of course, if you're a simpleton seeking spiritual guidance, which small towns are conveniently full of.




OCJOC

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Right. Because only "simpletons," which small towns are full of, would find the existence of a priest worthwhile, because you declare it so.

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Elaine tops my list. I'm not sure what they were trying to do with her character, but for me it was an epic fail. Her character wasn't funny and was pretty annoying. I can take annoying IF it is funny, but...well

Auntie Joan is the other one I just couldn't appreciate. It wasn't her acting that bothered me, it was the script. She played the tough struggling country woman to a "T." But, I simply didn't understand why they tried to portray her as the "loving family" Martin obviously lacked in his parents and then had her say the indelicate things about his bedwetting. OBVIOUSLY he was autistic...I'm pretty sure that is what the foundation for his character...and as I understand, one of the common problems for autistic children is bedwetting. WHY did they decide to have her mention that? Just seemed out of place and unnecessary.

Everyone else I like. Unlike you, I especially liked the Park Ranger. I wished they'd have had him on more often. I just like the quirky way they scripted and directed him and I thought Ben Miller pulled it off spectacularly. One thing I found interesting was the way, when Doc first visits him and before he realizes he's got mental problems, Martin actually chuckles understandingly at Stewart's "perceptiveness" about the village people. IOW, the first person the Doc really understands and connects with is a "crazy" person.

my god its full of stars

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Funny. I loved Auntie Joan.

"I think I'll have a large order of prognosis negative."

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Worst:
1. Elaine - Just a nasty character.
2. Aunt Ruth - She could be an interesting character on another show, but with Martin being so glum and negative, her personality is redundant. They should have found someone more like Aunt Joan to provide more balance to the show.
3. Louisa's mother - I don't know why, but she just rubs me the wrong way.

Best:
1. Pauline - I have a thing for Katherine Parkinson.
2. Bert Large - It surprises me so many people dislike him. Once he opened the restaurant he became one of the shows most important characters.
3. PC Penhale - He was annoying at first, but he has more comedic potential then PC Mark did.

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Have you ever watched The IT Crowd? I won't comment on the quality...although I like it. But it has Katherine Parkinson in it. And for any who particularly like Jonathan in the last episode of season 2 "On the Edge" with Louisa's father, The IT Crowd also has Chris O'Dowd in it.

my god its full of stars

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Yeah, I've only seen the first couple of seasons of the IT Crowd, but I like it. She's also in "The Old Guys" with Roger Lloyd-Pack, who played Aunt Joan's secretly gay neighbor on one episode.

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Elaine is the only one I didn't like ... which is funny because I liked Lucy Punch in other movies I've seen.

Bert, Joan and PC Mark? Really? They're great characters! I'm not a huge fan of Penhale but he's okay.

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I liked Elaine. She was your typical millennial, sharp tongued and perennially bored.
I can't stand the ranger, and I am so glad he only showed up on two episodes. What a drain of perfectly good air time.
Absolutely the worse local character was the hateful man who's wife died, and he blamed Aunty Joan. He was so bitter I couldn't stand him.

I like Burt Large. He's flawed, and he's lonely. Very human.
Penhale is annoying, but not as much of a p***y as the first cop (I forgot his name).

I have to say Doc Martin has lost something in this latest/last series. It's almost as if Martin Clune's is playing Doc Martin playing Doc Martin. It probably just as well that this is the end. It was a great show.

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I have three more to add:
Danny Steele
Edith Montgomery
Mr. Tishell

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After the last episode.... Louisa. I am so sick and tired of her wishy-washy interest in Martin. She has been reminded of his issues since the first time she met him... pursued him constantly and then we have do deal with her constant happy and depressed cycle.... drives me crazy.

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That's the unavoidable nature of the program.
"Will they or won't they?" is the major plot
propulsion of the program so they need to delay
its resolution as long as possible.
Proof is that programs like it, e.g. Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls,
had problems keeping fan interest after they answered such
questions.

-----
The IMDB site says, "Create a new list", but how could I create an old one?

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I agree, Louise expects him to react like a normal person and acts exasperated when he doesn't. Obviously Martin would be classified as Autistic - high functioning Aspergers; he exhibits classic characteristics. Why would she expect him to change his behavior? He obviously loves her, but he cannot express it in a way that she finds acceptable. Her constant frustration with this is sooo tiring to watch. She puts him in situations that set him up for failure in ( in her eyes anyway). Living with a person with this type of personality is highly challenging, yet she doesn't even seem to grasp what's going on with him, irritating to watch.

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