Doc Martin Series 5

[Tuareet]

I love it and don't know how Martin Clunes manges to keep such a straight face.

[Perdita]

7th October

Episode six: Hazardous Exposure

Louisa is grumpy, she can’t sleep because Martin can’t sleep. Mrs Tishell and Jennifer continue their battle of wills in the chemist when Louisa comes in and asks for something to help with sleep. Jennifer suggests lavender oil, which Mrs Tishell dismisses as a herbal remedy. This doesn’t put Louisa off and she douses Martin’s pillow with the oil, but Martin can smell it a mile off and Louisa has to come clean.

Malcolm Rayner, the village hypochondriac, has a splinter. When it is easily removed and he realises the consultation is nearly over, he mentions a cough. The Doc tells him to take lemon and hot water and come back if it persists.

Ruth notices that Al is a little off his stride and he confides in her that he is feeling lost, he hates living with Penhale. Ruth gives him a pep talk, he is in control of his own destiny. Al realises he has to make his own luck and pitches Ruth a business proposal. Ruth picks holes in his proposal and tells Al he has to think his ideas through if he wants to succeed.

Bert and Jennifer are getting closer. Mrs Tishell and Jennifer both get a letter from the Pharmaceutical Council saying that Mrs Tishell no longer needs supervision. Jennifer is worried, her next position is in Woking. Bert is miserable about Jennifer leaving and Al tells him he should do something to get her to stay. Bert does he proposes!

Malcolm goes back to the doctors, he is really struggling with his breathing. The Doc listens to his chest and fears it could be something serious. Malcolm needs to go for an x-ray. The Doc asks Malcolm if he has ever worked with asbestos. Malcolm used to do roof conversions and could have. Hypochondriac Malcolm drowns his sorrows in the local. Penhale gets called to pick up the drunk and woeful Malcolm from the pub a couple of hours later and brings him back to the police station so he can sleep it off. When Malcolm wakes he is still full of doom and gloom, until he registers where he is - the police station. He fitted the insulation for the police station and other houses in the village.

Penhale puts up asbestos warning notices all over the village, accidentally stapling his hand to a post. The Doc has to sort it out, but his blood phobia rears its ugly head in public and he is sick over Penhale. Louisa hears on the grape vine about this and confronts Martin about his blood phobia and why it is back. She worries it is to do with their relationship, in the midst of the argument there is a knock at the door... It is Martin’s mother, Margaret, coming to tell him that his father has died.

Louisa finds it difficult having Margaret as a house guest. She is just as awkward as Martin. Martin is hiding from his mother in his consultation room and Louisa drags him into the kitchen so they can talk to one another. Her plan doesn’t work. Margaret plays the doting grandmother in front of Martin and Louisa, but as soon as they leave the room, she dumps James on Mike.

Mike asks Morwenna out. She is a little shocked but says yes. Mike and Morwenna have an awkward date, they just don’t get on.

Martin’s surgery is inundated with people all concerned they have been affected by the asbestos problem in the village. Martins storms out to find Penhale, who is in the midst of an asbestos investigation in the police station. The asbestos expert says that it isn’t asbestos and Penhale is shame faced. Malcolm questions Martin, if it isn’t asbestosis what is wrong with him? Martin storms off, furious.

The next day Malcolm misses his doctor’s appointment. Martin sends Morwenna out to look for him. She finds Malcolm collapsed in his garden and calls the Doc to come round to resuscitate him. Martin explains that as Malcolm is a pigeon fancier his lungs have got inflamed because he allergic to their faeces.

[Perdita]

14th October

Episode seven:

Louisa tries to get Martin to open up about the loss of his father, but Martin says it doesn’t affect him. Louisa suggests a break, so they can all get away and spend some time together. Martin doesn’t want to and Louisa is hurt by this. Things are strained between Martin and his mother. She is trying to connect with him, but he is cutting her off. She comments that he isn’t looking very well. Martin weighs himself and discovers that he has lost a lot of weight. This triggers something in Martin and he becomes convinced that there is something wrong with him, which is the root of all of his problems. He becomes obsessed with testing himself. Ruth comes round to see Margaret, to find out why she is in Portwenn. She doesn’t believe Margaret one bit.

Martin goes to the chemist to get some supplies and notices that Mrs Tishell holds her jaw when she exerts herself. She frostily tells the Doc that she has toothache. Later that day when she is moving heavy boxes, she gets the pain again. She realises the Doc was right and goes to the surgery. The Doc examines her wrists and eyes, finding fatty deposits and diagnosing her with angina. Mrs Tishell is smitten by the hand holding and the staring into her eyes. She falls head over heels in love with the Doc again.

Al gets a visit at the police station from two Military Policemen, looking for Mike Pruddy. Al pretends not to know Mike and goes to find him and warn him the army are looking for him. Mike panics and wants to flee, but Al calms him down and tells him to take James back to the surgery whist he gets rid of the Military Police from the village. Al misleads the Military Police, telling them that Mike has done a runner and is hiding up at a barn a couple of villages away. Penhale is determined to find Mike before the Military Police and gets to the farm first. He gets tangled on a hook and when the Military Police arrive they are annoyed that Penhale got there first. They don’t help Penhale and leave him hanging on the hook.

Martin arrives at the school Sports Day, he is not happy about being there and is concerned about the patients he has left in his waiting room. Louisa asks him to say a few words before handing out the medals, but when on stage Martin is silent, saying nothing. Louisa tries to coax him to speak, but still nothing. Miss Woodley steps in and reads out the list of winning pupils.
It takes ages and half way through the presentation Martin tells all the children who won a medal to stand up and starts handing them out willy nilly. He storms off back to the surgery. As Louisa runs after him, shouting at him to stop she is hit by a car.

Al tells his dad about a business idea he has, to be the middle man between the tourists wanting fishing trips and the fishermen. Bert laughs at the idea, there is no way the fishermen will give him a 10% cut. The wind is taken out of Al’s sails.

Mike is stuck at the surgery, the Doc asked him to look after James because Louisa is in hospital. Mike decides to take James to his flat, he needs to pack up so he is ready to go on the run. But when Al and Mike arrive back at the flat Penhale is there, waiting for them. Penhale wants to hand in Mike to the army, (not the Military Police), and is ready to take him away, when Martin turns up. Martin is furious that James is not in bed. It all comes out; Mike ran away from the army because they wanted to treat his OCD, but Mike didn’t want to be changed, his OCD is a part of him. The Doc makes Mike see sense, he does need help. The OCD is impeding his everyday life. Mike agrees to go back to the military and face the music. After taking Mike back to his barracks, Al goes to see Morwenna to tell her that Mike won’t be taking her out that evening. She isn’t that bothered.

Louisa has broken her collar bone and is annoyed with Martin. Martin spots that Louisa is coughing and suspects she has a deep vein thrombosis. He blames the hospital for not turning her during the night. Louisa is embarrassed and tells Martin to leave. Later that day, when Martin collects Louisa from hospital, she tells him that she needs a break and is going to Spain to stay with her mother - just her and James. Martin is shocked.

[Perdita]

21st October

Episode eight:

Louisa is leaving for Spain with baby James and says an awkward goodbye to Martin. Martin goes back to his consultation room, but is distracted and walks out. He goes to find Ruth, who is relieved that he has finally come to ask her for help. She tells him that all his problems stem from his childhood, because his parents never showed him any love. She also tells him that he has the propensity to change.

Al has a meeting with Ruth to pitch her a business idea and needs to get away to finish the presentation, but Bert manages to rope him into helping out. The generator Bert hired isn’t working, so they use extension cords from the restaurant to the beach. Finally Al manages to escape and rushes off to Ruth’s, dropping parts of his presentation en route.

Martin decides to confront his mother and find out why she really came to Portwenn. Margaret tells Martin that she doesn’t want to make the same mistake his father did. On his death bed Christopher, Martin’s father, wished that he could apologise to Martin, tell him he loved him. Martin asks if his father died from a stroke, how could he talk? Margaret realises she has been caught out and reveals the real reason she is there, she needs money. Christopher left her high and dry and she needs a couple of hundred thousand to buy a cottage in the country.

Al meets Ruth at her farm. He pitches her his vision: The farm house is turned into a bed and breakfast for fishermen who fish on the lake/ river running through her land. Ruth is less than impressed with the crumpled bits of paper she is handed. Al knows he has blown it.

Invigorated by confronting his mother, Martin tries to book a flight to Spain to get Louisa back. Whilst on hold he sorts through his mail and finds the scan of Louisa’s brain. He spots a malformation. The pressure in an airplane could trigger it to bleed and Louisa has recently taken anticoagulants. If the malformation were to bleed, she could suffer a brain haemorrhage. Martin tries to call Louisa to tell her not to get on the plane, but she thinks he is just trying to stop her leaving and hangs up on him. Martin has to race to the airport to stop her.

Al is glum and tells Morwenna about his disastrous pitch. Janice, Morwenna’s friend points out to Morwenna that she is always talking about Al, perhaps she fancies him. Ruth approaches Al at the party, she has done her own research and thinks the business plan is a good idea. Al is thrilled and goes to tell his dad, they make up. Bert can’t fix the electrical problem, it keeps tripping. He rams a nail into the circuit board to circumnavigate the trip switch, without repairing the fault. Caroline hears the music come on and pics up her mic to get the party started, but it was the mic that tripped the electricity and a massive electric shock throws her off the music platform. Morwenna checks Caroline’s vital signs-no pulse. They phone the Doc who tells them to get a defibrulator kit. Al races off to the Life Boat Station and comes back with the kit. He shocks Caroline’s heart and saves her life. Morwenna is so impressed with Al that she engineers a date for them that evening.

Meanwhile Louisa has arrived at the airport and is struggling with a headache.