Latest / Podcast Portwenn: Doc Martin & Best Medicine / Doc Martin Season 3 Newbie Reaction: Mark's Out, Joe's In, and What's Up with Martin and Louisa?
Transcript
- Chesla Wechsler: Welcome to Podcast Port When. Today's episode brings Patty the Doc Martin newbie back. Before we start, the last chance to donate to Buckham Fair is August 2nd, 2026. Thank you to everyone who supported that cause. In this episode, we do intersperse a number of best medicine comments, so sorry about that if you're trying to avoid those. If you have questions you wished I had asked in this video, please comment on it on YouTube. If you have questions for Patty for future seasons, please send me email at Chesla at podcastportwen.com. I don't want Patty to see spoilers. And now on to the episode. Patty will bring her perspective on Doc Martin's season three, quite an eventful season. Patty, come through and welcome back to Podcast Port When. Patty V: Thank you. Hello everybody. Chesla Wechsler: Great to see you. So, hey, take us away. Patty V: I found season three interesting. I learned felt like I learned more about the characters. I was sad that Mark was gone. and even with seven episodes under my belt, I'm not real attached to his replacement. he's I I you know, he brings some humor to the show. he's quirky, but somehow I miss Mark. And I kept thinking that they were gonna bring him back. guy wasn't gonna work out. Mark was gonna decide he didn't want to be what is it, a plumber in Poland or something. Whatever Chesla Wechsler: Yes, yes. Patty V: it was, I always gonna say he he's gonna say no, I'm I'm really you know, small town, whatever they call it, not sheriff, but Chesla Wechsler: Constable. Patty V: yeah. so I was looking every episode for Mark to come back and then when Al who was missing for a few episodes did come back, I was like, okay, Mark's gonna come back in the next episode. But no. So, you know, that that kind of made me sad. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, we get through the whole season with no mark. Patty V: Yeah, so yeah, I had a couple of lines that I thought were really funny that that I I noticed in a couple of different episodes. In the first episode there was a woman and her her daughter was causing all kinds of havoc and they were trying to convince Martin that there was something wrong and he at first didn't want to believe it and so forth. anyway, so the the mother is arguing with him and and he called her Mrs., whatever her last name was and and she said, It's not misses, I'm divorced and he said, I'm not surprised Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: That seemed rude, but so Martin. So that Chesla Wechsler: So Martin, yes, yes. Patty V: that that really made me laugh. And then the other one was a couple episodes later where it was an older woman where is it? where she wanted to smoke and He was like, No, you you can't smoke and she said, But my mother my mother smoked until she was ninety-three and he said and then she died? And no, she Chesla Wechsler: Yes, yes. Patty V: lost her pipe. I just thought And you know, I am pretty much a militant anti smoker, always have been. Chesla Wechsler: Me too. Patty V: But you know what? When you get to be in your nineties I'm kinda like, if that makes you happy, you know, when my mother made it past ninety, I wasn't really worried about was she she didn't eat quite as healthfully as she did when she was younger 'cause she would be convinced that, you know, this vegetable or that fruit was impacting her and so forth. And I didn't even try and figure out if it was or wasn't. It's like, You got some food in you today, you're happy? Okay. So Chesla Wechsler: Yes, yes, yeah. You you y your judgment changes over time. Patty V: Yeah, yeah. So I I was not expecting that line 'cause I I Chesla Wechsler: No. Patty V: thought it was she was gonna say and then she die and you know, after that line comes out, I'm like, Why didn't I expect that? What's the matter with me? How did I not see that coming? But Chesla Wechsler: B I think one of the beauties of this show is the writers surprise you in good ways. Patty V: They they still surprise me, yes. Yes. And I'm wondering Chesla Wechsler: Yes. So it's not a predictable show. Patty V: you know, I I feel like watching this show accents a little bit maybe the difference between Americans and Brits. We have a lot in common, but not everything. And so I often find myself wondering now, would a British person be surprised by that or is it just me as an American? I don't know. Chesla Wechsler: You know, we have we have folks who watch the podcast who are from England and so that's a good question to put out there. you know, what what Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: surprises you that may not be surprising us. I mean you won't you won't know what doesn't surprise us or surprises us, but it would be good to know what surprises you. So Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: the the episode did you have more lines that you found were funny? Patty V: this isn't exactly a line, but that same woman whose mother lost her pipe at age ninety three, what was it? She had tuberculosis I think and she ended up Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: having to go to a hospital and he said something like Because you're decrepit, you won't have to pay for it or something like that. And I found myself looking up to see what the British version of that word is, and I think it's a little different from here. I think in the US that would be really, really bad. And I think what from what I read, and again you're British fans can can tell me if I'm right. It seemed like it's a word to use if you're elderly or frail or maybe lower income and not so much like decrepit means real in the US means really falling down and it it's it's a real, real insult. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: And I don't think it's necessarily quite as much of an insult in Britain as what the impression I got when I looked at that Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, it'd be good to know. There's a couple more that I've picked up on that. There's she's dementing. So like if somebody has dementia, th they Patty V: Yeah, you wouldn't say in the US that would be yeah. Chesla Wechsler: unusual. I mean I don't know if it would be an insult, but it's like she's dementing. Like, hmm. And then what was the other one I was thinking of? when somebody has a seizure, we would call it they're having a seizure, but he's fitting. You know. I I noticed that. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah that that yeah, that to me it doesn't necessarily have a negative connotation in the US. It's just not the phrase we use. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Correct. Right, right, but it and it takes a bit to to pick up the terms and I I don't know, have we had have we had too many words that get pronounced with accents on the wrong not wrong. Accents on the different syllables because that one's thrown me. Patty V: there was one. What was it? And it made me again it Chesla Wechsler: I remember Patty V: made me look it up. and it was It wasn't autism. It was something that was a syndrome named after a person who was like Hungarian or some other country. And Chesla Wechsler: Okay. Patty V: I feel like if that's that guy's name, you should be pronouncing it the way that guy pronounces its name. Chesla Wechsler: Ha ha ha Patty V: And sorry, you don't get to pronounce it differently. That that was my attitude. Chesla Wechsler: Right. funny. Yeah. I'll have to Patty V: And but I can't remember what it was. Chesla Wechsler: have to fit well we know it's in one of three seasons so Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: if we really wanted to find it out. The episode you were mentioning where the little girl has she's been taking her mom's diet pills or whatever, so Patty V: That's Chesla Wechsler: yeah, her n I think the little girl is Delph, I forget the mom's name. but there's some lines in that show that, you know, just catch you because just when Martin says, you know, some children are just bad Right? And then he Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: also some says something along the lines of you know, my my father would slap me with a belt or hit me with a table tennis bat if I did something like that. And you start to pick Patty V: Yeah, I remember the table tennis one, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: up on, okay, we know these parents were pretty miserable from season two, and Patty V: Yeah. Right. Chesla Wechsler: his mother certainly like denied him love and gave him in fundamentally emotional abuse, but now you're picking now you're picking Patty V: Yeah. And blame yeah blame them. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: up that he's he's been physically abused as well. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: So now we we start learning a little bit more about a little bit more deep things about this this character. I mean it I I would not at this point when you start learning things like that and seeing parents like that, you might understand I when we would have best medicine episodes, I would say, well, I kind of view Doc Martin as being a drama where funny things happen. So I'm wondering if you're starting to get that sense of what I meant by that now. Patty V: Drama where funny things happen. Yeah, I think that's true for the for I agree for Doc Martin. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. So what other fun things or episodes Patty V: let's see. well the the one where Bert stopped being a plumber and started a restaurant and so Doc Martin installed his own dishwasher and that turned out to be a problem. Causing Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: caused a lot of problems. And the which is kind of interesting because I I had mixed feelings about whether I thought Doc Martin would get that right or wrong because You know, in today's world and this is maybe just enough older that it wasn't as easy, but I still think, you know, you go you look at a YouTube video and you could follow along if you had any like mechanical ability at all, and I would just think he would. so in some ways I was a little surprised he got he he got it wrong. However It's probably not the thing he ever had to do growing up, even though he grew up in a house without love, I think they had money and paid Chesla Wechsler: Right. Patty V: people to do this. So it's not like he ever, got trained by his dad or anything or his mom. so Chesla Wechsler: Right. Patty V: I when it when it turned out that he did that all wrong, yeah, I was half surprised and half not. Chesla Wechsler: Sure, sure. And 'cause we know also that this is something that's a little different. Like a a dishwasher you might have growing up and your dad might, show you how to do some basic plumbing things. We do see in an earlier season where he knows how to set jumpers and memory and things like that on his own computer. Because he fixes things, right? And then he unfixes them so Patty V: Yeah. Right. Chesla Wechsler: to give Al a job. but that's Patty V: Right. Right. Chesla Wechsler: something that he would learn later in life when he's independent of his parents and it was probably A useful thing to him. Patty V: Right. I was gonna say it's useful. He he needs to use a computer in his job and so he needs to there therefore he would, you know, understand how to how to use it. It's not clear how much cooking he does and how often, you know, he might not use his dishwasher as often as somebody who likes to cook a lot. So And dishwashers don't break that often either, usually. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The I I go That's correct. I in that same episode I think isn't that where Poppy comes and substitutes for Pauline or something? I liked the Patty V: yes, yes yes it is. Yes. Chesla Wechsler: Poppy Pauline interplay. Patty V: Yeah, that was kind of fun seeing, you know, a little bit of like jealousy or whatever. And much as Pauline wanted to take the phlebotomy course and, you know, have a little more skills and be a little bit more than just a receptionist, she didn't really like she didn't want Poppy to succeed in a way, you know. 'Cause Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, it Patty V: Yeah. Which is yeah, that that was interesting and probably very realistic, you know. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. I sh Poppy just had like an insight, like an easy insight. Why don't you why don't I give the patients their patient notes and they can bring them in? And it's like, great idea. You know. Pauline's not happy about that. So Patty V: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: what else did we have in season three? Patty V: Let's see. the it I found it a little bit interesting, the neighbors that didn't discipline the the son. And Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: I just found that that whole thing interesting and it seemed like Pretty much everybody, not just Doc Martin, Crotchetty Doc Martin, were not very sympathetic with that kid being allowed to do whatever he wanted to do and, key people's cars and do things that were really damaging. And so, you know, parenting philosophies come and go and and that wasn't a gentle parent parenting era. So only their those two parents, you know, thought the way they did. Everybody else around them, including, Louisa who's a teacher and with kids all the time. and you would think would be very well versed on different techniques for dealing with different issues, whereas Chesla Wechsler: Right. Patty V: Martin would just lash out. But they all thought that this kid was out of control and and so I f I found that interesting. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Those didn't the parents drive you nuts? Because like no, I'm not a parent, so like I I try to back off on parental commenting, but I just found like Patty V: Yeah. They thought it was okay for their kid to do these things and not even be told he shouldn't do them, much you know, the the thought of punishment is a kind of a separate issue, but not even to to tell him that, you know, it's wrong to key somebody's car. It's just Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Or or you know, like he he breaks a bowl and it's like, Well, we don't make a big issue about it. I was like, at least had the kid apologize. I mean, come on. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Have the kid apologize, have the kid clean up the mess he made, even if it's an accident. Who who Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: caused the accident, you know, who did it? It's just yeah. But The one thing that came up in that episode that again I found myself looking s things up to see what dates things were was they talked about the vaccine autism link and Martin cut it off pretty quickly and I was like, ooh, this is interesting because this was sometime in the two thousands and it was not fully quashed yet, I thought, and so I I looked it up and found that the paper written to Link them was in 1998 by British Doctor. And Chesla Wechsler: He Patty V: in 1999, there was a study that said, no, we don't see any connection. And by 2004, a journalist had exposed the conflict of interest for that original doctor that wrote the paper, and the 10 out of 12 of his co authors retracted their interpretation of the data. And so this was done in 2007. So Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: that was still fairly recent but this show you know made no bones about saying there is not a link, there is not a link. Chesla Wechsler: Well you'll find I mean I I might have commented already, I might not have told you, but I guess in Britain when you film something that has medical stuff, you're supposed to be correct. you know, like you're you're you can't just make stuff up and say this is the treatment for whatever and it'll do this or these are fun fake Patty V: okay. Chesla Wechsler: symptoms for XYZ. So they had a doctor who advised them. He gave them a a number of cases that he had come across his desk that were amusing and interesting, f on which they based episodes. but also he was there to make sure that when they had the disease it had the proper symptom symptoms and the proper treatment. And so coming out and saying, you know, the vaccines don't cause autism was probably something if they're gonna talk about the vaccine and autism they have to come out and say the right thing. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: which is good, you know, unlike you know, sh Patty V: Yeah, yeah. I I just was surprised how, you know, it was pretty close to you know, it was like three years since they really, really got exposed. Chesla Wechsler: Mm. So a real topical thing. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: One thing I enjoyed in that particular episode, doesn't it seem like Martin and Louisa are kinda on the same page a lot? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Patty V: Yeah. Like, whoa, they agree. The nice person and the crotchety doctor agree that this is, you know, horrible behavior with this kid and you know whatever. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Is that the ep also the episode when he comes over for dinner? 'Cause I'm like I'm remembering that like the dishwasher episode and and Louisa's stove not working were the same episode. Yeah. Patty V: The dishwasher episode was two and that episode was three. Chesla Wechsler: okay. So but button. Patty V: Yeah. They and the the one about my mother smoked until she was ninety three and then she lost her pipe was also episode three, it looks like, from my Chesla Wechsler: Okay. Patty V: notes. Chesla Wechsler: But I like when Martin comes I guess does he think she has anemia or something and he comes to dinner and he brings her like yams? Like he's Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: just so socially inept. Like that's what you Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: bring. And then Louisa, you look very busy. Patty V: Yeah, I know I was like, what's he gonna say? And then he says busy. And she was like, She was really Chesla Wechsler: And you're thinking it's gonna be beautiful, like there's a Patty V: she was really thinking that this was gonna be a compliment and she was really like and then he said busy. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yep. And I think he I think he was thinking of complimenting her with beautiful. Yeah. Patty V: Yes. It sure looked like it. It was like he it's like he like froze and and just picked some word that was also true, but yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. And and h he he needs stuff sneaks out of him in this season, right? So we we saw him at the end of season two, when he's really, really drunk, speak Patty V: Right. Chesla Wechsler: how he feels, even if he doesn't remember it the next day. but Patty V: Right. Right. Chesla Wechsler: in that episode with Sam the horrendous child, doesn't he say you'd be a lovely mother? Patty V: He did say that and she looked like surprised and pleased. but then they parted, you know, there was not nothing after that. That might have been at the very Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: end of the episode. I can't remember. Chesla Wechsler: But he seemed to almost be surprised that that came out of his mouth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there's Patty V: Yeah, I think she was. I think she was. Chesla Wechsler: there's some there's some stuff going there. Like we still don't have I mean when we enter season three we obviously don't have necessarily the best relationship and we kind of feel like I don't how did you feel as things went on? I mean there's all sorts of stuff that happens. I just think this is a very eventful season, right? You've Patty V: Well, I don't have I can't compare it to the ones that come after, but yeah, I think there there was a lot going on in in this and not just for Martin. I mean, the the episode that focused on Auntie Joan, I don't know if it focused solely on her, but she had a big subplot. I was like, Whoa I was kinda surprised by her. And Martin comes and says, he might have an Oedipal complex and she got all mad. I don't care because it's fun for me and you're ta you're trying to take my fun away and blah blah blah. Which, It's her life. She has the right to make choices. But I felt like she was kind of denying at that time that it was an Oedipal complex and then later in the episode she's like, Yeah it was 'cause Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: he tried he sort of apologized like I shouldn't have interfered in your in your life and she's like, you were right Chesla Wechsler: You were right, yeah. And that's she also has the hormone replacements in there too, right? So she's feeling her age. Patty V: Yes, yes, yes. She and she what I was wondering was the painter, I can't remember his name, but you know, his mom died, but what kind of relationship did he have with his mother? Because Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: if he hung around with her and wanted her pie and was like looking for comfort but not sexual comfort that would have all made sense to me with grieving, but this was like was he doing this with his mother? And that's why I I was just we never really learned that, but that that's what I found myself wondering. Chesla Wechsler: And you know it's funny because I I never thought of that. But now I am. Patty V: Okay. Didn't mean to put that idea in your head. Chesla Wechsler: Well even with Auntie Joan it's like you can't unsee Auntie Joan on the table. You know? Y y y you just can't. Yeah. No, no, no, exactly. So what else do we have? Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. I was like, whoa. I not expecting that, writers. They got me there. and then I did here is another phrase. I don't know if this is a British thing. Happy as Larry? Is that a phrase? Happy as Larry? I didn't know what that Chesla Wechsler: yeah. That's that's yeah, that's a that's a British thing. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Like Bob's your uncle. You know, things like that. Patty V: Yeah. Okay. But then you you had said before about their relationship and how that moved Louisa and and Martin's and so you have episode five where they go to a concert and it seems like something they have, you know, in common and he was really trying to sort of see her side and try something she liked and and and so forth. And then he starts talking about mood swings. And he just can't stop himself from saying the wrong thing. And, you know, she breaks up with him. And then by the end of the episode, and he's so sad about and then by the end of the episode he says, Will you marry me? And I was like, What do you really say? Is that is that I mean, okay it's season three, but is that a little fast? Is that a little they haven't really had a date that didn't end that way or or even a time together even if it wasn't an official date. Like and now you're saying marry me? And she said yes. I wasn't actually as surprised that he said it, but when she said yes, I was you know, I was pretty surprised. Chesla Wechsler: The two of them just seem like they're so drawn to each other for completely inexplicable reasons. Patty V: Well, not completely inexplicable. I mean he thinks she's beautiful, and I think you know, if he had a different childhood or something, he might have been more outwardly compassionate. But we do see things over the seasons where there's something down inside him, like when he paid off his dad and said D you know, don't bother Aunt Joan about the house and don't tell her that I did this. You know, that was He recognized how important she was to him and what she did for him and he wanted to help her. And so you don't see that very often in him, but I think she sees that. And so I think that's what and and and she when she was trying to explain to her bridesmaid that in the next episode about who had never met him, well, what's he like? Well, he's very honest. He's very, you know, and and it all sounds very positive. And then the bridesmaid meets him and she's like, you weren't what I was expecting. That was a good line, you know. Chesla Wechsler: Yes, yes. Yeah. Patty V: so I think that's what she sees in him, and I think he sees some of that good in her and she is beautiful. and so I think I don't think he can articulate what he sees in her ver at all, but I think he does see something real, you know. So Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. I think he sees her care. because you he she she pushes herself into his life. Like you get the sense that he'd probably be fine if people just left him alone. You know, he's Yeah. Patty V: He thinks that at least. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: but she not only like he gets a lot of people who call him tosser and who who take him to task, right? But she takes him to task with sort of a improvement, like I wanna like you. Patty V: Yeah, and it's more like, Martin, I know there's some good in you, but bring it out, you know. Whereas other people are just like, you're a jerk. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. Right, right. I I I found in the episode that had Mrs. Wilson who was interested in him, right sh the lady who owned Carrie Wilson or whatever, Patty V: Yes. That was previously yes. Yes. Chesla Wechsler: there were a lot if I recall, there were a lot of very good examples of the two of them just missing each not Carrie and and Martin, but Martin and Louisa just like lots of Yeah. I mean I'm trying to remember Patty V: Missing. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Some stuff off the top of him. Patty V: Which there and there is a lot of that, which is why I was surprised that the end of season three, that like it seemed kinda quick to say marriage, 'cause they ha they haven't fixed any of that. And Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: so the fact that she said yes you know, really surprised me. And then the next episode is planning like what is it, three weeks? They Chesla Wechsler: Three weeks, yeah. Patty V: throw together a or attempt to throw together a wedding and I was like So, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, I mean they're they're mature adults, right? So he's he's what, forty or something? Who knows like how old is he? Patty V: Yeah, yeah. I mean it's not like they're twenty one but still I just still felt like you need to smooth some of this stuff over, figure out how you're gonna deal with it. Like sh like I I said in I think it was season two that it seems like you know, she knows that he's blunt. Rude, take your pick, which word you want. And why is she surprised when he says things that he does, like about mood swings or whatever, and why i if she's really loves him and envisions a future with him, she's gotta say something like, Martin, come on, do you realize how rude that sounds? Rather Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: than forget it and just run away. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: So she's gotta figure out how to deal with that, I think, rather than say forget it and run away, if they were to to actually be married. So Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, they don't seem to be necessarily like you said, working on practical solutions for the relationship. Patty V: Right. Well he is. He just she knows she needs to get breathman. She needs to you know, he he thinks he's telling her helpful things. And the yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: But even that one, she didn't get as upset over that. I mean I I obviously she didn't like it, but I thought, okay, there's progress here. She she knows that he's really just trying to help. and you know, if you Don't have a bed partner, you may not know that you snore. She really I suspect Chesla Wechsler: That's right. Yes. Patty V: she really does snore. I don't think he was making that up. And yeah, again, once again he thought he was being helpful and there might have been a better way to phrase it, but you know, he's Martin. So Chesla Wechsler: He's Martin. Patty V: Yeah. So so I wasn't as surprised I w I was surprised that he asked and she said yes. I mean I wasn't surprised that he said, I miss you terribly and I never want to be without you. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, they certainly yeah, because they led up to that, right? You saw how incredibly crushed he was. Patty V: That didn't surprise me. Right. He did. He he was he was so sad. And Aunt Joan said in there, you weren't men for each other anyway, or something like that, which I was like, Really? I'm surprised she said that. and so I wasn't surprised, given how sad he was that he said that to her at the end. But when he followed it with Will You Marry me, I was like, What? And when she said yes, I was even more what? So the whole next episode where every single thing is going wrong with this this wedding, you know, no vicar, the the bridesmaid's water broke, the all the stuff with the venue and and and so forth and the floor f florist and that was, you know, kind of predictable. And and her having second thoughts, I wasn't as surprised about. But why did he have second thoughts? Like how did he suddenly forget how sad he was when she when she broke up with him before? So why was he contemplating? Like if they be if they had said, this isn't the kind of wedding we want, this isn't us, this isn't, you know, or or we shouldn't do this right now, or something like that, but to say I will never make you happy, you'll never make me happy, we're breaking up. That surprised me and didn't ring true to me. Chesla Wechsler: I I viewed I it shocked me when he proposed. Chris and I were like, Yes on the couch. Like, did you see that coming? I did not see that coming. 'cause it just you can just see like he had been so sad he had been up all night thinking about the fact that she never wanted to see him again. Right? I mean he still had the little flower in his in his buttonhole, right? And Auntie Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Joan, when Auntie Jones tell him, you know, you two are chalk and cheese, he's fighting her on it. Like people can change, it's you know, it's it's it's fine or whatever he says. I f I don't even remember what he says, but I just remember the chalk and cheese thing. She likes people you don't, is that was that part of it? I forget. Was it am I anywhere? Patty V: Something like that, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: But but she s she looks at him finally, 'cause he's not saying much. And he's he's just n right on the edge of tears. And Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: you you know, so to me it's like he really, really does not want to be without her. but Patty V: Right. So what what happened on the wedding day? Why why was he sitting there thinking it wasn't a good idea? Chesla Wechsler: I think I I think I can explain Martin well, which is he really wants what's best for her. And what he thinks is he's yeah. Yeah. And you know, you don't get Patty V: Well he's afraid he's not gonna make her happy. Not that she wouldn't make him happy, yeah. So Chesla Wechsler: a sense that he ever thinks hap like is is he ever Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: happy? Like can anything make him happy? Patty V: There's I really want to watch the rest of the seasons to find that out. And this this is the Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: No wonder you d for everybody out there in in listening world, Patty texted me on I guess Tuesday, I finished season three. When do you want to do the episode? I was like Patty V: I'm always torn because I'm like I'm always the person that particularly if I'm reading like an historical fiction novel, I like to look up okay, which of this is real and which is this was in the author's mind. and so when I waited the whole season for Mark to come back and then I couldn't resist looking up What happened here? The actor, wanted to go on to other things and and so so sometimes you get a little bit of a spoiler when you when you look something up, but I I just couldn't Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: resist that. Chesla Wechsler: Well looking at you know, just just since we're talking about Mark real quick, Joe is an interesting character. Because Mark, I think, was naive, gullible, but sweet and insecure. He knew his Patty V: Innocent. Yeah. He was nice. He he was naive and gullible, but he didn't seem incompetent. Chesla Wechsler: Correct. Yes. Yes. He knew his stuff and he was a very good policeman, even if like he would do things Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: You might think he wouldn't be, but he still was. It's the impression I got. and unlike Best Medicine where the Mark character there, I he doesn't really seem he doesn't have the same naive naivety and sweetness. He seems like you feel sorry for him 'cause he's trying so hard to get over Louisa and he just can't. But that that fake macho, it just was a turnoff to me. And I wasn't turned off by by the mark in the British one and so I missed Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I well, I miss you know, Mark was one of my absolute favorite characters. but I think w my theory on the Mark in Best Medicine is that just like Elaine and Pauline, there was a desire to keep a character for the whole show. So they blend some things together. I believe they tried to take some of the charm of Mark and the incompetence of Joe Penhale and the blustering Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: blusteringness of because ch you know, I'm trying to think, we don't do we see a lot of Joe? I mean right off the bat, he's like, you know, we need to work together on the crime in town. Like you you just get this And like he he's big man on campus, right? Patty V: Yeah. Like as a huge crime. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Chesla Wechsler: and Patty V: Right. Chesla Wechsler: so that's some of that machoism that is coming out in a British way, perhaps, that doesn't annoy us so much. But I th Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I think that Mark and Joe Penhale have been mushed together to be Mark in Best Medicine. Patty V: Maybe. Definitely. I see it a little even more with Elaine and Pauline because the Elaine in the best medicine is not totally incompetent. and th the Elaine and Doc Martin pretty much was. I mean I Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: was waiting to see in season two if she got a little bit I was like, gee, she hasn't started to get more competent yet, like she did in best medicine, I was and then all of a sudden she was gone. So Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. And and Pauline has now gone to phlebotomy school. Patty V: So she's qualified to do something more. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: So now you understand how like, okay, in best medicine you've got any any lane who can do blood work. Well, Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: in Doc Martin you have any lane that's useless and a Pauline who can do blood work. Patty V: Right, but the Pauline actually went and got training, did did Elaine in Best Medicine, or was that a little hand waving? Yeah, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: We don't know yet. We know that she's been he's been reported for her what she's been doing. Patty V: Right, for that. So maybe she'll have maybe it'll turn out she has a phlebotomy course that she yeah, and she's qualified. That that's probably a good answer for how he gets out of trouble, is that she wasn't. Chesla Wechsler: Or or maybe Maine doesn't license you. Maybe you're just mentored by a doctor or something. So I have no idea. Yeah. Patty V: interesting. We'll see what the American writers come up with. but it since we're talking about med best medicine a bit here, I just feel like I I can't articulate it well, but I feel like the characters I continue to feel like the characters in Doc Martin are more real. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: Which is kind of ironic because I have not set foot on British soil. So how do I know what a real British person who lives in a fishing village, you know, is really like. But they just somehow seem a little more real to me. so Chesla Wechsler: I agree. I mean, I had never set foot in a British fishing village before I watched the show either, but I had been to England in nineteen ninety one, you know, but I I don't I don't think Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: that that counts. We didn't interact with that many people. We were just completely touring, but Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I just think that they're the what they've decided from the writing and the directing And the portrayals f by the actors is is just a different animal. I think there's a a level of authenticity just in how they've decided to portray it. I've I've said Doc Martin seems to me like these people are still there and they've just the cameras have gone home, but this village exists and these people are still all there. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: because they seem so genuine. And it's because it is sort of a a drama with a lot of plot and you you see the through lines with the characters and all. and they're not leaning into the comedy and the slapstick, which I think Best Medicine is a you know, it's a conscious choice. That's just how they're making it for an American audience. It's a hit, so it's appealing. but there's people who Patty V: Is it? Chesla Wechsler: like British T V shows a lot. There's people who don't like them at all and people in the middle. So I you know, I'm thinking that the f the best medicine absolute adorers are folks who probably don't like a lot of British TV. Who knows? Just a a Patty V: I don't know. I don't know. I just feel like in the Best Medicine somehow maybe it's what you're s talking calling slapstick that some of the characters just overdone. The and caricatures and Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Patty V: yeah, I I really wish I knew what if Best Medicine has gay fans. Do they like the portrayal of that gay couple? 'Cause I just wonder if it's just a little overdone and a little stereotyped. I don't know. But I just Yeah, I just Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, I mean I've certainly got a million gay friends, so I I could ask if any of them are best medicine. Patty V: Yeah, it it I'm just and you know, they seem a little overdone to me. The the Mark character seemed overdone. Elaine to an extent seems overdone. It's not quite as bad. I don't know why. but anyway, and Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: yeah, Martin Martin himself is less in Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: less less rude, less whatever. Chesla Wechsler: Mm. Yeah, yeah. Patty V: Maybe that's just because b American audiences c couldn't take it for if he didn't change more. I don't know. Chesla Wechsler: You know, we have a reputation of being, you know, loud and coarse and sort of in your face as Americans, I think, compared to Brits, right? Patty V: Yeah. Well, yes, but British humor's always been at least stereotyped in the US as as being like like the British people are so proper but they come out with these zingers that it doesn't Right. It doesn't Chesla Wechsler: It's very sh it can be very sharp. Yeah. Very sharp. Patty V: seem like it should come from someone so well dressed and with such perfect diction, you know? Like like Chesla Wechsler: Ha ha ha Patty V: whoa They just said that? Whereas Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: The the Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: the coarse jokes in America I think are more by people that aren't using perfect English, you know. Whatever. I don't know. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. But but yeah, yeah. That's interesting. trying to think other episodes. I I my heart broke. when that dog got run over, boy. Patty V: That was a and and he picked it up and I was like, I I would think it would have to be dead but and then he's bringing it to and and and I was kinda like, Maybe it isn't dead and then it was dead and it was like, Ugh. And then the Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. yeah. Patty V: but actually it's interesting that you brought up dog because the dog that Aunt Joan took in because a neighbor died looks more like the dog in best medicine. Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: And not the original dog that they had in Doc Martin, who Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: Doc Martin never warmed up to, and Doc Best has already warmed up to the dog by the end of one season. So th Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: I found that I found that interesting. Like did did they pick the dog they did for Best Medicine? Is it more modeled after this dog than the original dog and Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to say. I the the first dog in Doc Martin was a very unique looking dog. Yeah, I don't know what kind of breed Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: that was, but he was a a very interesting looking dog and Buddy seems to be more, standard terrier. Yeah. Patty V: Yeah, a little white thing. Yeah. And I'm more partial to bigger dogs and so the first dog was bigger. But that this dog Chesla Wechsler: Well do Patty V: this dog is really interesting 'cause the way he would just run back towards you know you couldn't get get rid of him. So Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, he's he seems to I mean, dogs seem to love Martin, right? It just seems to be his like curse in life is these things that he hates are attracted to him. I don't know. But but he Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't I don't know if it fits the character, but I I I wouldn't be sad if he warms up to dogs eventually. So I'll look for that and Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Sure, sure, sure. I mean well we're dog lovers, so like, you know, we don't understand how a person can't like a dog unless they've had a bad experience with one. Patty V: Right. You can't like a friendly dog. I have no problem distancing myself from, you know, what I consider mean dogs, you know. If i I I I can make friends with any friendly dog, but I do not have the skills to win over a dog that, you know, initially doesn't like me. It's like, Okay, I'll I'll stay away so but that white dog seemed very friendly. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. I can win o yeah. I can win over shy dogs, you know, by being very Yeah. Patty V: Yeah, shy do shy is okay. but if you growl, I'm I'm I'm not gonna try and convince you not to growl, I'm gonna stay away. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Sure. It's like okay, we just don't have to deal with that one. yeah. What else do we have here? I thought when Martin Tries to be f nice That was pretty pretty good comic Patty V: yeah. Chesla Wechsler: relief. Patty V: That was that wa that was. That was. yeah, I I and and you get mad because wait a minute, why are you trying for that person and not for me kinda kind of feeling? Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: so Chesla Wechsler: But just, you know, he he actually succeeds. Like Louisa sees the f the falseness in it. Right? Patty V: Right. Right. Chesla Wechsler: But other people are just kind of like like is it is it Dawn Lamb? I think it's Pauline's mom, the one who has the exclusion diet. And Martin's like, you know, how is your how is your stomach, Mrs. Lamb? Patty V: Same way from Gary. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. And and it you know, he seems like he's being nice and she's just sort of quizzical. Patty V: Like how why is he even asking me that? Like this is weird. Who is that person? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: But it's okay with her. Like it's a alright, this is this is an okay doc, right? and then when when he's when he's dealing with with Holly, who is just horrible. Like I mean, Louisa's friend who hurts her back when she falls. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: she's just you know, you can understand a person in pain, but she's just sort of a a bit of a jerk. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: but Martin's like, you know, you know, brave girl in your own time. You know, he's like how well how's your how's your get on your tummy? It's like he's using completely non Martin speech. but l and Louise is just Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. But Chesla Wechsler: like, This is why are you being so smarmy? Patty V: Yeah, it was interesting that Louisa's the one that's most offended by it, as opposed Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: to, wow, look, he's trying, you know? Not not her attitude. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. And and I thought his his attitude back to her was perfect, like, What's wrong with that? Like what do you want me to do? Yeah. Yeah. Patty V: Yeah. Absolutely. What's wha what do you want from me? Yeah. I definitely had sympathy for him there. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. I mean he he is who he is and and you know you see when he proposes that it's like he's he's willing to take her as she is, even if she's super critical of him. Right? Because he he might even see that this is this was a theory that I had of why he's okay with her. Is that she She sort of c criticizes him in a way that would improve him and Patty V: Yeah, I think you said that before. Whereas other people are just calling him a jerk and yeah. Chesla Wechsler: And and she's the prize. Like if he can improve himself, she's the prize. Yeah, so it's kinda Patty V: And win her. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: like all rolled up into one person. Like if if Patty V: Yeah. Which Chesla Wechsler: if Bert if Bert took the same interest in him to try to improve him, I wouldn't you know would he care to improve? I don't know. Like he doesn't care if Bert's his friend, it seems, right? So Patty V: Maybe not. Yeah. I mean this sounds, you know, very hallmarky, but I kinda think that in terms of falling in love with someone, if it's if they're two good people they make each other better, you know? That they can inspire in some way, that I've I've seen a lot of stories in books or in movies or TV where, you know, they say you make me a better person. And I think that's kind of that says it all. I just feel like find that really touching. And I think that's how he views for the most part, I think that's how he views her. And so I I do see why what he sees in her, put it that way. And that's why Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: I was a little surprised that He gave up. so easily in the in the Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: last episode of season three. And for her I was like, Where are you coming from? These things that went wrong today are pretty much not Martin doing something. Well, I guess the Vicar, but the the I mean the Vicar was a drunk, so and it wasn't like Martin Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. I think I think she just she was just convinced otherwise by all these people kind of c cutting him down. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: And it was quick. I mean, it was three weeks from their engagement and they really hadn't Patty V: Yeah, which Chesla Wechsler: had a date. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. and Yeah, I still found like it was so quick and then all of a sudden you get everything was quick. You know, you Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: quick to say yes, quick to give up, you know. So So yes. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. And I I think when Martin when he was talking to the vicar with the pigs Patty V: Yeah. The second. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I think he was fine up until that point, but when that vicar said, Do I make do you make her happy? Patty V: That's what Chesla Wechsler: He th Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: because he hadn't been thinking of that. He even said, Does she make me happy? Which he was convinced, right? Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: But when he said, You're so close, it's do I make her happy? And it's like, crap, Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: do I can I? And he's so insecure in himself, right? I mean in in relationships with people. Patty V: Well, I can del I can see that, but then didn't she say didn't she say I don't make you happy either or something like that? Didn't didn't she say I wouldn't make you happy? Did he agree? R did he really Chesla Wechsler: Well he yeah, that surprised me 'cause yeah. Patty V: agree or was he just saying that to let her gracefully go away? Chesla Wechsler: I think that's a good question because that surprised me too, 'cause he's like, I wouldn't make you happy, you wouldn't make me happy and like, what do you mean Martin, you wouldn't Patty V: Well yeah, that what that I think and so, yeah, I would hope in season four he would think that he was lying when he said that. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, and and or he might have very much believed it. Patty V: But just three weeks earlier he was so despondent when she when he you know, he thought it was over. It didn't make sense to me that three weeks later he could just think, Okay, I can get along without her after all. She wouldn't make me happy, so it just that that didn't stick with me. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, see I didn't I didn't take it that way. I didn't take it she wouldn't make me like Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I how did I I was surprised when he said that, but it was like he's just so miserable. Patty V: All the time. He can't figure himself out anyway. He doesn't even know what would make him happy. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: All the time, like, you know, so so like w correct. Like it's like you wouldn't make me happy either. Like there is no happy for me. Patty V: Yeah. Which Chesla Wechsler: But Patty V: maybe his parents drilled into them. Drilled into. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. But I wanna see the you know, what's in the letter that she writes him. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I mean she she says, I do love you. Patty V: So but season three, I think you've asked this other times, you know, you're gonna continue watching. Season three really makes you have to watch season four. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. Well when you texted to me my first impression was okay, the enthusiasm and the the sort of energy of Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: watching what's next is picking up. Patty V: Yeah. I'm not usually a binge watcher and so I would watch one episode a night and then there were a couple of times we said, Do you wanna do another one? It's not that late And so Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: and there was only seven, not ten, so Chesla Wechsler: Right, yeah, yeah. Patty V: it was you know, a combination of of all kinds of Chesla Wechsler: What's your husband's impression? Patty V: things. he likes it. He's he's actually not that picky with TV shows. So you know his his an endorsement would mean less I think he I think he watches too much TV, but Chesla Wechsler: funny. Patty V: yeah but no no he he he likes it and you know he can be curmudgeonly so he gets He gets Doc Martin, he gets but he gets why it's funny and so I would say he he enjoys it. I don't know I'll have to ask him if he enjoys it more or less than than the best medicine. I think he Chesla Wechsler: Mm. Patty V: likes the British one, you know, a little more. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, I've got any number of friends who really like best medicine. and they but they haven't seen Doc Martin. But Patty V: Really? Hmm. Mm-hmm. Chesla Wechsler: they they and I think it's just, you know, it's it it hits a humor that really appeals to them. Which is great, 'cause to me it's more Doc Martin for everybody. Patty V: Yeah. Even if it's slight you know, slightly different. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, they're very different animals. They're I mean, you can already tell after three seasons of the one and one season of the other, that they're different shows. You Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: know. And we've got this completely different explanation of the blood phobia, which to me is so critical to a show that Patty V: Well, okay. That I think is very American to drag out, you know, something with the sister, something happened, and his parents aren't exactly nice in best medicine, but they don't seem as bad. And you kinda get the feeling there was something with the sister that sort of like maybe they weren't even bad before this accident and that changed them and they never dealt with it properly and and not that it's an excuse, but it's an explanation. And, so I and I think it's very American to try and drag that out is along as many seasons as they can. Like if there's any hint that it's not gonna have a third season, I think they might resolve that by the end of season two. if if not, if it looks like it's gonna keep getting renewed, I think they'll keep dragging it out. But we'll see. Chesla Wechsler: You think? Yeah. Quick one on another episode we haven't discussed. the one with the Saul sisters. I I just loved that one. That's the spooky old bat who was treating her sister with antibiotics that she manufactures Patty V: gosh. Chesla Wechsler: herself. Patty V: That was that was very weird. That Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: was just yeah, they that I i went back and forth between f feeling like the scientist's sister was evil, felt sorry for her, you know, it just seemed like she had good intentions but it got so twisted. If that makes sense. Chesla Wechsler: Mm. Yeah. I I did not like her the whole time because, you know, y you you get it set up from Pauline that like she had gotten fired from her job Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: right for like was it was it killing somebody? Like it was some pretty dramatic thing. Patty V: Well, they said she was responsible for the dead. She like she experimented and people died or something. So and that's sort of what she was doing to her sister. But I don't think she I don't think she thought she was killing her sister, but still. She really Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Just completely callous. You know, I got I I had n no love for Janet Saul. I mean to me she was bad from the get go. I mean she didn't let her have friends, she didn't let her talk to anybody. Patty V: Yeah. And the sister was so apologetic, like for even calling the doctor or for having symptoms or for not taking the medication and for it Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Patty V: it was yeah, I you really liked that sister and felt sorry for her and was, you know, rooting for her, but the the yeah the other one and then when I tried out the mold in Chesla Wechsler: What did what'd you think about Martin? Yeah. Patty V: her yeah, here she was this in her mind brilliant scientist and h and look at her lab and why didn't she get sick too? That's Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, really. You know, unless she's she's worked in it so long that she's built a resistance, who knows? But I thought Patty V: Can you build a new I don't know. I don't know. Chesla Wechsler: that episode I thought showed us a lot of compassion on Martin's side. we had talked about in season two, I had said like he goes to Caroline Bosman's house and he breaks through the door and and you had an explanation that was different w from mine, which was, Well, he's a doctor and this is what he has to do. and it wasn't lies, d Patty V: Whether it was compassion or whether it was yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: did your opinion change at all in this season? 'Cause like I thought when he the way he treated Beth Saul, the the sister, you really got a sense that he cared about her, to me. Patty V: both because, you know, I'm a doctor and she's taking medicine that isn't effective and you can't do that and you have to take my if she took my medicine Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: she'd be fine and she's not taking it and she's taking her sister's quackery and and and so I think that all went against his medical thing. And then I think I think it took a while but then he eventually had some sympathy for how hard it must be for her to like fight her sister. Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: so I I did see some compassion, but I still feel like he was mostly driven or at least initially driven, let's say it that way, by the I'm a doctor and I heal and this is how she can heal. Chesla Wechsler: Mm. 'Cause like she does he doesn't know about the fake antibiotics until the very final episode. As far as he knows, Patty V: Right. Right. Chesla Wechsler: she's just not healing. Patty V: Right. And but but again, there's still that medical puzzle for why Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: is she not healing? She should be healing fine with what I what I gave her. And he has to know, does she have something else or why it is you know, what's going on? And then he eventually f figures it you know, figures that out and and wants to get her safe and and Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: really tore into the sister. so I think that actually tearing into the sister showed More the compassion. Too, but anyway. Chesla Wechsler: Mhm. I thought he might have identified with the s Beth, the the sister with the knee. 'cause, you know, here's a family member abusing her, right? Patty V: Yeah. Which is what he Yeah. Different kind of abuse, but Yeah, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: I don't know if I'm 'cause you know, if you find out that Yeah. So there's like parallels there and stuff. But yeah. you've seen three seasons. Do you have a favorite season? Patty V: Mm, I think season three made me most eager to see season four, more so than one and one did for two and two did for three, so Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: probably this one so far. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Yeah. I a couple things that I enjoyed about this one, just little subtle things. when Martin wakes up with Louisa, right? And and they're sort of found out by the foot Patty V: Right. Chesla Wechsler: postman. just his swagger when he's walking up the street after he leaves cracked me up. Patty V: And everybody notice they notice and know exactly what happened and yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Well at least yeah, the postman's like so that was fun. And We we see Al, you know, Al's gone away and come back. Patty V: I did not look that one up, but yeah, I was happy to see him come back just 'cause I don't want all the characters to disappear. Not that I you know Al's not my favorite or not my least favorite. He's just sort of there, but he needs to be there. Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Yes. So And he you know, once again he gets yanked into something his father's doing because now all of sudden he's deal dealing Patty V: Right. Restaurant. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: with a restaurant and he's gotta deal with this guy, Mick, who sounds like they've got a past. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. And he's feeling like his father's favoring him over his own son and yeah. Chesla Wechsler: But Al once again proves that he's, you know, smarter than he looks. Right? Patty V: Yeah. Yeah I feel like in the other one in Best Medicine, Al was more obviously smarter. than in Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Yes. Patty V: in here it's like, really? You knew that or you could do that? Okay. You Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Patty V: came up with a good solution? Wow. Chesla Wechsler: Mhm. Yeah. He's he sort of he surprises you. 'Cause you know, we're told that Al and Best Medicine got perfect SATs. Whereas in yeah, in Patty V: Right. Right. So there was no surprise. Right. But but he also acted, yeah, he acted a little different. And and the idea that he Chesla Wechsler: And in Doc Martin it it seems like he's he's older, I think, in Doc Martin than Al in Best Medicine starts, like 'cause he's already Yeah, or Patty V: I think if Beth Mosley's supposed to like eighteen, yeah. Chesla Wechsler: or twenty or something like that, but like Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Al's already older 'cause he's, you know, doing this plumbing and he's trying to maybe go to trade school for computer stuff. But they start right out in episode one talking about him reading Daphne de Morrier. And I thought, okay, we've they dropped a hint to us, right? that he's a a bright guy and then he's got the computer skills and he's got drive and that kind of thing. So it's it's developed a little bit more slowly than Al is just smart and you learn that right off the bat just by with a statement in Best Medicine. And we haven't seen him really Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: do anything other than maybe learn how to coach Elaine in her acting. Right. Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Alright. So you're gonna be keep watching. Patty V: I am. Chesla Wechsler: Alright, so folks watching, I hope you've enjoyed this. I've certainly enjoyed talking to Patty. Love your comments. There's a group of us who have nice chats about every episode. So let's keep that up. If you're watching from England, help us out, set us straight, silly Yanks. If we're misinterpreting things or we've got questions, that would be great. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, like, subscribe, do all those good things. And again, Buckham Fair, running out of time on that. If you wanted to just throw a couple bucks at That way I don't know if you are or not. I think it's great if you do. If not, that's fine too. but yeah, thanks everybody. I hope you're enjoying this. Take care. Bye bye.