S5-6 Martin & Louisa & James Henry

Doc Martin Series 5 follows Martin and Louisa with their new baby. First Martin has to postpone London because his aunt has died (ie left the show) . Then the new doctor misdiagnoses many patients and even herself and needs surgery. Louisa joins Martin, again the GP, in the surgery house and fights her fatigue to be his receptionist. Implausibly Pauline has left Port Wenn and Al (ie left the show). Martin helps a lot with the child care and registers the name James Henry that Louisa wanted. Louisa decides she will move with him to London after mid-term. Her mother Eleanor appears from Spain . She puts some of her tonic in the baby’s milk and is doing business on the side.

The start of term brings Louisa many school problems requiring the doctor’s constant visits to resolve. Telling is her not expressing any concern for Martin’s safety when he has to climb a ladder to a slate roof to rescue her janitor. Martin correctly assumed from her schedule a good christening day , and cooks her a healthy dinner for her return from the terrible day at school. Because? she was not asked about these minor plans she moves out with the child to her mother‘s! Very unreasonable. Or maybe it was because Martin had his London walls repainted already in white or wants to put James Henry on the queue for a prep school 6 years on

A herniated Eleanor gets a JD to care for the baby, but still Martin operates on her in his office to save her life. Louisa asks Martin to misuse his receptionist to childmind and then Mrs. Sally Tishell the pharmacist offers to do it. But she has self-medicated and believes Martin loves her and takes the child to where she imagines Martin wants to be alone with her. With Louisa out of Sally’s view but coaching. to get the baby back. Martin has to say to Sally what he actually should say to Louisa about his stupid failure to express his love and volunteers to now stay in the Port Wenn he detests just to be with her. No woman who loves him as much as he her would accept such a sacrifice of his professional ability and happiness so she can stay at one school her whole life. .She never can give this superb Doctor any love speech back, no matter how many lives he saves . .(No wonder his usual clinical mind is so tongue-tied with his blind love for her.) They finally marry and that‘s the end of anything worth condensing. Forget the farce and dismal series that followed.