Wow -- that Buddy episode was hard to watch. I can only think they are building up to having Martin change his mind about Buddy. That dog is so damn cute and Martin's harassment of him is starting to wear thin. And what was with the weird vet?
I know that Clunes actually loves dogs. I wish the Doc did too.
By weird vet, are you referencing the episode with Caroline Quentin? (known for Jonathan Creek and Blue Murder.) I was happy when I saw her in the previews for the next episode, she's a fun character actress.
Unfortunately, I had to reach for my metaphorical puke bucket at the start of her episode. As soon as Doc Martin said she was a holistic vet, I knew, "Uh-oh. This is the requisite episode that the show has every couple of years where any type of medical care other than allopathic drugs and surgery is portrayed as stupid and harmful. Who is Quentin's character going to nearly kill so that the doc has to swoop in at the end of the episode and save the day by saving the patient?"
In this instance, it was Quentin's character, poisoning herself with Baytril. This is a cute show, but good grief, I was already over this plot device after the herbalist in series 2: She poisoned her patient with mercury!
Then there were the roadkill-roasting parents in series 3 who encouraged their son to vandalise cars: They didn't vaccinate!
Then there was the midwife in series 4 who advocated home birth: She hated men!
sigh.
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remember: tv is called PROGRAMMING, items of news are STORIES
I don't know about the human medicine issues, but as for holistic vets, I think some of them have made their reputation so much on the non-traditional medicine that they are unwilling to accept that vaccines have been changed, certain diseases have become more prevalent, and that sometimes the cure is worth the side effects of the medicine. I had a foster dog get very sick from a disease that "the group" essentially forbade me from vaccinating the dog against.
shareThe people that we know in real life are ordinary. They are not the comedic fruitcake whackaloons portrayed in Doc Martin. Imagine if the herbalist had been his intellectual equal; happy, successful and loved by her family.
Imagine if the parents encouraged their son to be an artist on an appropriate canvas. Imagine if the midwife wasn't viciously anti-men.
Not on this show. We are hammered over the head that 'alternative' folks are nutjobs.
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remember: tv is called PROGRAMMING, items of news are STORIES
I know I've missed quite a few episodes from the series. I'll have to look for these characters. :)
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I guess in many years of watching this show I never stopped to try to figure out why Martin hates dogs. It seems natural. He is severely germ-phobic, for one thing. But that's all I've got. Because often they say that when people don't relate to other people well or comfortably, they do feel connected to pets. So if Martin was an isolated, neglected little boy, you'd think he would have a soft spot in his heart for dogs.
All I can think is that Buddy is going to come through in some life-altering event that makes Martin change his mind and heart about him. Maybe James Henry gets into some trouble and Buddy saves him? You saw it here first!
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Well, Buddy does not appear in every episode, and when he belonged to Auntie Joan, she loved him. So that was a nice contrast to Martin. Plus, Buddy provides comic relief, since he often thwarts Martin's mistreatment and is just so cute you have to laugh.
Martin is really not becoming more eccentric. I see him actually improving a little. He is more connected to James Henry than he has been in previous seasons. He seems more in touch with his need for Louisa and appears to be trying to clear away some of his repressions. She, on the other hand, seems more closed up and much less likable than she has ever been.
His impatience with the locals and his patients is about the same. But if someone is truly in medical distress, Martin has always been right there.
I would imagine that farm dogs in a wet climate really can get messy and stinky. The dog before Buddy, which I think was a bearded collie (a longhaired breed) really did look like a bunch of old wet rags. The terrier coat will stay a little cleaner, or at least be easier to clean up. So maybe the smaller, cleaner Buddy may become instrumental in a breakthrough for Martin in the future. :o)
shareI do feel like the writers must be building up to something with Buddy. Martin's abuse of him is becoming too much. I would definitely like to see Buddy become a hero somehow.
I read somewhere that the bearded collie died.
Your point about wet farm dogs just made me have a realization that could shed (no dug pun intended) some light on Martin's feelings about Buddy - While I still think it's illogical and excessive to euthanize a perfectly healthy dog rather than take him to a shelter, I can very much relate to not wanting my nice, clean work clothes being soiled by an animal. And I'm a huge animal-lover.
Now, I don't blame it on the animal because I don't think they know any better (drives me crazy when people scold animals for things that are only faux-pas to a human); but I still sometimes get very annoyed in the moment because I think of their owner's selfishness and irresponsibility in letting their pet not only dirty someone, but potentially frighten them (since some people are afraid of or allergic to dogs, seeing one unleashed can be anxiety-inducing, I would imagine).
Since Martin also is a big stickler for personal responsibility, I'd be willing to bet a large part of his intolerance for Buddy stems from his general intolerance for human folly - this dog must have belonged to someone rightfully before Joan sort of adopted it, and now it's clinging to him because she's dead. Where is that person and why did they just abandon a dog in a village?
Now, I still don't think he's terribly crazy about animals (we've seen him act rather annoyed around dogs besides Buddy and know that he doesn't like cats, either). But that could explain at least part of his seemingly disproportionate hatred for Buddy.
Indeed, Martin's reaction to his annoyance with Buddy was definitely excessive and illogical. There is no argument there. But Martin is so emotionally repressed, that all of his emotional reactions are illogical and excessive.
I can empathize with you. I love animals, however, I do not want them jumping on me, licking me or getting my clothes all messy. I live in my cat's house. My daughter has two dogs. They are great dogs, but, I do not want them jumping on me, licking me, or getting as intimate with me as they are want to do. I would not want to live with them and I enjoyed visiting my daughter and her family more befre they moved into the house. My daughter, son-in-law- and grandchildren know this and have trained the dogs to behave in a way that will not be offensive to me. They have taken responsibility for the behavior of their pets.
I also agree, that the character, Doc Martin is a big stickler for personal responsibility and most likely feels that Buddy should have a human owner to take responsibility for his behavior. He tried to get several humans to take that responsibility for the two dogs, Aunt Joan, PC Milo, and Aunt Ruth, but the humans did not do that.
Of course Doc Martin is a character in a TV show. Martin Clunes really does love animals and raises a ton of money for them every year.
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I've known two people in the same family who detested dogs. The mother was an abusive B who suffered from mental illness and was OCD about cleanliness; her homes are always all-white and spotless. When my friend was little, her father bought her a puppy. The first time the puppy had an accident, the psycho mother tossed it outside, where it was hit by a car and killed. My friend's brother, who also grew up to be a child abuser, also hated dogs. His abused kids used to say if anyone brought them a pet, they would have to kill it. I'm actually relieved these people didn't have pets.
My childhood beagle used to follow anyone who didn't respond to her charms. She would stare at them, then follow them around, even into the bathroom.
Given all those experiences, I never questioned the dog issues on Doc Martin. I did scream at the TV when Martin took Buddy to be put down (the scene reminded me of that awful woman trying to put down Toto in Wizard of Oz). Buddy is one adorable dog. I certainly couldn't resist him.
Put puppy mills out of business: never buy dogs from pet shops!
I never realized it but you are right about the way any kind of alternative medicine or health practice has been portrayed on the show. Though it's not necessarily limited to the holistic practitioners and the herbalists and the strident man-hating doulas. It's really any doctor who is not Martin. Think about the woman GP who came to take the practice when he had left for London. Incompetent. The nurses in the hospitals that he has run through, searching for Louisa or his other patients. Lazy and bureaucratic. The young hospital resident who insults Martin and then shows up in Port Wenn to ask him for a reference. Arrogant and stupid.
Seems to be a trend
I know, I really hate that they make Doc so cold as to try euthanizing a perfectly healthy dog. His robotic demeanor is usually funny, but that was just taking it too far. It makes no less sense to take him to a shelter than it does to just off him.
shareFirst, everyone does not like dogs. While Doc Martin's reactions seems to be excessive, he is far from the only person who finds dogs annoying. Many people do not want to have dogs in their lives. They are not phobic or unkind, they just do not want an animal who requires as much responsibility as a dogs does. I have treated people, and had friends and family members who choose not to have dogs in their homes. They do not want to be responsible for an animal that requires walking, feeding, and needs to be cared for if they go on vacation or away for more than a few hours. Most find dogs adorable, as long as they are not responsible for them. Others do not like them for many other reasons, i.e. they do not like being jumped on, licked, they are annoyed by barking, etc. Some people prefer cats. Some prefer fish. Some like snakes. Some do not want any pets at all. There is no right or wrong. It is just personal preference. This is not a mental illness.
Second, many people do not trust homeopathic or alternative medicine. They only trust traditional western medicine. If you read up on homeopathic medicine as first described by it makes no sense. Water, when diluted has no effect on anything.Just because a substance is natural, it is not necessarily safe. Hemlock is natural, but it is still a poison and still killed Socrates. Many pharmaceutical products are actually natural or are chemically identical to their natural cousins. If you study pharmacology like I did while studying for my doctorate you will learn all of these things about medications and the different types of pharmaceuticals.
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I agree, many people don't care for pets. However, inflicting injury to or killing animals can sometimes be a sign of psychopathology. It's often stated that serial killers were cruel to animals in childhood. (The fictional character) Doc Martin's behavior towards dogs--seeming callous when he ran over one, and now wanting Buddy to die to the point of taking steps to kill him himself--is not just a personal preference although I'm not ready to say it is a mental illness in his "case."
I'm involved in animal rescue, by the way, so that may be why these story lines bother me more than they seem to bother you.
Indeed, you are correct. Torturing animals is one of the triad of symptoms for Anti Social Personality Disorder. The other two are, bed wetting and fire setting. These symptoms are usually seen in childhood and along with other symptoms lead to a diagnosis of Conduct Disorder followed by Anti Social Personality Disorder in adult life, after age 18.
Doc Martin does not have Anti Social Personality Disorder, my opinion as a licensed psychologist. Just look at him when he sees or comes across a person who is ill or hurt and you can see how painful this is for him. Also when he lets his feelings for Louisa come to the surface, you can see how much he loves her. This is not the profile of a person with Anti Social Personality Disorder.
Also- other than his over reaction to Buddy, want to euthanize him he has never actually harmed any animal. Actually even then, he did not harm Buddy. He would have been happy if the vet just kept him away.
It is good to here that you are involved in animal rescue. My husband has been a wild life rescuer for seven years. He has his catch and transport license and has been inoculated against rabies so he can treat any animal. We have had baby squirrels and foxes in our home when they need round the clock feeding.
When we watch this show we always remember that this is just TV. We remember that Martin Clunes is an animal lover and raises thousands of pounds a year for animals all over the year. He is getting an OBE from the Queen for his work. He holds huge fund raisers each year and has made documentaries. If you have the DVD's check out the bonus features. On the first disc of series 7 there is a clip of Martin dancing on the beach with Buddy. On Doc Martin, they are both actors.Buddy's trainer also explains how she has trained Buddy and how much he loves Martin. They have a great relationship as do all of the animals on the set.
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Some of Martin Clunes' documentaries about animals are on youtube. Nice to watch, if there is time.
My hands-on rescue work is small dogs, lap dogs and terriers. :o)
I don't know if anyone noticed, but in the episode where the holistic doc was taking Buddy away, there was a softening in Martin's eyes, like Martin Clunes was really upset about Buddy leaving.
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MsGFW,
This is in response to both of your posts.
Buddy does not get put down. He lives and continues to annoy his beloved Doc Martin. Let's face it the series would not be the same without him and Martin Clunes adores the little guy. Check out the bonus feature on the DVD Series 7 Disc 1.
FYI the only reason Buddy replaced the other dog, the black one, was because that dog passed away of natural causes, between series 3 and 4. They had to get a replacement actor.
As far as Louis and Martin, those two have loved each other from the time they first laid eyes on each other in Series 1 Episode 1. If it were just about looks, drop dead handsome, then we would be talking superficial and if they are anything they are not superficial. They are intelligent, deep, and emotionally repressed, but not superficial.
The character, Doc Martin, is not a Sociopath. There is no continuum. Either you are or you are not. He is not. Lack of empathy is a requirement. If you have empathy, you are not a Sociopath. This is my qualified, professional opinion.
Dr. Erlich, Licensed Psychologist
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Hi MsGFW
I hope this helps. I know it is very long, but I tried to give you the information you asked for.
Martin and Louisa are very compatible. They are both highly trained, highly educated people who are at the top of their profession. They function very well in their jobs. Louisa is an excellent teacher and head teacher. She is creative and cares deeply about her students. She guides them and helps them become effective and productive adults. Doc Martin is at the top of his profession. Before he became too emotionally involved with his patients (became too aware of them as full human beings while he was operating on them) he was a top flight surgeon. He was admired and respected in the medical community. Some surgeons idolized him.
Both Martin and Louisa were emotionally abused by their parents. Louisa's mother abandoned her when she was 12 years old. Her father was in prison during her childhood. When we met Louisa's mother it was obvious she was a poor mother. She even gave baby James Alcohol in his bottle. Martin's parent's were horrid too. They were only interested in what they could get out of him. His mother told him that her life was ruined by him. She wanted money from him and was very cold and even stole his clock, part of his inheritance from Auntie Joan. Both Louisa's and Martin's parents were very toxic. Neither of them had positive role models for relationships or parenting.
Edith was definitely not Martin's type. Edith was very Narcissistic. She had no real feelings or empathy for anyone. She was only interested in Martin because bringing him back would help her career. She needed him to strengthen her presentation and support her at the conference. She also wanted to have sex with him. When Louisa was her patient she did not care about her or her child. She saw them as research subjects. Edith was cold, manipulative, uncaring. She was a fractured human being. She was totally unable to communicate with anyone. She had zero empathy. She was almost a robot.
As far as the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath, psychopath is not a diagnosis according to the DSM-5 (The Diagnostic Manual of the American Psychiatric Association) or the ICD-10 (The International Classification of Diseases 10th Edition) which takes its diagnostic classifications from the American Psychiatric Association. Both would be diagnosed as Anti-Social Personality Disorder.
Clinically, there is a difference, therefore treatment is different. psychopathy is much more serious because psychopaths actually physically harm people and gain pleasure from this. Psychopaths include people like, Jeffrey Dahlmer, Ted Bundy, and Timothy McVeigh. Sociopaths are different. They do share some of the personality traits, but they do not perform mass murder (killing 4 or more people). They lack empathy, are shallow, charismatic, highly manipulative, charming, superficial, have no inner life, low self esteem, and abusive parents. They may have a history of bed wetting, torture of animals, and fire starting in childhood.
People with Anti-Social Personality Disorder usually channel their lives in one of two directions when they choose their professions. They can go negative and become criminals. Or become policemen and take a more positive direction. They are also drawn to professions like politics, law, building trades, stock broker, or sales. There are other professions as well. Usually they are drawn to jobs that require using power and manipulation in order to be successful. Usually there is a strong dose of Narcissism in the mix.
People with Anti-Social Personality Disorder tend to have substance abuse problems. They also do very well in structured situations, like prison. Since they lack inner structure, institutions provide an outer structure that establishes boundaries for them that they cannot provide for themselves.
Martin and Louisa are both very emotionally repressed. They both try very hard to be open with each other, but often it backfires. If you check out the early episodes, they agree to meet and someone else gets in the way, or a medical crisis occurs. But when things fall into place, like when James Henry is born, it is like magic. They both really pull it all together when the other person is in crisis. Then their love for each other is right out there for everyone to see. They are very protective of each other and their baby.
I have met people like Doc Martin. One of the people I know who is like him is a psychiatrist I have worked with for 30 years. This guy is brilliant. He graduated first in his class from Harvard Medical School. He is the best diagnostician I know. He has tremendous empathy and really cares for his patients. He does not care if he gets paid or not and will deal with an emergency at the drop of a penny. He has horrible interpersonal skills. He cannot relate to people at all. I will not leave him alone with one of my patients. I always sit in, because I never know what he will say or do that will upset someone. But his treatment recommendations, diagnoses, and medication decisions are always spot on. And he truly cares, he just can't communicate, but he is brilliant. He and I get along very well, but that is because I know him and I work at it.
If I had to give Doc Martin a diagnosis I would give him Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The traumas began in his childhood where he was tormented by his parents who did not love him and made it clear that they neither wanted him or loved him.
They separated him from then one person who loved him, Auntie Joan and sent him to boarding school where he was miserable. Now he is unable to practice the one profession he excels at and loves, surgery and is stuck being a GP in Port Wenn where he finds the people annoying and unappreciative, even though he will drop everything to come to their aid if necessary. He does not suffer fools. He is not running a tea shop. He believes that when people come to see him they should be ill, not just paying a social call.
Yes he is irritable. That is part of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. People just need to look at his situation from his point of view. The people complaining about Louisa need to look at the situation from her point of view, too.
He is a human being who is struggling. Louisa and Aunt Ruth seem to be the only people who are interested in him as a person.
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Hi MsGFW
You are confusing psychopaths with sociopaths. It is the sociopaths who flood the entertainment business, politics, the military, and business. When they kill and torture people they become psychopaths. The line is very clear. If you try to love and hole a sociopath or psychopath dear, you are only asking for grief and pain. They have no inner life. It is impossible. Many of these people also have a strong dose of narcissism. That just adds to the grief for people who love them. We professional call it Cluster 2 of the personality disorders: Narcissism, Sociapathy (Anti=Social) and Borderline.
As far as Martin, his background was given by his Aunts Joan and Ruth. He has experienced nightmares, flashbacks to his childhood, hyperarousal, anxiety, depression and paranoia in the series. He is also obviously emotionally repressed.
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How a man treats his mother will be how he ends up treating you
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There's too much emphasis on looks these days. I find the doc attractive, mainly because he cares for Louisa, his aunts, and his patients, even though he's curt with them. That's who he is.
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He does not have him put down, at least not yet. And I doubt he ever will. :o)
sharePlease, someone, anyone, tell me if he has this dog put down or not? I'm within a cross-hair whether to quit the show or not, and that would seal it.
It occurred to me that Martin was only going to do to the dog what his mother would have happily done to him as a boy, had she been able to get away with it. And he knows it.
It’s terribly sad really.
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Please don't take this so seriously. This forum is basically for our entertainment and not intended for professional advice and opinions on real human beings, or real dogs, for that matter. I don't think a real terrier would put up with Martin's treatment of him.
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MsGFW
I do not appreciate the ad homonim attacks on my person. Every thing I have said is based on professional research and peer reviewed literature. It is not just opinion. Doc Martin is not a sociopath, no matter how badly you want him to be. The diagnostic criteria are:
A. A pervasive pattern of disregard fir and violation of the rights of others, since the age of 15 as indicated by three or more of the following:
Failure to conform to social norms with lawful behaviors as indicated by by repeadedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.
Deceitfullness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning othersfor personal pleasure or profit.
Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
Irritability and aggressiveness as indicated by repeated physical fights or assualts.
Recklessness disrgard for the saftey of self or others.
Consistant irresponsibility, as indicated by failure to sustain work behavior or honor financial obligations.
Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent toor rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
B. Thr individual is over 18 years old.
C. There is evidence of a Conduct Disorder before the age of 15 years old.
D. The occurance of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Source: American Psychiatric Association (2013), Diagnostic and statistical manual of The American Psychiatric Association, 5th Edition (DSM-5). Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association.
You are entitled to your opinion, but it is just that, an opinion. I am not a terrible therapist, just a well educated, highly experienced one. You layperson's opinion is just wrong.
If Martin was selfish he would not expend all of that time and energy helping people, healing them, and really caring for them. Yes, he does it on his terms, but we all do that to some degree or another, unless we are so co-dependent thaat we sacrifice ourselves to the need of another and then we not only lose ourselves, but become emotionally depleted and ill.
I do not know why you are so invested in you diagnosis of Doc Martin, but perhaps you need to take a look at that. And, please, not in my practice. If your soul is tourtured, there is help for you with a competant therapist. It is really not necessary to live with a tourtured soul. Doc Martin is just a TV character, playing out a roll and following a script. He is not a real person and Martin Clunes is not like his character.
Please find some help for your self. You deserve some peace and relief form the torture you say you are experienceing.
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Dear MsGFW
I am tired of this, however you are accusing me of doing things I am not doing and please stop.
"More later. I do have to say to our resident therapist that I want to know where she hangs her shingle to avoid taking my tortured soul in constant recovery to her, and I mean that. She's terrible."
You said you have a tortured soul, not me. Stop the ad-homonym attacks (personal attacks) on me and my professionalism. Stop calling me terrible. You do not know me or my work.
I have told you more about me than you have told me about yourself, and I have not pretended to know anything about you except what you have told me, that you have a tortured soul and are an amatur psychologist (you are expressing your personal opinion).
You reported my post! Why because I stated facts to back up my professional opinions. Wuold you like the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Or do I get some respect for my professional credentials and the fact that I ited my source?
I believe you qwe me an apology for your attack, but I do not expect one. Please if you are ever in the neighboorhood and find my practice, do not stop by. You can find out where it is located on the Internet. Please do me a favor and do not contact me in any way.
Oh, sociopathy is not caused by chid abuse, even a strict upbringing. It is a personality disorder. I do not know where you get your information, but it cannot be from any professional source. It is just not valid.
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This is getting like "Galavant": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qXGnfcLtKM. (Anything to plug that show!)
Anyway, people are reading way too much into the show; it's not a serious look at a man's psychology, it's a dramedy. The writers put stuff in because they think it's amusing.
Most Brits find it odd that there are so many head doctors in such a small area. We don't all go crying to AA/whatever-A whenever we have a problem. Stiff upper lip and all that. I don't personally know anyone who has ever sought any sort of counselling.
No tears please, it's a waste of good suffering.share
... people are reading way too much into the show; it's not a serious look at a man's psychology, it's a dramedy. The writers put stuff in because they think it's amusing.
Hi sierramorena
Yes, please. Thank you.
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Hi LeMarchand,
Thank you. Yes they are reading too much into this show. I am just getting tired of the attacks on fictional characters that are peppering this board. They are not people, they are characters in a TV series. This is entertainment!
My PhD is in Health Psychology. A specialty that works to improve health outcomes. I don't get all of the negative comments about my profession or my work.
Let's get back to having a good time watching this show, I really enjoy it.
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Agreed. I have always found ppd's posts helpful and enlightening, no matter what the board or thread. It's a shame people can't realize Doc Martin is indeed a dramedy, with characters who are not meant to be taken so seriously. If people would just lighten up, they could get so many belly laughs from this series. It's sarcasm, in much the same way as Monty Python and Fawlty Towers were. In some ways these characters are stock comic figures, though they also have just enough humanity to remind us of ourselves or people we know.
Put puppy mills out of business: never buy dogs from pet shops!
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Yes, there are genetic factors. But, this discussion is getting very silly and tiresome. It has also become very personal because someone has decided to personally attack me. I want it to stop. I have had my professional skills and abilities demeaned and disparaged. And a certain poster has become very nasty.
I only want to enjoy this show. I have never cared to analyze or diagnose the characters. I do not do this unless I have a professional relationship with them.
Let's all get back to enjoying this wonderful show.
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