Who is the worst local character?

Louisa by far - why would she marry a man who she obviously doesn't even like. Her constant frustration with Martins behavior is irritating, what does she expect?
Burt Large - his character is repulsive to me, sorry.

The whole show is based on the exaggeration of the quirky odd-ball character traits people have! Perhaps some people are disliked as they feature in people you dislike in real life. It is fiction, no one to dislike, but can see all the traits in some people just not exaggerated as in Doc Martin.

PC Penhale gets my vote. His predecessor, PC Mylow, was also quirky and socially inept, but at least competent as a police officer. The writers present Penhale as so meek and phobia-ridden as to be ineffective as an agent of the law, and frequently a catalyst for inflaming already volatile situations. We're in the midst of Series 5 here in the U.S., and last night, it was wonderful to see him finally grow a pair and exile a father-son loan shark operation from the village...only to endanger Martin and Louisa's infant son in an attempt to play at covert ops in the episode that followed.

The other villagers, no matter how annoying they prove to Dr. Ellingham, are believable characterizations of people we've all encountered at some point in life. Even the unbalanced park ranger, whose second appearance during PC Mylow's ill-advised bachelor excursion pushed the metaphoric envelope about as far as it could go, was an otherwise reasonable characterization of people who deliberately choose solitary professional and personal lives - I've encountered a few such folks in real life, and their disparate reasons for avoiding socialization are often frighteningly apparent.

PC Penhale, he's just too dimwitted and it grates on the nerves after awhile. He's the only one I find annoying on the show.

Only two get the ewww from me, the woman who server her husband tainted road kill, and the man who created a charming smell in the village, using his barbecue

I cannot STAND Louisa. Yes, Elaine is disrespectful and lazy. But Louisa is constantly seeking Doc Martin out to argue. Terrible, terrible person. And she is a teacher? You would think she would have more sense.
So, in order, my top three:
Louisa
Louisa
Louisa

For me, it doesn't get much worse than the whacko pharmacist with the neck brace (can't recall her name), who dogs Martin's steps and kidnaps his and Louisa's child while jacked up on various drugs! She's obviously still unstable.


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

1: Elaine, hands down.
Nothing at all redeeming about her character. She was always miserable and nasty. She was obviously written to be a thorn in Dr. Martin's side, but they went much further than necessary and created a character who could have easily killed the show. Wise choice to get her out of the way.

2. Louisa.
Outside of her relationship with Martin, she's at best bland. No harm, no foul. However, with Martin she is impatient, intolerant, judgmental, self-righteous and when pushed to anger, a bully. She constantly badgers and berates Martin for his short comings and expects him to close all the distance between the two of them. Her interest in him seems to be tied solely to her awe of his medical skill and the fact that he is James Henry's father. Take away the baby and there is no relationship and Ruth was spot on to tell Martin not to stay in Portwenn on account of the child. Louisa needs to see Martin for who he is and quit expecting him to be who he isn't. Yes, she can help him to open up and socialize better, but she will never make him 'normal'. As the series has progressed, I have come to enjoy all the sub-plots far more than the central dynamic of Martin and Louisa.

3. (tie). PC Penhale and post breakdown Ms. Tishell.
I don't dislike PC Penhale per se, but I am frustrated that he has been written exclusively as the town fool. He really is so lovable, so well meaning, the producers need to allow him to succeed just a little more often to give him some credibility.
Ms. Tishell was a wonderful comic foil with her thinly veiled obsession for Dr. Martin, and the show would have done well had she never progressed beyond that point. Her only shortcoming was her unfair relationship with Clive and I really hoped the producers would steer her character towards a new found awareness for him. The season 5 finale was a great episode, but I hated the fact that they effectively killed Ms. Tishell's character and made her the baddy. Shortsighted and unnecessary; they could have steered that episode along similar plot lines without destroying her.