Doc Martin Season 1 Episode 6

The tourist season has arrived in Portwenn. Disgruntled by the invasion of holidaymakers, Martin grimaces as he makes his way through the crowds.

Then he notices an attractive woman, and stops to stare…at her chest! Not surprisingly she’s annoyed at his blatancy. And she can’t believe it when he says he’d like to examine her chest.

Martin was actually trying to warn the woman about the dangers of sunbathing for fear of skin cancer, but his usual abrupt and quirky manner has caused offence. She tells him to go away in no uncertain terms.

Louisa has witnessed the encounter, and advises Martin that he should have explained to the woman that he is a doctor to prevent her from thinking he is a pervert.

At the surgery Adrian Pitts is waiting to see Martin. He’s hovering lecherously over Elaine, getting a perfect view of her cleavage. He’s one of Martin’s former pupils, and has come for a reference. But Martin recalls he was not exactly a star pupil.

Gossip about the blood phobia which forced Martin to terminate his brilliant career as a surgeon seems to have spread round the village like wild fire. Two patients in the surgery can’t resist mentioning the ‘b’ word to Martin. Then he gets an urgent call from the pub.

Bert has had a terrible accident while working there, and he’s bleeding profusely. The sight of blood pouring from Bert’s wound begins to trigger the all too familiar panic attacks for Martin. But on closer examination he realises the blood is actually tomato ketchup. Martin is not amused.

He deduces that Roger Fenn must have been blabbing to the village, even though he promised to keep the phobia a secret. Martin challenges Roger as to why he has been gossiping. Roger is angry that Martin thinks he cannot be trusted with a secret, and denies spilling the beans.

The whole village is buzzing with the rumours about the doctor’s phobia. It even becomes the topic of hot discussion on Radio Portwenn’s phone-in show. Martin can’t believe what he is hearing on his car radio.

He stops and phones into the radio station to put the record straight. But still he is the butt of village jokes.