There are, as usual, two main plots in this episode. With the Doctor's assistant away learning to be a licensed phlebotomist (a person who draws blood), he uses a substitute receptionist. During this period, two problems occur--one minor and one huge one. The huge one involves a case of food poisoning and lots of folks in town are sick--and Martin assumes it's due to Burt's unhygienic restaurant. His guess is reasonable considering the state of the kitchen and the salad he's served...but he's wrong. This mistake and the real culprit aren't discovered until the end. The other problem, much more minor, is about a 15 year-old who's being harassed by her girl 'friends'. She has smaller boobs and after lots of taunting, she does something rather extreme...and Doc Martin, oddly, seems rather nice when it comes to dealing with the girl. Overall, this is an interesting and entertaining show...but don't make too much of Martin's niceness--it only goes so far!
3 Reviews
Dealing with Symptoms
Hitchcoc28 January 2018
We find out that the new constable has some serious problems that may affect his performance. The most fundamental focus is on Bert's efforts to do something new. He drops the plumbing business and opens a restaurant. The problem is that he doesn't seem to have the wherewithal to do an adequate job (even licenses and things). The people he hires can't keep up and his sticking his nose in everything drives them away. To make matters even worse, the people that went to his restaurant came down with food poisoning symptoms. Doc Martin, of course, pretty much puts an end to his business. A young man on parole comes in to help out and get him rolling. There is also some byplay among those awful girls which shows that Doc can have compassion. Finally, Pauline has to leave to be trained in Phlebotomy and a really serious young woman temps for her. She really knows how to run the office well.
A rather rare episode
ulca0129 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
In most of the show's episodes, the doc acts rather rude and shows little to no sign of empathy or sympathy.
But in this episode, he seems to feel sympathy for a teenage girl who is harassed or bullied for her small breasts. Towards the end of the episode, the doc gives the girl a small container of vitamin pills. She asks if the pills will make her breasts grow, which the doc confirms if the cure is combined with exercise, healthy eating and no smoking or drinking alcohol.
This is a clear case of a somewhat rare kind of medical cure, called placebo, where the patient is led to believe a pill (or other kind of medication) has an effect, while in reality the only effect is stimulating the patient's body to heal itself.
But in this episode, he seems to feel sympathy for a teenage girl who is harassed or bullied for her small breasts. Towards the end of the episode, the doc gives the girl a small container of vitamin pills. She asks if the pills will make her breasts grow, which the doc confirms if the cure is combined with exercise, healthy eating and no smoking or drinking alcohol.
This is a clear case of a somewhat rare kind of medical cure, called placebo, where the patient is led to believe a pill (or other kind of medication) has an effect, while in reality the only effect is stimulating the patient's body to heal itself.
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