Doc Martin (TV Series) Dry Your Tears (2011) User Reviews

Decent.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 27 April 2015]

This episode begins with the funeral for Aunt Joan (Stephanie Cole). Why they killed off the character, I'd love to know as Ms. Cole is still acting and is definitely NOT dead! Regardless, there is a big cock-up at the funeral and Joan's sister, Ruth appears. Ruth is DEFINITELY an Ellington--with the personality disorder to match. However, when Ruth inherits her sister's farm, it looks like she'll be staying a bit--even though she hates animals.

In addition to this, the big theme in the show is the lack of a receptionist. Why she's gone, exactly, is odd and Louisa chips in as a receptionist. However, she JUST HAD A BABY and Doc Martin isn't exactly sympathetic towards her, so Louisa has to find a substitute...and fast.

This is a decent episode but it didn't feel right without Joan or the receptionist. But it is entertaining nevertheless.

At Times Frustrating/At Times Touching

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 24 February 2018]

The writers and producers have had to deal with the loss of a couple of characters. Of course, Aunt Joan died in the previous episode and her sister, to whom she left the farm, a rather sour and harsh woman, enters. Pauline is gone as well. Martin receives word that he has to wait two months to go to London. He is asked to eulogize Joan and delivers a diatribe on bad health practices and obesity. Several other things begin to take place. Louisa, baby in hand, tries to be the new receptionist but Martin is ugly and critical. A young man, son of the funeral director, has serious issues of his own making (and his father's). And Ruth has a secret..

Family Resemblance

[tunix_2008 · 8/10 · 19 September 2018]

Today we see Portwenn say goodbye to Joan. Ruth arrives and like Martin, she's curt and dismissive. When she speaks to Louisa, Ruth is so properly English or Englishly proper. She reminded me of Agatha Christie characters who almost certainly ended up dead. It's a bit puzzling to me though because all this time I thought Joan and Martin's father were the only siblings now comes a previously unrevealed sibling. Apparently, she's the oft forgotten middle child. I never saw the resemblance between Martin's clinical and brusque personality and Joan's warmth and kindness. Martin's father is a charming ladies' man. Although his mother was totally indifferent she wasn't abrupt and rude like Martin. She could cut up his heart into a million pieces with hurtful words but she delivered it ever so mildly like she was talking about quilting or whatever it is elderly women do. But Ruth -- now there's the family resemblance. She's sharp and cutting to everyone in Portwenn and showed no signs of humanity until Martin tells her she's not dying from lupus but from a curable dehydrating syndrome. Here she hugs Martin and he doesn't resist. Another similarity between Martin and Ruth was that Joan had been wanting them both to leave London and stay in Portwenn, which seems now she succeeded albeit from beyond the grave. Martin was miffed because the undertakers were late. After insisting to be one of the pallbearers, the younger undertaker drops his end almost causing the coffin to tip over on the mourners in the church. While Martin delivered his eulogy, which sounded like a medical lecture on heart attacks and obesity, his baby was antsy and so Louisa had to take him outside. Then Penhale's phone radio and phone went off. So it's a typical Portwenn event catered by Large. Because of Joan's death, Martin had to stay in Portwenn two more weeks to settle her affairs but Imperial Hospital couldn't get a replacement for just two weeks. The shortest stint they could book was for two months. And so the Doc has to stay for another couple of months. In the meantime, Pauline wasn't even in Portwenn any more. Al and Burt were talking about her not being given time off by her new boss to attend Joan's funeral. So Louisa pinch hits as practice receptionist. We meet Morwenna again as the chemist's assistant but she was fired so she ended up at the surgery asking to babysit Louisa's baby. But Louisa had a better idea -- hire Morwenna as the Doc's receptionist. I'm surprised why they had to go through having Morwenna jump from one job to another -- the baker, the chemist, etc - when the Doc could've just ask Louisa about her, she was Pauline's replacement after all when Pauline studied to be a phlebotomist. It's as though the Doc and Louisa were meeting Morwenna for the first time and vice versa. I guess the continuity editor is has been replaced too.

Magnificent: lots of transitions, lots of business, full of sly humor

[tonys_aussie · 10/10 · 26 September 2020]

(This review from Australia, in the plague year 2020). This is a wonderful episode of Doc Martin, effortlessly pulling off a series of transitions and pivots (to use the 2020 favourite stockmarket term) in a very humorous manner. First, the funeral of Aunt Joan leads to replacement Aunt Ruth (Eileen Atkins, wonderful setup, initially dour for reasons we come to understand). The aunts of Doc Martin provide through the series a lot of connections to the doctor's broader family, and give all 9 seasons a B plot arc of the aunts' life on their farm. I loved the sly humour of the relationship between the doc (who's "on the spectrum") and Ruth who shares these family characteristics, how the doc in his usual Superdoc guise diagnoses that she's not actually dying of lupus and wonderfully says to her "I'm sorry but you're not dying", she gives him a hug (wonderfully awkward because they are both not touchy-feely). And then the episode sees the doc, initially for a period of some months, not actually leaving the village to return to London: a geographical non-transition. Additionally we see the first appearance of the Morwenna (Jessica Ransom) as the new receptionist - whom we all come to love all the way through to the end of series 9 and hopefully series 10 being shot in Cornwall in summer 2020. And to cap it off, Louisa (Carolyn Catz) has borne Martin's and her son, and returns with Martin. Carolyn Catz is positively luminous in this episode (she and Martin Clunes and team must have been having a lot of fun, as the often spiky demeanour of Louisa became much gentler in this episode). A shout out for the wonderful dog-handling: I've never seen a series which has done better with finding appealing dogs to pop up in unanticipated places for Martin to dislike and us to enjoy. It's wonderful to see a team absolutely on top of their game: wonderful writing, great acting, deft direction and lots of really sly humour deftly handled. A wonderful uplifting episode, which achieves a major foundational setup for the 5 seasons to follow.

Wonderful, lots of transitions setting up 5 series to follow, new characters, sly and laugh out loud humor

[tonys_aussie · 10/10 · 26 September 2020]

(This review from Australia, in the plague year 2020). This is a wonderful episode of Doc Martin, effortlessly pulling off a series of transitions and pivots (to use the 2020 favourite stockmarket term) in a very humorous manner. First, the funeral of Aunt Joan leads to replacement Aunt Ruth (Eileen Atkins, wonderful setup, initially dour for reasons we come to understand). The aunts of Doc Martin provide through the series a lot of connections to the doctor's broader family, and give all 9 seasons a B plot arc of the aunts' life on their farm. I loved the sly humour of the relationship between the doc (who's "on the spectrum") and Ruth who shares these family characteristics, how the doc in his usual Superdoc guise diagnoses that she's not actually dying of lupus and wonderfully says to her "I'm sorry but you're not dying", she gives him a hug (wonderfully awkward because they are both not touchy-feely). And then the episode sees the doc, initially for a period of some months, not actually leaving the village to return to London: a geographical non-transition. Additionally we see the first appearance of the Morwenna (Jessica Ransom) as the new receptionist - whom we all come to love all the way through to the end of series 9 and hopefully series 10 being shot in Cornwall in summer 2020.< And to cap it off, Louisa (Carolyn Catz) has borne Martin's and her son, and returns with Martin. Carolyn Catz is positively luminous in this episode (she and Martin Clunes and team must have been having a lot of fun, as the often spiky demeanour of Louisa became much gentler in this episode). A shout out for the wonderful dog-handling: I've never seen a series which has done better with finding appealing dogs to pop up in unanticipated places for Martin to dislike and us to enjoy. It's wonderful to see a team absolutely on top of their game: wonderful writing, great acting, deft direction and lots of really sly humour deftly handled. A wonderful uplifting episode, which achieves a major foundational setup for the 5 seasons to follow.

Enter Aunt Martina

[TheFearmakers · 5/10 · 27 July 2023]

Aunt Ruth replaces Aunt Joan, which makes no sense because there simply was not a sister of Joan, who would be the sister of Joan's brother, Martin's dad, who had fought over inherited land property with Joan... divided between the only living heirs... and there being a third sibling is simply unrealistic...

Plus the fact that, Joan was important in Martin's life as she was his sole support; suddenly though, now we have another friendly aunt who was also supportive of Martin, so suddenly Joan's not that important...

Aunt Ruth is very droll, and she's basically a knockoff personality of Doc Martin, only without the deep-rooted bitterness. She's just not that good a character, or actress. It takes her about 10 minutes to deliver a single line. It seems as if she's acting and yet, without being animated...

For example, Ruth's first bit of dialogue was is an aloofness reacting to Louisa's otherwise polite and surface conversation. Ruth then admits she's not good with small talk. Sound familiar? They may as well have named her Aunt Martina... She simply tries too hard not trying hard enough...

Other characters, like Joan for example, had to prove themselves over time... But this is what happens when an actor leaves a show and the show isn't too happy about it... you can tell by the coldness centering on Joan's death (knocking down the casket)... it's funny when Doc says she was out of shape and obese, but there are other moments that just seem a bit... angry.