Doc Martin

Series six, episode one
It might have started out as a three-way pun involving the popular boot boy footwear, the profession of its main protagonist and the christian name of its star. But ‘Doc Martin’ is into a somewhat implausible sixth series now and tonight we begin with something as close to a bang as this curious show gets. For a start, Martin Clunes’s titular lead is getting married to the long-suffering Louisa. But that’s just the half of it as the couple’s honeymoon turns first disappointing and then nearly disastrous.

Odd to say for such an enduring series but it feels like ‘Doc Martin’ still struggles with its tone – at times it seems to aim for sitcom chuckles, at others a degree of dramatic heft. Still, Clunes is likeably lugubrious and it makes a pleasant change to see a primetime ITV drama that doesn’t seem too desperate to please everyone.