I dont watch  TV much and even less human interest serials and such
like. However as an Australian from the bush who likley will never see
England I could not help but be very interested in the TV show "Dr
Martin". Particularly fascinating for me was the beautiful coastal and
open land scenery and very different ( from anything in Australia)
township scenery including dwellings, shop and lanes.  Show was set in
Cornwell and last year I watched first three  episodes or perhaps 
four, I forget. Then it abruptly ended without any advice from TV
channel at all. It began again just a week or so back and yet still
the same episodes seem to be showing. I am assuming show failed and
had a very short run but perhaps someone could advise for sure??


  JOHN FROM MELBOURNE

John --

Based on your description, the series of programs you saw could be
either of two possibilities, both involving a ?Dr. Martin? character
played by Martin Clunes.

The first possibility is a group of three feature-length programs, the
first being a theatrical film called "Saving Grace," which was
produced in 2000.  That film featured a character called "Dr. Martin,"
played by Clunes.  Two 90-minute "prequels" to this film were produced
for television in 2003. The first of those was titled, simply, "Doc
Martin."  The third, also produced in 2003, was titled "Doc Martin and
the Legend of the Cloutie."  It appears from newsgroup postings that
these films may have been broadcast on television as a kind of
?mini-series,? at least in the UK.

Here are links to a description of ?Saving Grace?:

Portman Films: Saving Grace
http://www.portmanfilm.com/titles_fs.php?url=saving_grace.html&cat_id=2&film_id=37

To see descriptions of the prequels, click on the links at the far
right of the page. (If you have a ?pop-up blocker? installed on a PC,
you may have to press the ?Ctrl? key when you click on the links.)


In addition, here are the links to the three films at the website of
the Internet Movie Database:

IMDb:Saving Grace
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195234/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9c2F2aW5nIGdyYWNlfGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1

IMDb: Doc Martin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365130/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9ZG9jIG1hcnRpbnxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1

IMDbDoc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363572/

  

The other possibility is a brand new series called ?Doc Martin? which
began running on ITV1 in the UK this fall.  One important clue for you
is that the last name of the doctor in this series is not ?Bamford, as
in the film and the prequels, but ?Ellingham.?  The doctor is also
played by Martin Clunes, however.  Here is a link to a description of
that series:?

Memorable TV: Doc Martin
http://www.memorabletv.com/showsd/docmartin.htm

  
This 60-minute show has apparently gone into a production hiatus after
only six episodes.  Here is a link to the dates and names of the
episodes as broadcast in the UK:

TV Tome: Doc Martin: Episode List
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/EpisodeGuideServlet/showid-28942/Doc_Martin/

And here?s a link to the TV Tome page that contains the information
about the production hiatus:

TV Tome: Doc Martin
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-28942/Doc_Martin/




Search Strategy:

Various Google searches led to the information and to gaining
reasonable confidence that there is no contradictory online
information.

?dr martin? tv series
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=%22dr+martin%22+tv+series

?doc martin? cloutie
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&q=%22doc+martin%22+cloutie++

?doc martin? ?saving grace?
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&q=%22doc+martin%22+%22saving+grace%22


I am confident that one of these possibilities is the correct answer
to your question, and I hope that I have given you enough information
to decide which is the right one.   If I have not, or if anything else
is unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer, and
I would be happy to assist you further.


markj-ga

Mark, Yes very well handled and provided the answer I was after once I
read what you submitted and the links as well. It was the first
alternative that was what I watched and enjoyed; which was easy to
work out once I read the script and plots of each episode.

 Thanks again Mark,

   JohnFrom

JohnFrom --

You are very welcome, and thanks to you for the stars and the tip.

markj-ga