Doc Martin Christmas Special, review: Cornwall’s medical Scrooge says an emotional goodbye

Look Doctor Martin (ITV) is to enter an alternate universe. Here we are in the real world, unable to get a personal appointment with a GP for love or money. In Portwenn, people can’t leave their homes without a GP making a diagnosis against their will. One dude was just trying to go about his business as the local Santa Claus when old wretches saw him scratching his arm. That was enough for the doctor to declare a medical emergency and close the cave. “Do you have a history of allergies?” he demanded. “No,” Santa said. “Do you have a history of ruining Christmas?”

This was Doc Martin’s last ever episode. What a pity. You could argue that 18 years is long enough for any series, and perhaps there are a finite number of medical conditions that can afflict the residents of this village. Yet few shows disappear on television quite like this one: a delightfully grumpy lead by Martin Clunes, a solid cast, and a show that wasn’t interested in being bleak or cutting-edge, just warm and entertaining.

There was a touch of sadness in this episode, as Martin recalled his lonely childhood Christmases. We had a flashback to him running down the stairs on Christmas morning only to discover that his parents had left him all alone. Back in the present, Martin crashed the car to avoid hitting a free-roaming Christmas turkey, collapsed in the snow and developed hypothermia (never a dull moment in Portwenn), after which his mother (Claire Bloom) appeared as a hallucination. She was a woman so horrible it’s a wonder Martin didn’t get worse.

But this was a Christmas special, so cheers for a happy ending. PC Penhale’s romantic gestures finally paid off, and Janice accepted his proposal. Morwenna and Al are expecting a baby. Ms. Tishell, the chemist in love, finally accepted that her feelings were unrequited (after jumping Martin under the mistletoe, which was unwise but in any case resulted in a diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease), threw off the neck brace and decided to move on to get on with her life.

And yes, even the doctor finally got into the festive mood, for the sake of his son. As Santa put it – well, not Santa Claus, a man named Leonard, but let’s not quibble: “Do you want to know what the true magic of Christmas is? It’s being exactly who you are, yet your family wants you around, even if you’re an annoying b—-r. Merry Christmas once in a while.