Doc Martin, ITV1

11:01am Wednesday 25th June 2008

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I HAVE a question – who in the land of TV big wigs decided that there was a place in the TV listings for a slow-paced drama set in a sleepy Cornish village?

It hardly sounds like the brainwave of the century, but somehow it seems to have worked.

Doc Martin, currently playing on ITV at 9pm, certainly has enough of a following for them to bother working on series after series, but who?

It has to be Martin Clunes fans.

The comedy favourite plays the main character in this medical series about a city doctor who sets up as the village GP.

Anything which features him is watchable just because he is in it.

He is naturally funny so it is bound to work to a certain extent, but I’m not convinced at all by his character in this series.

Maybe as a big Men Behaving Badly fan I can’t help but fondly remember him fooling around with Tony in some sort of hilarious escapade and wish this comedy was more light-hearted.

And it’s almost that because the hit 90s comedy series was such a success, nothing else Clunes does of a similar vain can ever compare.

His character, Dr Ellingham, is quite amusing with his total intolerance of the locals, but he’s no Gary.

Face it Clunes, the title of doctor just doesn’t suit you!