Patty has said it for seasons: Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz) keeps putting Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes) into situations he was never going to survive, then treats the wreckage as proof she was right. In Season 7, Dr. Rachel Timoney (Emily Bevan) asks whether Louisa is setting Martin up to fail on purpose, and whether that is really about avoiding intimacy. I could not WAIT for Patty to get to this season. She’s been so on target with her comments. And I loved her reaction enough to make it the intro for the episode.
Season 7 opens with Louisa in Spain for three weeks with no contact, and Martin just getting on with it until Aunt Ruth (Dame Eileen Atkins) points out how odd that is. Then comes the therapy: three hugs a day, three nice things, and an actual date at the restaurant where they first met. Also one of the great fake-out lines in the whole series. IYKYK. It involves a sweater. And the picnic! Great to see Angela Sim (Caroline Quentin), Martin’s Men Behaving Badly better half, join in the fun.
Patty's other verdicts. She really loves Aunt Ruth and PC Joe Penhale (John Marquez) has crossed from annoying to endearing, although her sentiments don’t extend to ‘competent’. Who thought it was a good idea to arm Penhale?! Peter Cronk (Preston Nyman) turns up aged fifteen and starts bossing Morwenna Newcross (Jessica Ransom) around, which got us ranking all three receptionists - Elaine Denham (Lucy Punch), Pauline Lamb (Katherine Parkinson), Morwenna - and me asking whether Best Medicine's Elaine Denton (Cree) is a composite of the lot. We also get into whether Martin Best (Josh Charles) changed more in one season than Martin Ellingham has in seven. Patty has had enough of Mrs. Tishell (Selina Cadell) and Danny Steel (Tristan Sturrock).
Then there's the dog. Martin decides Buddy has to go, permanently, and neither of us could get past it. Patty watched it wondering how I was going to defend it. I did not. Did this fly in the UK? In the US, the dog can NEVER die. It’s a rule. (Well, it should be).
Plus Sigourney Weaver wanders into Portwenn as Beth Traywick (Patty wants more!), and Gemma Jones closes the season as Annie Winton in a hostage situation that becomes the sharpest mirror Martin and Louisa have had yet.
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[00:00] Told ya - cold open
[00:07] Welcome back, Patty
[00:49] Patty's verdict on Season 7
[02:27] Aunt Ruth, deadpan queen
[03:47] Louisa: "I don't need a therapist"
[05:23] Why Louisa keeps falling for the doc
[07:05] The dog storyline neither of us can defend
[08:23] The dogs get named first
[09:15] Penhale grows on Patty
[11:48] Penhale and the taser
[13:34] Visa or Mastercard?
[14:15] Peter Cronk at 15
[15:04] Ranking Elaine, Pauline and Morwenna
[15:38] Mrs. Tishell, her husband, and a plot Patty's done with
[16:23] Dr. Timoney's opening move
[19:16] The Season 6 prediction pays off
[19:36] Danny Steel is back, and now we know why
[22:26] Blood phobia, control, and a self-diagnosis
[24:35] Homework: hugs, affirmations, and an actual date
[27:26] The list nobody wanted to make
[30:01] "We're not normal" - the light bulb
[30:45] Spain, silence, and the sausage
[33:41] The Wintons: a hostage situation as a mirror
[35:19] Patty's favourite episode, and the Cyrano theory
[39:11] Sigourney Weaver turns up in Portwenn
[40:50] Martin Clunes vs. Martin Ellingham
[43:26] Patty predicts Season 8
[44:37] Is Best Medicine's Elaine a composite?
[46:16] Martin Best vs. Martin Ellingham
[49:02] See you for Season 8
