We have been watching "Doc Martin", a British comedy about a high-level London surgeon who develops a psychological reaction to the sight of blood. He moves to Portwenn and practices as a general practitioner. He has the worst bedside manner a physician could have, being devoid of basic social and face-reading skills, carrying a closed mind and a cold heart.
The show is available on several streaming channels. We watch it on Acorn TV. A subscription to Acorn works like one for Netflix and costs $5 a month or $50 a year.
We have already seen most of the Doc Martin episodes but it not difficult to miss one or to re-watch it without any memory of having seen that show 5 or ten years ago. We have met Martin's parents and sympathize with any little boy raised by those two. Much of his boyhood was spent with his Auntie Joan who lives in Portwenn. Her intelligence and basic stability and good sense come through and we realize Martin is blessed to have a relation with her.
Auntie Joan is played by the actress Stephanie Cole who was born in 1941. In today's terms, she is not a beauty queen, nor a siren. In series 3, episode 4, we meet Carrie Wilson, a woman of striking good looks who seems to have been ruined by her attractiveness. Being attractive seems to be all she can manage or think about.
You can imagine our shock and surprise when we come upon Auntie Joan and her house painter, 30 some years younger than she is, having sex. Our straightlaced, uptight physician is as shocked and surprised as the viewers even though the message of what these two are doing is conveyed very quickly and tastefully. Auntie and her nephew need to have a little talk and they do. She explains that she likes the younger man and he makes her feel young. So, don't be too surprised if your lovable older aunt turns out to be alive in more ways than you imagined.
