Doc Martin Christmas special spoilers follow.
Portwenn is a flurry with festive cheer. Naturally the Doc sits in the centre of this merriment as it swirls over and around him but not quite through him. At least not yet, and understandably so.
Martin's apathy towards Christmas runs a little deeper than his natural disposition to shun frivolity and excitement. It is deeply tied to his complicated relationship with his parents – particularly his mother.
Their toxic relationship is one thing that the series didn't quite resolve as it came to a close and while we weren't expecting a kumbaya sort of affair, it would have been nice for him to have been able to make peace with his troubled history.
Enter the Christmas special.
The final farewell episode begins with a jaunt for Martin (Martin Clunes) and his family through the town as they journey to Santa's grotto to visit jolly Saint Nick.
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Along the way James (Elliott Blake) behaves like a typical inquisitive kid, asking questions such as:
"Has there always been Christmas?"
Martin replies in the only way he can, with a rambling, factual explanation about the marking of Jesus' birth piggy-backing off of the winter solstice festival because Pope Julius wanted to replace the pagan Saturnalia festival with celebration of Christ.
Needless to say his wife Louisa (Caroline Catz) gives him a look as if to say 'Sprinkle on a little more cheer, won't you please?'
The family make it to Santa's den only to find him scratching profusely at an itch on his arm. Doc proceeds in physician fashion demanding that they close things down until he has examined Leonard (who has assumed the role of Santa for the festive period), claiming he could be infectious.
This leads James to believe that Santa might be cross with them. Things spiral from then on out and it's not long until Martin's complicated relationship with the festive period and his mother begin to seep into his relationship with James, spreading poison instead of festive merriment.
This episode very much has family at the heart and quickly becomes about recapturing James' Christmas spirit as well as infusing Martin with some.
As the story unfolds, James and Martin's father-son relationship comes under more strain when the Doc struggles to relate with his son's innocent enthusiasm for the season.
Equally James, in his childlike way, resents Martin for ruining his chance to meet Santa not once but twice when he lands on their rooftop.
Yes… Santa, not a drunk Leonard (Ron Cook) stumbling about. Definitely not.
The theme of family crops up again when Martin learns that his mother Margaret (Claire Bloom) has died.
He begins to ruminate over his sad childhood Christmas, remembering the abandonment he felt every time his parents left him over the holidays.
Despite their contentious relationship, it is Margaret who Martin hallucinates when he crashes his car in the snow and develops hypothermia on his way to treating Leonard at his home.
However, it turns out that this is just the very thing he needed to bring some semblance of closure to his relationship with his mother and to repair his own with James.
Martin has been struggling with his feelings of grief despite Margaret being a terrible mother, but during his hallucinogenic chat with her he is able to work through them.
While stuck with his mother, he deduces that he has an hour to live before the symptoms of hypothermia become fatal.
"Maybe less," she states, which then results in him calling her unhelpful.
"Oh Martin, what makes you think I'm here to help?" is her startlingly frank reply, which highlights the depth of the toxicity between them.
The fact that the hopelessness is reflected through her words illustrates that he accepts his mother does not have his best interests at heart.
She then queries whether James will be upset if Martin doesn't make it home which really demonstrates Martin's worry about his son's true feelings towards him. You know, considering his mother is dead and this 'reincarnation' is just a reflection of his own thoughts and feelings.
Margaret continues to goad him, telling him that he is no better parent to James than she was to him, declaring:
"He's already begun to resent you. It's a disease that spreads. One that I doubt even you know how to cure."
If that isn't enough of a knife in the heart, she twists it further, asking:
"How old were you when you realised we didn't love you?" before proceeding to detail the story of his Yuletide abandonment, claiming that she and his father were just desperate to get away from him – that they were happy before they had him.
Where's the closure you ask? It's coming, you won't have to suffer much more of her vileness.
Martin decides he'd rather chance freezing to death in an attempt to make it to his patient than listen to her and, despite her objections, exits the car.
Before he goes, they have a sweet exchange which begins with him telling her that he forgives her:
"No you don't," she snarks back to and he answers with a petulant:
"Oh shut up," and slams the door.
Clearly this type of closure doesn't come all wrapped up with a neat little bow. The ribbon is frayed and the edges of the wrapping paper have snagged but not all closures are nice and neat.
Some are about accepting that you may never be okay with what's happened but can still try to move forward from the hurt, which he attempts to do with his forgiveness.
He also takes his learnings forward into his relationship with James.
His conversation with his mother is followed by a heart-to-heart with Leonard, who enlightens him to the fact that embracing the Christmas season is less about you and more about showing up for your loved ones in a way they recognise.
This forces Martin to step out of himself by delving into festive joy in order to foster a better relationship with James. You know, once he patches up the wound Leonard sustained from a minor accident and diagnoses him with coeliac disease.
Together, they head back to Portwenn on Leonard's Santa sleigh. Talk about pulling out of the santa-sack bag.
The episode culminates in a festival of lights organised by Louisa to cheer James up. However, nothing sparks more joy in James than seeing his father ride in on Santa's sleigh.
In this heartwarming moment, it is evident that Leonard has done what he set out to do from the start of the episode: he shows Martin the magic of Christmas. Something which helps to heal the old wounds of the past with his mother by forging a better relationship with James through the new memories they will create.
It's a pretty sweet way to cap off the final ever episode. Even if Martin's lantern does catch fire and set a tree alight. It wouldn't be Doc Martin without some kind of calamity, right?
All episodes of Doc Martin are available to watch on ITVX.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
