The adventures of Doctor Martin Ellingham--more commonly known as Doc Martin--have proven to be one of ITV???s most popular hits of recent years. And within this series three DVD set, you???ve got plenty of evidence as to why.

For newcomers, Doc Martin, played with effortless skill by Martin Clunes, is a surgeon based in a small Cornish village. But it???s not his direct, blunt manner that proves to be his only problem. No, the issue too is that the Doc has a phobia of blood. It???s not the handiest problem for a Doctor to have, but it does allow Doc Martin to mix in good chunks of comedy alongside its drama.

The third season of the show, spread across three discs in this set, finds it in terrific form. Boasting a strong cast, with Caroline Catz???s Louisa. Stephanie Cole???s Joan and Joe Absolom???s Al among the standouts, Doc Martin???s popularity is easy to understand. Because not only is the acting terrific, and Clunes must really take the plaudits too, but the scripts are of consistent quality.

It should be noted that the end of the third series was the cause of some debate among fans, although this reviewer was certainly impressed by it. But what???s less up for debate is that Doc Martin is one of the best mainstream dramas British television has thrown up in recent years, and that this DVD set offers some super entertainment. --Jon Foster

We laughed uncontrollably through the first 2 series of Doc Martin, and so eagerly anticipated Series 3.

The hilarity and local charm of Series 1 and 2 are entirely absent from Series 3; the comedy has been transformed into a drama in which the Doc makes heroic medical save after heroic medical save and somehow manages to have a relationship with Louisa. A key character, PC Mark Mylow, played by the amazing Stewart Wright is gone, his PC role replaced by a character who never becomes much of a presence despite repeated attempts. There is little sense of community, and when new characters are introduced, they are rarely seen again. The series has become dull, the searing wit and rapid-fire zingers are gone, and characters become progressively less engaging.

The reason for this disappointment is obvious: the entire core of original creators are present but for Dominic Minghella, who wrote or co-wrote practically all of seasons 1 and 2. Brother to the late Anthony Mingella, he co-wrote 4 episodes with his sister Edana Minghella. I hope that Philippa Braithwaite and Martin Clunes lure him back to make a series 4, along with the fabulous Stewart Wright, whose absence is a key factor in the torn community fabric.

Ok, I Love the whole series but, where's series 4 to correct the disappointing ending to this story? I'll be waiting..........

This series just goes from strength to strength.

Just in case anyone is put off by the previous review, it does have subtitles.

Loved the first 2 series - definitely 5 stars each. This third series was a big disappointment. The new village copper was a bore and the main love story was not developed but merely dropped into the land of cliche.
Will have great difficulty in making another series believable

The episodes themselves are excellent, but I felt I must deduct one star for Momentum's cost-cutting (or greed?) by not including ANY extras whatsoever, not even the most obvious candidate: the 2006 Christmas special ("On the Edge") in this set. Series 3 was only 7 episodes long (vs. series 2), so I can't believe it would be a problem of space. More likely, they held it back so they can charge us full "season" price for the one episode.

What makes this more regrettable is there are one or two references in these episodes to events that happened in "On the Edge" (i.e. Louisa's father). At the very least, they should have released the special BEFORE putting out series 3. Let's hope that if they DO release "On the Edge" later this year, that it at least has some decent extras on to make up for the short running time, and that they make it a "stand-alone" purchase (i.e. not bundled up exclusively in a "complete" series set, like the BBC did with series 2 of "Footballers Wives: Extra Time").