The customary route is for novels to be adapted into television series, but occasionally it happens the other way around, as is the case with Doc Martin: Practice Makes Perfect by Sam North (Ebury Press, paperback and ebook). It's nine years since blood phobic ex-surgeon Martin Ellingham arrived, reluctantly, in the Cornish village of Portwenn to take over the GP practice.
On screen now, in the sixth series of the popular comedy drama – filmed, of course, in beautiful Port Isaac – we are seeing Martin as a new husband and father. A unique character, brought brilliantly to life by actor Martin Clunes, he remains curt and curmudgeonly, but we have seen his softer side. Going back to the start in the book is a reminder that first impressions can be deceptive.
Sam North – a novelist based in Devon, who also lectures on creative writing at the University of Exeter – builds on the script and dialogue originally written by Dominic Minghella to take the reader where the camera can't. He taps into the feelings of Martin, young village teacher Louisa Glasson, and the weird, wonderful and largely loveable inhabitants of this tight-knit and eccentric Westcountry community to paint a vivid mental picture.
This very readable first volume fills in all the background you might have forgotten. Remember that scruffy dog that followed Martin about – the first Portwenn resident to fall for him in spite of his relentless frowning?
We have ten copies of Doc Martin: Practice Makes Perfect to give away. For your chance to win one, send the correct answer to the question below, with your name, address and telephone number, by email (Doc Martin in the subject line) to wmnfeatures@westernmorningnews.co.uk, or post to Features Desk, WMN, Studio 5-11, Millbay Road, Plymouth PL1 3LF by Monday, September 30.
Q.What is Doc Martin's surname?
