Doc Martin: Regional Identity

Doc Martin Regional Identity

Regional identity is constructed in the extract to reinforce the stereotypical binary opposite of city life (well mannered, smart and professional) and the working class people who live in the town (lazy, scruffy and loud), this brings most of the comedic aspects to the show as us as the audience watch Doc Martin, a professional doctor, interact with the people living in the town.

In the opening scene we shown an old doctors surgery that local workers are trying to fix, though Mise On Scene we can see that the room is messy, dirty and dark with most of the light in the room being natural from the sun, this enforces the stereotype of the country being dirty and not well maintained or looked after. This is shot with a wide shot to establish the area the characters are in and to not only focus on how the characters interact with one another but what the location looks like, and Mise On Scene and detail in the scene shows us how boxes are positioned and piled in every corner of the room. In the first scene Doc Martin in interacting with two working class people, they are dressed in scruffy, dirty overalls showing how they are the working class in society, this contrasts with the smart clothes that Doc Martin is wearing in the same scene and shows clearly how class division is separating these characters just though appearance. The wide shot however is mainly used to show the contrast between the characters of Doc Martin and the workers with him, the camera takes a low angle shot and acts as a way of displaying a social hierarchy as Doc Martins position of standing up and acting like the likely boss in smart clothes and not working contrasts with the workers who appear lower than him, with one of the overweight workers seated and eating to display the characters laziness and greediness, this is to show how Doc Martin asserts his authority. In this opening scene the characters, though diegetic sounds, display their stereotypical, northern way of talking and speech with the characters living in the north using words such as "Bodmin" which over there means "going mad" a clear example of the character’s particular sociolect and accent, this character also begins by mumbling his words displaying the stereotype that all country folk are uneducated. This again contrasts with the formal way of Doc Martins speech who again, over the stereotypical loud speaking mannerisms of the north, struggles to speak over the workers, this doesn't last as once he starts shouting to the other people in the room he makes his voice heard in a way as if he's literally giving orders to the people near, this shows how, where and who he can assert his power to. The editing of the episode is done in a consistent and structured way with the camera following the dialogue, when the characters speaking, the camera only focuses on that particular character.

When Doc Martin exits the house at in the first scene the camera focuses on this character though one continuous tracking shot to establish the location the characters are in. It shows Doc Martin walking in the streets to display the pressure the character is feeling and is as if the walls of the buildings display the close, suffocating emotions he is feeling when not in the city but in a place he hasn't been before. In the police station Doc Martin visits he tells the policeman to basically not notice him, this could be an indication of how the character doesn't want to be out of the ordinary when compared to the local people of the town and would prefer to not be attached to the regional identity of the city doctor.

When outside we hear sounds of the sea and the seagulls, the non-diegetic sounds associated with the country side and places near the sea. Before this point Doc Martin had stood out for his formal way of speaking and professional mannerisms, the only person to act against the stereotypes of the town but to act on the stereotypes of the city professionals. However, when the character played by Celia Imrie begins talking to Doc Martin she speaks in a more formal, upper class accent this shows that even in a small town the groups and classes of people who live there still contrast and class divide, this contrast is important because with both of these “upper class” characters aren’t seen in their stereotypical environments and that is clearly seen when they interact with the people in the town.

In the final scene we are introduced to a female working class character that is seen to many as the stereotypical, country elderly lady, who works on a farm as Cornwall is mainly seen as the people living in rural areas and working hard on farms, she orders Doc Martin to come and help her with some of the work, this defeats the stereotype of the man always being in charge but adds to the stereotype of the working class being loud and demanding.

To conclude the extract, we watched on regional identity reinforces the binary opposites of country and city lives and the effect it has when they communicate and the contrast it creates. In the extract we acknowledge how Doc Martin is seen as the upper-class character and how the locals label him as if he’s somebody completely different, though Mise On Scene and his costume is smart, which ultimately contrasts with the environment he is in. The working class are mainly portrayed as lazy, loud, and rude compared to Doc Martin which recognises and applies the stereotype of the characters.