Doc Martin is portrayed as having a different regional identity than the residents of Port Wenn through his appearance and behavior. He wears professional clothing like suits and ties, while the locals wear casual overalls and jackets. Doc Martin is constantly stressed and angry, shown through close-ups, while the Port Wenn residents are laid back with a blasé attitude. Various film techniques like camera work, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene emphasize Doc Martin's alienation from the town and highlight both positive and negative aspects of how his regional identity is portrayed differently from the local identity.

1. In thisextract,we couldimmediatelyseethe contrastbetweenthe people of PortWenn.DocMartin
wearsa navy blue businesssuit,apale blue shirt,andcheckered tie,sohe looksextremely
professionalandisrepresentingthose fromLondonashe referstohimself asa‘Londoner’asbeing
well-groomedandconcernedintermsof theirappearance.Thiscontrastswiththe ‘Large Boys’who
are justclearlydressedfortheirplumbingworkinnavyoveralls,darkjacketsanda greenhat.They
lookverycasual and it isevidentthatnota large amountof effortwasmade,sotheyrepresent
those of Port Wennas laidback,whichwasthe firstpart of mise-en-scene whichseparatedthe two
regional identities.Thiscontinuesasthere are several close upsof DocMartin afterthe waterpipes
have burst,as hisanger and stressisemphasisedwhilstall the othercharactersinthe room are
havinga conversationasif nothingisgoing on,so whilsthe isbiginthe frame and shelterspartof his
dialogue “wellwhydon’tyougohome then?”,itmakeshisdifference inpersonalityemphasised.In
additiontothis,Doc martinhas a lotsof screentime,soitsuggestshe isthe most important
character and perhapsismore significantthanthose of PortWenn,butone of the ‘Large Boys’has
equal amountof screentime wheninthe shottogether,soitemphasise thattheirregional identity
isjust as importantasDoc Martin’s.
Throughoutthe extract,Doc Martin isconstantlyalienatedfromthe othercharacterswhoall share a
regional identity.Hisangerandstresslevelsare emphasisedthroughthe use of close-ups,andall the
otherresidentsof PortWenntendto be laidbackwithablasé attitude.Anexampleof thisiswhen
Doc Martin is centre frame as the window,anddespitelookingpowerful anddominatingthe frame,
he seemstobe alienatedfromthe 6girlswalkingpast,wearingminiskirts,well-made-upand
revealingT-shirtsorvests,asone of the girlssaysin herdialogue ‘Definite Bodmin’.He isbeing
laughedatand the audience sympathisewithhim, ashisalienationfromthe people of PortWennis
emphasised.Thisisareactionaryrepresentationashisdifferencesare highlighted,sohe appearsto
be in a towndifferenttonormal,makingaudience feel sorryforhim.
Furthermore,DocMartin looksgenerallyoutof place inPort Wennas he walksthroughthe town,
witha camera trackingas it followshim, ashe wearsa beige,longtrenchcoatoverhissuitas he
continuestolookprofessional,andnone of the othercharactersare dressedsimilarly,andall
dresseddownandverycasual.Thiscan be contrastedwithSusanBradingswhowearsa greylow-cut
maxi dresswitha purple velvetblazer jacket,andshe blendsinwiththe town,soisevidentlypartof
thiscommonregional identityof PortWennwhereasitisevidentDocMartinhas a differentregional
identity.Additionally,shotreverse-shotisusedbetweenDocMartin andthe policeman,in orderto
demonstrate the contrastof personalitiesandtherefore,regionalidentity.The policemaniscalm
and collectedsoisrepresentingthe PortWennregional identitypositivityandasall beinglaidback,
as he says ‘Nice tofinallymeetyouDoc,’so he is friendlyandthisisapositive representation.
Although,DocMartin isangry and there isa sense of chaos,whichonlyhe sharesinhis regional
identity,sothisrepresentationhasbeenconstructedtoportrayhisregional identityslightly
negatively.Thisisbuiltuponwiththe quickcutsasthere is relativelyquickeditingtogive achaotic
sense incomparisontothose of Port Wennwhoalwaysappearto be happy.There isrelativelyhigh-
keylightingonthose of PortWenn,so thissuggeststheyare positive,happycharacters,butthere is
bothhighand low-keylightinginonDocMartin, especiallywhenthe pipeincidentoccurs,asa bad
and goodtraits of hisregional identityare highlightedashe helpsblockthe water,butgivesorders
to those of Port Wennwithseveral close-upsused.Thisrepresentsthe regional identitypositively
and negativelyandstereotypicallydifferentfromthe residentsof the town.
Furthermore,the non-diegeticsoundtrackcontributestothe representations,asitisslightly
animatedincombinationwiththe point-of-view shotfromDocMartin lookingdownatthe dog,
creatingan extremelyhighangle of the dog.ThismakesDocMartin seempowerful andquirkyasthe
non-diegeticsoundtrackreflectshischaoticsense,sothisRepresentsthisregional identityasbeing
strongand dominate,sothisisquite a positive representation.Also,the non-diegeticsoundtrack
becomesslow-pacedasDoc Martin leavesthe roomnearthe beginningof the piece,afterone of the
Large Boys tellshimthathe needstorelax and“Down‘ere we justgo withthe flow,”sothis

2. immediatelyseparateshimfromthe othersthroughthispiece of dialogue,ashe hasto learnthe
waysof PortWenn,and thisbelittleshimandthe combinationof this,andthe non-diegetic
soundtrack,itmakesyouempathise,sothisregional identityisrepresentedasbeingweaker.
Lastly,the settingisverystereotypical andcontributestoregional identitybeingrepresentedina
reactionaryway,as there are cliffs,seagulls,benches,few housesandpeople,anditisverywindy,
whichall add to the regional identityof these of PortWenn,asall the characters blendinandappear
to share characteristicsandbehaviours,thatDocMartin doesnot have.Throughcamera,editing,
soundand mise-en-scene,hisalienationisemphasisedandhe representsaregional identityboth
positivelyandnegatively.
To conclude,DocMartin representshisregional identityasbeingextremelydifferentfromthose of
Port Wenn,andthroughcamera, editing,soundandmise-en-scene,hisalienationisemphasisedand
he representsaregional identitybothpositivelyandnegatively.