The Surgery - Kitchen Page 1

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S1 -S2 Consulting Room comparison

Porch/Door/Vestibule - Interior Hall

The Kitchen changed greatly from S1 to S2. In S1, I believe they used a kitchen in a cottage
somewhere in or around Port Isaac. There were actually very few scenes set in the kitchen that
first series, so it makes sense that they were able to procure it a couple of times to shoot all of
the scenes. In Episode 1, just a short scene with Martin and Eileen. In Episode 3, the night
scene when Martin is brewing tea and Bert comes in to deliver some of his bottled water. And
then in Episode 5 there were several scenes - most of them very short. Some with Eileen, a
couple with Martin and Aunt Joan, and a couple of Martin at night before heading up to sleep.
One feature of this kitchen is that there is no opening to the Living Room - there is a window
visible in a couple of small glimpses we get of that wall. (In the few Living Room shots that first
series, they actually shot in the room in Fern Cottage, which is used only for exterior filming.)

When they came back to film S2, they had constructed a set in the barn for the Kitchen and
Living Room. They really did a nice job of making the set as similar as possible to the room
used in the first series. You can see the comparisons in the S1 section below.

The room is almost completely open on the front to the Living Room, which is 2 steps down from
the Kitchen. There is a sloped ceiling that starts above the windows on the back wall and rises
up at an angle toward the Living Room. We've never really gotten a view of the front part of that
ceiling, but the ceiling in the Living Room is back to normal height. On the right wall is a door
with a large stained glass insert. This door leads down a short hallway to the Consulting Room
and the Waiting Room and is usually kept open, but has been closed on a few occasions. Along
the back wall are two double hung windows, the one on the left is flanked by two narrow
sidelight windows. The window on the right is opaque stained glass panels, similar to the one
on the hallway door. Below the windows is a long counter that contains the sink, stove,
sometimes a dishwasher or under-counter fridge, and a few open and closed cabinets. At the
left end of the back wall is a door leading out to the patio behind the surgery. The left wall
contains the door to a small pantry, and the short front wall (that's not open to the Living
Room) has a large wooden hutch with closed cabinet space and two drawers below, and open
shelving above.

Click photos to enlarge - click again to close

Series 1

There were a limited amount of scenes set in the Kitchen in the first series, so I believe that production leased out a
cottage somewhere in or near Port Isaac to film those scenes. For S2 they constructed the kitchen set in the barn and
they did a pretty good job recreating a similar room.

On the left are the screenshots from S1 and corresponding views from S2 on the right.

Here is a layout of the Kitchen.

.topped

Kitchen Overview

Here are some overview shots of the Kitchen from each series.

Series 2

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5

Series 6

Ceiling

The kitchen ceiling slopes up from the back wall at about a 30° angle toward the front wall of the room.
There is a large skylight in the ceiling. Starting in S2, the skylight covers much of the ceiling and
looks to be made from corrugated plastic. In S4, it has changed - the inset area of the skylight has
been filled with wooden planks and there are 2 sets of triple glass panes.

Floor

Here are some
shots of the
sides of the room
showing the
vaulted ceiling.

The floor seems to be some
type of vinyl floor covering with
a speckled pattern.

Below are good looks at the large opening between the Living Room and Kitchen - the hutch is behind the small
piece of wall at the left. You can see the 2 steps up to the kitchen and the double wooden corbels at the top of
the walls on either side of the opening.

Series 7

Series 8

Architectural Details

The back wall is mostly unchanged
throughout, with the two windows and the
long counter beneath. Starting at the left is
a cabinet - in S2 it started out as half open
shelves and half closed. In S3 and S4 it has
been converted to a dishwasher, replaced
by an undercounter fridge in S5, and back
to a dishwasher starting in S6.

Next is a farmhouse sink under the large
window, then a countertop with a cabinet
with double wooden doors below. Next is a
stove under the smaller, stained glass
window, then another counter that extends
to the wall. Underneath this counter is
open shelving and a small one door wooden
cabinet. Above that one door cabinet are
some shallow shelves built into the wall.

Back Wall

Series 2

Series 4

Series 7

The counter at the far left is a divided
cabinet in S2 (on the right) and is
converted to hold a dishwasher or
fridge starting in S3 (below).

The lower cabinets were unfinished wood through S5, but were painted a medium grey color in S6.

Both windows are double hung.
The one on the left is flanked by
two narrow sidelight windows,
and the one on the right is
opaque with stained glass
inserts. I've included different
views that show some of the
detail and included a night shot.

Windows

Hutch

The hutch sits against the front
wall of the Kitchen - directly
across from the back door. It's
a large wooden piece of
furniture consisting of a two
door cabinet with 2 drawers
above, topped by an open
hutch with three shelves.

In S2 the unit was a dark brown
with white painted insets on
the cabinet doors. Starting in
S3, the entire unit was painted
the beige/grey color that
matches the walls.

Series 2

The hutch has moved a little bit
between some series. In S2
and S3 it was about 2 feet away
from the wall at the right, but in
S4 it was moved right up
against the wall. In S5 it was
back about 2 feet away. In S6 it
was probably moved a little bit
further away to accommodate
the new fridge in the corner -
and has remained there ever
since.

Series 3

Series 5

Series 6

Series 4

Doors

There are 3 doors in the Kitchen.

The one that is noticed most is the back door that leads to the patio. Starting in S2 it was a Dutch Door (one that is
split vertically to allow the top of the door to open independently). For S4 and S5 it was replaced by a more
traditional wooden door with 5 multicolored opaque windows. The opaqueness of the windows in this door provided
a tense moment at the end of the first episode of S4 when Louisa's silhouette was seen through the door. In S6 the
Dutch Door was repainted and installed again - and has remained ever since. Having this type of door allows family,
friends, patients, to just arrive at the door and help themselves into the house because the top of the door is often
left open.

The door to the hallway on the right wall of the Kitchen is a wooden door with a patterned opaque window,
surrounded by colored opaque glass panels. The colors of these panels can look lilac, purple, or burgundy
depending on the light.

The third door is a simple, unfinished wooden door to the pantry. This door has 4 panels of glass, 3 of them are
heavily patterned opaque glass and the one at the lower left is plain, slightly opaque glass.

Series 2-3

The back door in S2 and S3 is
dark brown with white painted
plank panels. The outside of
the door is painted white and
has black wrought iron
decorative hinges, lock, and
handle. The small, square
window in the top of the door
is bullseye glass and almost
impossible to see through.

This door returned in S6,
although it has been painted
beige/grey. The only other
change is that the handle on
the outside of the door has
been updated and the bullseye
glass window might be a new
one - the edges of the glass
seem a little more see through.

In S9 it really seems that they
may have painted the door
more of a grey color.

Series 6+

Series 4-5

The hall door is a brown
painted wooden door. In S2
& S3 the two lower panels
were painted white, but they
were painted brown to match
the rest of the door in S4. The
large window on the top half
of the door is a patterned
opaque glass with colored
panels surrounding (divided
by mullions). The colored
glass looks lilac, purple, or
burgundy depending on the
lighting.

The door is almost always
open - we've only seen it
closed a handful of times.

The pantry door is an
unfinished wooden door. It
has 4 panes of glass on top -
3 are heavily patterned
opaque glass and the lower
left pane is plain, slightly
opaque glass.

There was a small red sign in
the lower left pane that is
impossible to read. It
disappeared in S3E3 and
never returned.

Oops! Someone forgot to
hang the door in this scene
from S7E2. This is the only
time the door is missing.

The Front Left
Corner of the room
held a large wooden
cabinet with a
phone, lamp, and
various kitchen
items on top. The
set was built with a
large hutch in this
area with 3 shelves
above the cabinet.

The Back Left Corner
has a solid pantry
door and the back
door is a blue door
filled with glass
panes. On the new
set is a pantry door
with windows, a coat
rack by the door, and
a wooden door with
a small opaque
window.

The two windows are
much farther apart,
deeper, and have a
number of divided
panes. In the set
they used more
modern double
hung windows

In the S1 Kitchen,
there was a cabinet,
stove, a small open
space, sink, cabinet,
and a tall wooden
cabinet in the corner.

In the set, it became
a cabinet, sink,
cabinet, stove,
cabinet. No tall
wooden cabinet in
the corner, but 2
shallow shelves
built into the wall.

The tall corner
cupboard and the
new kitchen with the
inset shelves in the
corner.

In S1, the table was
pushed against the
right wall. The
doorway to the hall
had 2 steps up. The
front of the room has
a wall instead of the
large opening to the
Living Room.

For the set, they put
the table right in the
middle of the room.
The door to the hall
now has 2 steps
DOWN (just as the
opening to the Living
Room is 2 steps
down).

There was no
opening to the
Living Room in S1,
but you can see a
window in that wall.
It had a curtain in
Episode 1 and
blinds later in
the series. When
they built the set,
they made the
Kitchen and Living
Room almost one
room.

In Episode 1, there was a
cabinet on the wall of the hall.
It was gone in subsequent
episodes.

The hallway in the first series does not lead right into
the Kitchen. Instead, at the end of the hallway is a
round window and a crossing hallway that leads to the
Kitchen on the right and the Living Room on the left.
In the pictures below you can see Martin walking from
the Kitchen to the Consulting Room. Right behind him
is one of the movers carrying a box to the Living
Room. I've included a shot from a later series
showing how the hallway looks starting in S2.

Below is a drawing of my estimation of
the Surgery in S1. It seems like there
must be some type of courtyard between
the Kitchen and Living Room. There is
the round window in the hall and the
window in the Kitchen that would look
into this courtyard.

Red = Areas built on the set
inside barn.

Blue = Kitchen used in a
cottage somewhere
nearby.

Yellow = Actual Living Room
in Fern Cottage

Note that the vestibule
inside the front door is
sometimes the one at Fern
Cottage and sometimes the
matching one built on the set.

The backsplash behind the counter has had three different looks. In S2 - S3, there was no backsplash, but for
S4 - S5 a tall tile backsplash was added. For S6+ the tile was removed and a black substance was installed
there - it looks like it might be the same material as the countertop.