Jam packed,unpredictable and very, very funny. On my top ten list.

We saw the return of Al and the first of 3 funny episodes where Pauline delivers laugh out loud lines.

I didn’t see the “edipul” Edward and Aunt joan kitchen table scene coming. Too funny. The demise of princess tinkle and the delivery of her body, along with the explaination was a classic.

And at the end Martin actually smiles at Louisa!

Probably my 3rd or 4th time seeing this one and it still makes me laugh!

This is another episode that I really enjoy re-watching, partially because we see Martin and Louisa getting closer to each other, finally setting up a real date. It is also nice because we see a couple of actual smiles from Martin as he converses with Louisa. One occurs in the surgery when she “pops by to say hello” and to ask if he is going to Penhale’s party at Mrs Wilson’s hotel. When he initially says ‘yes’, it comes with a smile. At the very end of the episode, when they confirm their date for the concert as Louisa is dashing out of the hotel, he also flashes a nice smile.

Not surprisingly, it is Louisa who has to take the initiative to invite Martin on a date. She has received added impetus to make the move because of the apparent threat from Carrie Wilson. Not only does she see, from a distance, Carrie with Martin in the doorway of the surgery, but comments from Mrs Tishell have added to her insecurity. After Carrie leaves the chemist shop, Louisa and Mrs Tishell have a brief conversation about Carrie:
Mrs T: “Our Doc would be well advised to avoid that one.”
L: “What do you mean?”
MT: “Even the bravest of souls can be distracted by the harpy’s song.”
L: “Yes, but we’re talking about the Doc here.”
MT: “All men are the same. They can’t help it. If it’s thrown down on a plate in front of them, they grab a knife and fork.”

But apparently Martin is not as naïve as they think. As Martin and Louisa chat at the party (after Martin’s confrontation with Mrs Wilson when he presents her with the body of her dog he has run over), Martin describes Mrs Wilson as “Narcissistic, hypochondriacal and extremely annoying.” It does not appear that Louisa needs to fear competition from Mrs Wilson.

The scene with Auntie Joan and Edward Melville in Joan’s kitchen was quite a surprise, on the initial viewing of this episode. However, the later scene with the exchange between Auntie Joan and Martin on the subject was quite entertaining. It was sure to be good if the introductory line as Joan enters Martin’s kitchen was any indication: “I could feel you glowering right across the village.”

This episode also has the continuing story line of Pauline’s gambling addiction, which will come more into play in a subsequent episode. As she is sitting at her desk, scratching off lottery tickets, Martin tells her “Do that at home!” Pauline replies “Oh, I do.”

I always try to understand the significance of the episode titles and I wonder about this one, “The GP Always Rings Twice”. I assume it references the title of the book and movies “The Postman Always Rings Twice”. In those stories, the evil doer managed to get away with murder the first time, but was punished the second time, although actually innocent of the second. Is the reference in this story to Mr Melville, who withholds information from Martin initially, so that Martin cannot make a proper diagnosis, but is found out when Martin is forced to attend to him a second time for a fit?

So many fun story lines in this episode. I think I would agree with the previous reviewer…this episode would likely make my top ten.

Hot damn, lonokig pretty useful buddy.

Yeah that’s what I’m talking about baibn–yce work!

I’m not easily imspresed but you’ve done it with that posting.