Katherine Parkinson

Interview: Doc Martin star Katherine Parkinson

Katherine Parkinson talks about Doc Martin, The IT Crowd and more.

Another dollop of Sunday night whimsy as the hemophobic former surgeon (Martin Clunes) and his cluster of eccentric Cornish folk return for a fourth series. Life continues much the same in the tiny fishing village of Portwenn, with all the locals getting ever more odd. The aging local chemist Mrs Tishell (Selina Cadell) has developed nymphomaniac tendencies. Scatter-brained receptionist Pauline (Katherine Parkinson) is losing sleep because of her brother's snoring. Big Bert Large (Ian McNiece) is missing the spark of love in his life. And all of them, for some reason, think they'll get some sympathy from the world's least considerate GP. The truculent medic, meanwhile, is nursing his own wounds following the departure of his paramour, Louisa, and it's made him restless. When he hears a desirable consultant's post is opening in London, he thinks that finally he might be able to overcome the fear of blood that previously ruined his career. First though, he has to overcome the shock of meeting a snooty former fellow student at the hospital in Truro, surgeon Edith Montgomery (Lia Williams), who makes no bones whatsoever about letting him know how low she thinks he's fallen.

Returning for a third series, Graham Linehan's office-bound sitcom seems to have been given a much-needed reboot. The swipes of cruel humour have been toned down in favour of the flashes of absurdist comedy Linehan perfected in Father Ted and Black Books. It's a good move, enabling Linehan to make the most of his superb cast, including Chris O'Dowd, Katherine Parkinson, Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade.

Katherine Parkinson Interview

Digital Spy talks to Katherine Parkinson about the second series of the show.