Best Medicine: A Disappointing American Remake of Doc Martin

Fox’s latest medical comedy-drama Best Medicine will be very familiar to fans of the British show Doc Martin. That’s because this Liz Tuccillo series starring Josh Charles is a straight-up American remake of Dominic Minghella’s quaint and charming creation from across the Atlantic. But it takes more than mimicry to make a show like Doc Martin.

Unfortunately, if Best Medicine’s series premiere is anything to go by, it’s a pale imitation of the British show that spawned it. Liz Tuccillo’s new project may have been one of the network TV shows we were most excited about for 2026, but it seems to have fallen well short of expectations.

Following in the footsteps of Fox’s darkly comic medical drama masterpiece House, Best Medicine boasts a worthy cast, including Abigail Spencer and Annie Potts. Even Doc Martin’s lead actor Martin Clunes makes an appearance, to bolster the credentials of this remake. Yet, there’s little joy to be had in watching Best Medicine so far.

Best Medicine Is Nothing On Its British Inspiration Doc Martin

Image courtesy of Everett Collection

Best Medicine’s inspiration Doc Martin built an impressive legacy across 10 seasons on British television, as well as developing an international following thanks to its distinctive form of comedy. The show’s style of humor was at the same time both cutting and gentle, with an unassuming approach winning fans from various different generations.

On the other hand, Best Medicine is thoroughly bland and charmless. It seems to have filtered out the eccentricities and witticisms from its British counterpart, mistaking Doc Martin’s broad appeal for middle-of-the-road mediocrity. Leaving aside their identical premises, the two shows couldn’t be further apart in spirit.

Why The Series Premiere Of Best Medicine Was So Disappointing

With the aim of sticking as closely as possible to its successful British forerunner, Best Medicine begins with a series premiere that’s a like-for-like copy of Doc Martin’s first episode. The premiere goes as far as transplanting the whole plot of the episode "Going Bodmin" over to its equivalent setting, at Dr. Martin Best’s medical practice in a Maine fishing village.

The problem is, without the biting wit and gentle irony of Doc Martin’s script, Best Medicine’s version of the same story makes no sense. As the pilot episode of the American Office demonstrated back in 2005, there are subtle cultural differences between American and British comedy that get cruelly exposed when U.S. TV networks try to produce exact remakes.

American remakes have to differentiate themselves from their British counterparts, not only for the sake of originality, but to serve the new context into which they’re being adapted. It isn’t enough just to change character and place names. The tone and style of these shows have to be adapted, too.

What To Expect From The Rest of Best Medicine Season 1

On the basis of Best Medicine’s premiere episode, “Docked”, it’s safe to assume that the show is going to mirror storylines from Doc Martin’s first season. In truth, the show could easily turn out to be a bad American remake that fails to survive for further seasons.

Any viewers feeling disappointed by the first episode are better off seeking out Doc Martin on BritBox. Meanwhile, the only feasible way forward for Best Medicine has to be to change things up and be more of its own show.

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  Best Medicine

  Release Date January 6, 2026

  Network FOX

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    Josh Charles

    Dr. Martin Best

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    Abigail Spencer

    Louisa Glasson

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  Doc Martin

  Release Date 2004 - 2022-00-00

  Network ITV1

  Directors Ben Bolt, Minkie Spiro, Nigel Cole, Paul Seed

  Writers Dominic Minghella, Julian Unthank, Mark Crowdy, Simon Mayle, Aschlin Ditta

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    Caroline Catz

    Louisa Glasson

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    Martin Clunes

    Dr. Martin Ellingham

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    Katherine Parkinson

    Pauline Lamb