Representation of Regional Indentity - Doc Martin

Regional identity is the notion that part of a person's identity is rooted not only in the country but also in the region they live in. In this clip of Doc Martin, it explores regional identity through dialogue, setting and the way of living any many more aspects that will be defined in this essay.

Firstly, the clip begins with a low angle 
. long shot of the room where two men are on camera, one attempting to mend a broken sink and the other sitting and watching with a cup of tea and a biscuit. The colours introduced in the beginning are all of very dull shades such as dark grey, beige, pastel green and black. These colours are quite negative tones and could possibly represent the boring lives that these people in the region live, and portray their monotonous manual labour jobs such as Plumbers. The man who sits their like a sack of potatoes undergoing no sign of work could be classed as the stereotypical obese Cornish man through his accent and scruffy work attire. His work is obviously laid back with no pressure to work for every penny he earns as his lifestyle in his region may be relaxed allowing him to act casual with his job.

Doc Martin then enters the scene dressed in a slick posh suit looking well groomed in contrast to the plumbers. He arrogantly tells the stereotypical obese Cornish man to "treat yourself to a noun" mocking his lack of vocabulary and perhaps intelligence. Doc Martin speaks in a much clearer and sophisticated manner in comparison to the two working class individuals which separates their level on the class and status ladder; Doc Martin being a lot higher above them. The costume that he and the plumbers are dressed in illustrates the difference in regional identity between rural and urban areas. The Dr is dressed in a sophisticated suit whilst the plumbers are dressed in overalls. 

During the plumbers conversation the "dad" mistreats the sinks condition which results in the water bursting from the pipes, whilst the Doc just leans and stares at the situation in shock, baffled and looking down on the two men at their senseless personalities.

A variety of chaotic scenes then play, ranging from a broken sink to a ringing phone to a barking dog to an additional two characters entering the room increasing the unorganised and cluttered atmosphere. Fast paced editing and cuts are introduced here to indicate the high level of stress and manic atmosphere. From this overload of disarray the audience may gather the assumption of the regional identity being quite a disorganised and crowded area. Not many people seem intelligent during the first minute and 30 seconds of this clip and everything is very unorganised and sloppy. Perhaps the region isn't very rich, meaning Doc Martin is unable to get access to two plumbers that can actually perform a good job as the best plumbers in the area are the two dim men introduced in the beginning.

When Doc Martin roars "and as for you" the camera switches to his point of view looking down at the barking animal providing a sense of intimidation whilst approaching the pestering pooch. At this point non-diegetic music begins to play and increases in sound as the scene switches to the Doc marching down a small, enclosed street with, not a lead, attached to the dog. The tight street emphasises the regional identity as being quite traditional and sticking to its roots. It is evident that the location used in this clip isn't an extremely wealthy one but it's also not one with a poor living condition either.

He passes a store with fishing nets outside. These could demonstrate the region as being close to the beach, which is then also reinforced by the sound of the squawking seagulls that are usually found flying in the sky when the sea is close by. A lady was walking out of the store and the door performed a ringing bell noise as it drifted shut. It's very rare now a days that you'll find a shop with a bell at the top to indicate someone's entrance or departure, so this enables the audience to assume the region is old fashioned or not set in today's age.

During the tracking shot of Doc Martin, the hills in the background are displayed which perhaps represents the area as being a village. There are no busy roads cluttered with cars being introduced throughout any of this clip and neither any tall buildings so the location is extremely open, fresh and relaxed. The mise-en-scene constructs the representation of regional identity further by the brick built areas that are not very modern. In this location there are also more miniature shops rather than supermarkets. 

Just before Doc Martin enters the police station there are two older women sat outside their house supposedly enjoying the fresh air and watching the world go by. This identifies the region as a safe and friendly place as the audience would assume that walkers passing these women would say hello on their journey to wherever they were heading. You wouldn't find two people sitting outside on their front lawn relaxing in a city.

What do we have here, a police officer hoovering? This is quite an absurd prop to give a police officer. However, the fact that the police officer is hoovering could indicate how he has nothing more to do with his time except for clean the station as the village in which he lives, practically experiences no crime. This is an extremely refreshing thing to see as an audience because we know that there's crimes being committed all over the world, but not so much here which is welcoming. This also reinforces the fact that the village is neighbourhood friendly with a distinct lack of corruption. The Doc enters the station, looks at the police officer and shouts "stray dog!" before untying it from whatever was controlling its movements in the first place. Shot reverse shot is planted here when the Doc and the Policeman communicate. The policeman seems to already know of Doc Martin even without meeting him. This indicates how news travels fast in small villages. Furthermore, the police officer joins the other characters introduced in this clip as one to own a strong Cornish accent, which further implies the regional identity of the area. Once again, Doc Martin does not have one of these which an audience may assume means he does not come from this specific area of England. Another point that demonstrates the officer as having nothing better to do is the fact that Doc Martin just abandons the dog and leaves him in the station expecting the policeman to deal with something that isn't even his specialty. Considering the police officer has no crimes committed by humans to inspect, he may aswell take in stray dogs instead.

The audience are then welcomed to a female character who speaks in a posh and sophisticated manner similar to Doc Martin's. A two shot is used when she welcomes him to "Port Wenn" which number one, confirms him being a new member to the village and number two, also confirms the area being close to the beach as every port needs the sea. She tells him that he's "exactly what this community needs". By calling Port Wenn a community it emphasises the small scale of it's grounds and the friendly nature shared between every individual living there. Furthermore, by saying that the Dr is "exactly what this community needs" it portrays perhaps the Dr as being well educated because he's an improvement of the previous doctor who could have been extremely awful at his job. Better education is found in towns and cities rather than villages. 

This new female character seems to like the company of Doc Martin yet she's only just met him. Her role provides the audience with awareness of just how welcoming everyone can be in a rural neighbourhood, even if the Doc does throw in arrogant and rude remarks during their conversation (portraying him as a city snob). However, Doc Martin eventually ends up handing the woman her prescription. This displays how he is relaxing to the rural way of living, whereas in a city or town you'd have to go into the Doctors to pick up a prescription. Everything's a lot more secure in a town, whereas in this village it's relaxed and easy going.

An establishing shot of the building that Doc Martin walks past is introduced next. This is actually a primary school, which would usually have strong and tall metal bars surrounding it for the children’s safety. The fact that here there's no such thing further indicates the safety of the village. It definitely seems like a positive area to live in. As Doc Martin walks past the school, he is walking downhill. This could metaphorically portray how he is out of his comfort zone being here in Port Wenn as he's unfamiliar with his surroundings. As he is so used to towns and cities, he seems to be uncomfortable with his location and this is emphasised by the use of camera position.

An older woman then calls him over whilst handing crates of vegetables which is a prop used to portray regional identity. This is an extremely old fashioned way of food being transported. Usually in a city food would be distributed in the back of a large lorry but here it is evident that the woman's grocery store is independent instead of one that's known world wide like Tesco. The woman also seems to know the name of the teacher that Doc Martin was admiring in the window of the school, which, yet again, demonstrates how well known everyone is by the villagers. They then take the vegetables into a small store ready to stock. The store being miniature indicates how it's a local shop that's most likely only ever used by residents living in the area. The costume the old woman is dressed in consists of earthly colours such as khaki green and brown which demonstrates her rural way of living. The fresh produce also represents that those living in the village are supposedly a lot more healthy.