Best Medicine is an American medical comedy drama television series based on the popular British television series Doc Martin created by Dominic Minghella. The show premiered on Fox on January4, 2026. In March 2026, Fox renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 20, 2026.
Premise Brilliant but brusque Dr. Martin Best moves from a prestigious hospital position in Boston to a private practice in the small fishing village of Port Wenn, Maine, where his aunt lives and where he summered as a child. As he solves mysteries behind unusual health conditions affecting the townsfolk, he struggles to integrate with them as well as dealing with his past: he walked away from being a surgeon in Boston after developing a pathological blood phobia, resulting from an operation on a young girl that reminded him of his older sister, Rosemary, who died in a car crash as a child.
Cast Main Josh Charles as Dr. Martin Best, a successful and brilliant Harvard Medical School-educated heart surgeon with a lack of bedside manner and a severe blood phobia. He is straightforward with patients, delivering diagnoses and advice without protecting their feelings, though he is no less concerned about their health. He had an older sister named Rosemary who died in a car crash when they were children, inspiring him to pursue medicine; he developed his phobia when operating on a young girl who reminded him of Rosemary. Abigail Spencer as Louisa Gavin, a teacher at the community school, later the school’s principal Josh Segarra as Mark Mylow, the town's sheriff and Louisa's ex-fiancé Cree as Elaine Denton, Dr.Best's administrative assistant who wants to become a YouTube influencer Annie Potts as Aunt Sarah, Dr.Best's aunt, a local lobster woman Stephen Spinella as Greg Garrison (season 2; recurring season 1), the proprietor of The Salty Breeze, the village's seafood restaurant Jason Veasey as George Brady (season 2; recurring season 1), Greg's husband and the executive chef of The Salty Breeze
Recurring
Carter Shimp as Al Large, Bert's son and coworker who becomes interested in Elaine John DiMaggio as Bert Large, a local contractor Clea Lewis as Sally Mylow, Mark's mother, who is the town's pharmacist Michael Potts as Gilbert Carlisle, Dr. Best's first patient upon arrival in town Didi Conn as Geneva Potter, a senior Port Wenn resident Ben Lewis Doherty as Peter Cronk, one of Louisa's students who loves astronomy and with whom Dr. Best has much in common Patch Darragh as Glendon Ross, Dr. Best's childhood bully who continues to harass Best as an adult Cindy De La Cruz as Jeannie Wattson as Copernicus, an initially unnamed stray dog who repeatedly enters Dr. Best's house against his wishes, causing locals to mistake him as Dr. Best's pet. He is given the name Copernicus by Peter. Eliza Coupe as Dr. Eden Montgomery, a doctor who Dr. Best previously dated when he lived in Boston and refers Louisa to when she decides to have a child on her own. After they begin dating again, Dr. Montgomery attempts to help Dr. Best overcome his blood phobia so he will move back to Boston.
Jack Cutmore-Scott as Parker (season 2), Louisa's new love interest
In addition, Alexandra Sica, Leah Janae, and Josh Hoon Lee co-star as Harley, Amelia, and Liam, three intimidating teens from Port Wenn.
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (2026)
Season 2 (2026)
Production Development On May9, 2025, Best Medicine received a straight-to-series order from Fox. The series is wholly owned and produced by Fox Entertainment. Doc Martin was brought to the United States by Propagate Content, alongside All3Media. The American adaptation is written and executive produced by Liz Tuccillo. Propagate's Ben Silverman is an executive producer with Rodney Ferrell, Tuccillo, and Doc Martin executive producers Mark Crowdy and Philippa Braithwaite.
On March 2, 2026, Fox renewed the series for a 12-episode second season, which was later expanded to 14 episodes.
Casting The cast is led by Josh Charles as Dr.Martin Best. In July 2025, Abigail Spencer, Josh Segarra, Annie Potts, and Cree joined the main cast. In September 2025, Didi Conn, Clea Lewis, Stephen Spinella, Jason Veasey, John DiMaggio, Carter Shimp, Cindy De La Cruz, and Wattson (a dog) were cast in recurring roles. In October, it was announced that original Doc Martin star Martin Clunes would appear in the role of Martin Best's father. In August 2026, it was reported that Jack Cutmore-Scott joined the cast in a recurring capacity for the second season.
Filming On August5, 2025, it was reported that the series began filming in Cornwall, New York.
Broadcast The series premiered on Fox on January4, 2026. The second season premiered on September 20, 2026.
Reception
The series holds a 73% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 critic reviews with an average of rated reviews of 6.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Best Medicine may not refine the medical procedural genre but it does offer something far more enchanting: compassion, heart and a charming lead that graces all." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
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