EXCLUSIVE: Fox seems to be off to a solid start with Best Medicine, its remake of the popular British series Doc Martin, which has delivered some linear and streaming wins since its January 4 premiere.
The debut episode of the Josh Charles-led medical show has 10.8M total multi-platform viewers to-date, per Fox. That includes its January 4 premiere immediately following an NFL doubleheader, which was responsible for 3.69M of those viewers, as well as the broadcast airing in its regular Tuesday time slot, plus Hulu and digital platform audiences.
That marks a promising commencement for the new comedy drama, which Fox also says has generated about 1B minutes viewed across its first two episodes.
Direct comparisons are becoming increasingly difficult to make in television ratings, even across shows on the same network, since these numbers rely heavily on internal streaming data that the networks release at will. However, for helpful context, Fox debuted the medical drama Doc last year around this time to the tune of 15.6M cross-platform viewers in 11 days.
Speaking of streaming, Best Medicine appears to be generating a strong presence on Hulu, where the first episode delivered 1.3M viewers within seven days of premiere. The series, which has consistently appeared on Hulu’s “Top 15 Today,” ranks as Fox’s most-streamed debut in nearly three years, the network says.
Best Medicine follows Martin Best (Charles), a brilliant surgeon who abruptly leaves his illustrious career in Boston to become the general practitioner in a quaint East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a child. Unfortunately, Martin’s blunt and borderline rude bedside manner rubs the quirky, needy locals the wrong way, including schoolteacher Louisa Gavin (Abigail Spencer). He quickly alienates the town, even though he’s all they have.
Although Martin can expertly address any medical ailment or mystery in this idiosyncratic town, he’s really just desperate to be left the hell alone. Instead, he keeps getting dragged smack into the middle of their personal chaos, feuds and fantasies. What the locals don’t know is that Martin’s terse demeanor masks a debilitating new phobia and deep-seated psychological issues that prevent him from experiencing true intimacy with anyone. But tenacity is the creed of everyone in their small village, and the people who live there may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
The series also stars Annie Potts as Aunt Sarah, Josh Segarra as Sheriff Mark Mylow and Cree as Elaine Denton.