Season 1
13 episodes Jan 4, 2026 7.3
Best Medicine
“Small town doctor. Big time issues.”
2026
Returning Series • 2 Seasons • 17 Episodes
Overview
Martin Best is 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, and he quickly alienates the town, even though he's all they’ve got.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Returning Series
- Seasons
- 2 seasons
- Episodes
- 17 episodes
- First aired
- Jan 4, 2026
- Last aired
- Sep 20, 2026
- Episode length
- 42m
- Network
- FOX
Next episode: S2 E2 Breakin' In Is Hard to Do (Sep 29, 2026)
Latest episode: S2 E1 Be Careful What You Fish For (Sep 20, 2026)
Season 2
4 episodes Sep 20, 2026
Cast
Reviews
3 min readThe Anatomy of a Grudge
There’s a particular TV setup that always makes me brace myself: the brilliant jerk gets chewed up by big-city life, then washes ashore in some aggressively adorable small town full of oddballs. We’ve all seen the pattern. So when Fox rolled out Best Medicine, its American take on the long-running British hit Doc Martin, latestnetflix.com contends, my first response was basically a groan.
Another one of these? Really?
And yet, against my better instincts, this one mostly works. Liz Tuccillo shifts the prickly Dr. Martin Best (Josh Charles) from Boston to Port Wenn, a fictional fishing town in Maine where he once spent summers as a kid.
He lands there after a sudden, career-ending phobia of blood blows up his life as a surgeon. LA Times critic Robert Lloyd wrote that the show has "more whimsy but less real than Doc Martin," which feels about right. It has the softened edges of American network TV all over it.
The sunlight is warmer, the locals are pushed a little harder into quirk. But Tuccillo makes one smart move: she keeps all that charm tethered to actual bodily unease.
What really gives the show its pulse is Josh Charles. If your recent memory of him is tied to the darkness of The Handmaid's Tale, it’s easy to forget how dry and funny he can be. He doesn’t just act out Martin’s social dysfunction; he carries it around in his frame.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsJosh Charles Leads Fox's Medical Adaptation Best Medicine
Fox opened its winter programming slate with an American translation of a long-running British favorite, premiering Best Medicine on January 6, 2026 
. The medical comedy-drama adapts the UK series Doc Martin, which was created by Dominic Minghella and ran on ITV from 2004 through 2022 . Josh Charles stars as the central physician, Dr. Martin Best, appearing alongside Josh Segarra as Mark Mylow , . The ensemble expands to include Abigail Spencer, Cree Cicchino, and Annie Potts, latestnetflix.com observes, rounding out a cast structured to translate the original quirky rural dynamic into a fresh domestic setting.
Linear Scheduling and Streaming Traction
Adapting an established overseas favorite carries creative risks, but Fox's 13-part medical drama generated an immediate footprint across broadcast and digital platforms . Fox scheduled the show in a regular Tuesday prime-time slot, airing the early installment Bean There, Done That on January 13 in the 8:00 to 9:00 PM ET/PT window 
. Early critical coverage from Variety highlighted Charles's charm in anchoring the show's tone . Meanwhile, CBR highlighted Nielsen tracking figures indicating that the 13-part drama emerged as one of the biggest shows on streaming following its television debut .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdhHVoFCN1M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMCnlSCN6fY
Cast promotion followed the ratings momentum. Charles visited The View to discuss taking on the titular role in Best Medicine, sharing thoughts on his return to weekly series television while reflecting back on his early career role in Dead Poets Society . Audience curiosity surrounding the property only grew as an online trailer for Best Medicine Season 2 surfaced shortly after the initial broadcast push .
Production Details and Limited Rumors
Despite the speculation that often accompanies major network remakes, documented behind-the-scenes friction remains essentially nonexistent in the available reporting:
- No verified reports have emerged regarding contract disputes, creative conflicts, or salary negotiations on set , .
- Any speculative chatter regarding production tension stands as unconfirmed gossip, with published accounts restricted to standard broadcast logistics, promotional appearances, and ratings performance , , .
- Network promotional images, such as Fox stills credited to Francisco Roman featuring Charles and Segarra, reflect standard studio rollouts rather than off-camera turbulence .
Without verified turmoil behind the scenes, the public record frames Best Medicine as a successful transatlantic transfer that parlayed a trusted British concept into measurable broadcast and streaming viewership , .
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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