Yahoo News Doc Martin almost couldn't include power tool surgery story
Doc Martin has been delighting ITV audiences for the last 15 (fifteen!) years, so it's hard to imagine all its storylines are inspired by actual events.
Star of the show Martin Clunes and the real-life doctor the show is based on, also called Martin, appeared on This Morning today to reveal the secrets behind the scripts.
Phillip Schofield pointed out that for medical shows to be able to air storylines, the event needs to have happened at least once.
Speaking about an episode that featured a Black & Decker drill being used to drill in an emergency, Dr Martin said there were some conditions for it to be aired.
"When the story first came out, drilling a hole in somebody's head to relieve pressure after a head injury causing pressure on the skull... it was a great story," Dr Martin said.
"We thought it was very televisual, it will look good. But the compliance unit, that are a body to monitor our scripts, they said, 'If this has not happened, you can't do it'.
"We found that in Australia, it had really had happened. There was a time in the bush where someone had a head injury and the Black & Decker came out, a hole was drilled and the patient survived."
Clunes added: "Most surgery is conducted with household tools."
Speaking about how he got involved in the ITV hit show, Dr Martin explained he had a meeting with the writer to tell him all about his experiences.
"He admitted he had no idea where to begin with general practice so we took ourselves down to Portobello Road and sat in a cafe and I told him funny stories from my life," he said.
"He's a great source of funny conditions," Clunes continued.
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