‘Best Medicine’: Annie Potts Talks Sarah’s Romance & Previews Martin Clunes’ Guest Spot

First, when he realizes his aunt Sarah (Annie Potts) hasn’t had a check-up in three years, he brings the appointment to her house, where he sees all the meds she’s on — he writes her a new prescription — and she kicks him out because she just wanted to spend time with her nephew. But when she sees how much more the new medicine costs, she decides to stick with her old one, which doesn’t interact well with the way that Louisa (Abigail Spencer) made her blueberry pie for a contest. She collapses, and at the hospital, as she’s recovering, Martin admits that she scared him and he doesn’t like the idea of being in town without her. And with that, they plan to have lunch twice a week.

Also in the episode, Louisa, in her excitement after being declared winner of the pie contest (following a few disqualifications), kisses Martin.

Below, Annie Potts discusses Sarah and Martin’s relationship, her romance with Eddie (Terrance Mann), the upcoming episode with Doc Martin himself, Martin Clunes, as her character’s brother, and much more.

This episode ends on that sweet note of Sarah and Martin in the hospital, with her admitting that she was annoyed he didn’t come by, she wanted to spend time with him. Would you say at least part of Sarah’s annoyance about Martin here and just his attitude towards the town is simply because of that, wanting to get to know her nephew in a way she hasn’t been able to?

Annie Potts: Well, I think we’ll come to understand later. He used to live with her in the summers, and then something happened, and his father wouldn’t let him come and be with her anymore. She’s never had children, so it’s like her son was taken away from her. So she’s really keen to have him back because she knows he hasn’t had a good relationship with his parents. So he’s everything to her. So yeah, it’s all about that for her. And she’s just as crusty as he is. But I think as the season goes on, you’ll see that more and more and see what that’s really about.

Do you think this is one of the big first steps forward for them to moving towards that kind of relationship that she would want with him?

Yes. I mean, I think she’s bound and determined to do that. [When] he says he’s going to stay, she says, “Oh, you’re happy. You’re happy. You like it here,” which means, “You’re going to stay, you’re going to be near me.”

Are we going to see that relationship changing? They talk about actually getting together as family versus as him trying to be her doctor. So are we going to be seeing more of that, of them really together bonding?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don’t think he’ll ever soften up completely, but he’s got to give a little bit. And I think Port Wenn, it’s hard to resist it because it’s like those lovely shots of him out on his patio when he’s looking over at the Salty Breeze, the local place, and everybody’s laughing and having a drink and a beautiful sunset. And it’s like he could be a part of all of that.

And how can you resist that town?

Yeah. I don’t think anybody who lives there understands how he could resist it, but resist he does. [Laughs]

Speaking of that, what is it about Port Wenn that Sarah in particular loves so much?

She was born there, so that’s her spot. I mean, I’ve moved around in my life, but there’s something to — Not too long ago, I visited my little hometown, which is tiny, like Port Wenn, and I hadn’t been back in a long time, and it was like, “Wow.” I looked around, and I thought, “I know every brick and stone here. How is that when I haven’t been here in 50 years?” And every cell of me resonates with all of it. And I think we can’t underestimate the pull that has on us. Different places have different resonances that speak to you. It’s like New York. If you love New York, there’s just … When you leave it a while, and you come back, it’s like, “Oh, thank God the noise, the chaos! I love it.”

That is true. Talk about working with Josh on your characters’ relationship.

Oh, he’s a real actor’s actor. He’s wonderful to work with, play with because he’s just all about the work, and you can bet he’s done his homework, and you can bet he’s going to bring his A game. You cannot ask for more than that from somebody you’re working with. I love him. And I think he’s just fabulous in it. And as they found, I think with the British one, when you have a character who’s not very nice, who bites everybody who tries to pet him, I mean, it’s like, you might need to put that dog down, but the only thing that saves it is that he is so essentially kind, sweet, gentle, good. Otherwise, you couldn’t do it.

I have to say something I’m really enjoying is Sarah’s romance with Eddie and the feuding.

That was fun. And you didn’t expect it, did you?

No, but it’s also like, this is why you love Sarah because of who she is, especially in those scenes.

She’s spicy. And Terry Mann, who plays the love interest, is an old friend of mine. We did a show here in New York together, but we didn’t have anything to do in that show together. Anyway, they came to me and said, “We have kind of a love interest who could be a recurring thing. Do you have anybody to recommend?” I said, “Yes, Terry Mann.” Most of our actors are just awesome New York stage actors, and Terry’s legendary. Anyway, so it took me about 30 seconds to go, “Terry Mann.” So we had a good time.

Could those who ever have the romance without the feuding? It feels like they drives them and it’s the fun of it for them, right?

Yeah, I think that there are those couples who live to fight. I don’t know. They might have a moment without, but I think they’re doomed to be the Bickersons.

What are we going to see coming up there?

I don’t know. I don’t know what the writers have [planned]. Of course, we haven’t gotten our pickup for next year yet. I think the show’s doing really well and got well reviewed. So I think we will get another one, but they’re very clever, those writers, so I’m sure they’ll come up with something. In the original one, there was an old romance of Sarah’s, there was a tragedy there. She got her heart broken, but I suspect they’ll do that, too.

We know that Sarah and her brother’s relationship is tense just from in the premiere when she and Martin are talking about not staying in touch and she says, “Your damn father.” What can you say about that? And what can you say about that relationship?

Yes. We get a great episode with that, too. The very, very darling and hilarious Martin Clunes came, he plays Josh’s father, and what fun that was.

What can you preview about that relationship and what we’ll see?

Well, his parents are just awful. I mean, no surprises there. Anybody who has that many spikes all over them, it’s like hurt people hurt people. And clearly he’s been damaged. So no surprises, but Martin Clunes and the great and mighty Judith Ivey plays his mother, we’re friends for 50 years and started out doing Summer Stock together, so it was just a dream come true.

Meanwhile, Martin has his own romance possibly going on with Louisa. What does Sarah think of that?

Oh, she’s 100% for it. She’s irresistibly adorable and beautiful and sweet and kind. Anybody could see it.

How would Sarah react to finding out about Martin’s blood phobia? Not just the phobia itself, but also that he’s been keeping it from her.

Well, I’m sure she’d say, “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Because I mean, always at the crux of everything for her is like, “What is wrong with you? Why didn’t you trust me to that? What’s wrong with you?” Because I think she kind of knows, but she wants to get him out of thinking, feeling like that.

What was the most fun scene for you so far to film?

I know the one with Martin and Judy, and it was pretty fun, although it was a very serious scene. Things get pretty hot.

What would you like to explore with Sarah?

I love the scenes with Josh. I mean, they’re two broken people who have a lot to offer each other, and I think it’s easier for her to say it, but as we come — I mean, there’ll have to always be conflict because otherwise we don’t have an hour of TV, so they’ll keep it like that. But those things that start to peel the onion so you see why people act the way they do, if they’re hurt, how they’re hurt, what’s going to heal that trauma. In art, everything is an iconic thing for something else. So I think when there’s been hurt and you can heal it, then it’s not just for those people, it’s for their circle of friends and then their larger community and then the county, the state, just like Emily says in the opening of Thornton Wilder’s great play, Our Town, how it’s that ripple, the stone goes in and everybody gets healed. And I would say that our country could use some of that now. It’s like this, OK, we’re hurt, and this is how we heal it.

Also, this is a kind of show that I think we need right now, this cozy dramedy where you can tune into this great town and be like, “I would love to live there.” You get these small-town conflicts, which I think is nice to escape into right now.

Well, because the micro is always the meta, and I think it’s a healing show. People go, “Oh, I love that community. I wish I could live there.” Because it’s a town that we all, it’s like, “Oh, that’s what America is. That’s how we take care of each other. That’s how we are.” And we’ve gotten away from that. And I think it’s nice to present something. It’s like, “No, we can have it. We can have it again. This is the way back.” And I think we’re beginning to feel that now, that there’s a turning point.

… I’m really proud of the show. We had one director, a wonderful director named Todd Holland, who came to do the show. On the first day, he said, “Have you seen any of the finished episodes?” And I said, “No, I haven’t yet.” And he said, “Well, you should know that this show, I think, is the show everybody in America needs right now, but doesn’t know it yet.” So I hope everybody knows it soon.

Best Medicine, Tuesdays, 8/7c, Fox

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