The Doctor Blake Mysteries

                  I don’t know why, but I have a tendency to find some of my favorite TV shows by accident.  The Doctor Blake Mysteries is a show I happened to find because I left PBS on.  I can’t remember what I was watching before it, but the little I saw when Dr. Blake came on made me intrigued and I didn’t change the channel.  Instead I fell asleep not far in.  It’s not that the show was boring, I was tired.  So the next week, when Doctor Blake was on again, I decided to give it another try.  This time I stayed awake and ever since I have looked forward to every single episode.  Unfortunately, since I don’t have a source to rent this show on DVD, the only way I can watch it is when it airs on PBS.  If I miss an episode, I have to try and find a re-airing if there is one.  This is not always easy, but it is definitely worth it.               

                Dr. Lucien Blake (Craig McLachlan) has returned to his hometown in Australia after years, possibly decades, abroad.  His father has died and Dr. Blake has taken over his practice.  While it’s great that the practice is continuing, the town has a hard time adjusting to Dr. Blake’s ways.  Definitely his own man, Dr. Blake does not do things as his father did, and no one hesitates to remind him of this fact.  Over and over the people of the town make comparisons of the two men, but it does nothing to make Dr. Blake change how he does things.  In essence, it makes him even more stubborn.  He is not looking to become his father and will not let anyone push him in that direction.

                One of the people Dr. Blake struggles over this with is Mrs. Jean Beazley (Nadine Garner).  A World War II war widow, she worked for Dr. Blake’s father as his housekeeper and receptionist.  Now that she is working for Dr. Blake, her roles have changed.  Not wanting to do things the way his father did, Dr. Blake isn’t sure what to do with Mrs. Beazley at first.  He doesn’t feel he fully needs her, but he certainly doesn’t want to let her go, and it’s not just for business reasons.  Dr. Blake has fallen for Mrs. Beazley (not that he would ever admit it) and wants her in his life any way he can.

                While Dr. Blake and Mrs. Beazley figure out how to work together pretty quickly, the same cannot be said for Dr. Blake and the police.  Dr. Blake never does what the Chief Superintendent (Joel Tobeck) wants and ends up driving the man crazy in the process.  He’ll tell Dr. Blake to go away or to leave something alone, but Dr. Blake never does.  If there is a murder, Dr. Blake wants to figure out what happened.  He does not believe that because the police say a case is closed that it actually is, and will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth.  If that means sneaking around behind the scenes, then so be it.

                Despite what the police think, Dr. Blake doesn’t do these things just to be irritating (even though his pleasure in doing so can be obvious).  No, Dr. Blake becomes involved because of a natural curiosity and a good heart.  Some may disagree with the good heart bit, but it’s true.  It’s obvious from the way he treats his patients and how he interacts with people who are in any sort of pain, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional.  All anyone has to do is truly watch Dr. Blake with one of these people and there will be zero doubt that he cares.  It’s his rough edges the rest of the time that are the problem.    

                Two other characters that often appear in this show are Mattie (Cate Wolfe) and Danny (Rick Donald).  Mattie is a young nurse who boards at Dr. Blake’s house.  Dr. Blake frequently asks for Mattie’s thoughts and assistance while he is solving a murder, and Mattie is always eager to help.  She takes her job as a nurse seriously, and is thrilled when Dr. Blake seeks her advice.  Some of this has to do with the fact that she likes her knowledge and skills to be recognized, but I suspect a large part of Mattie’s eagerness is because she’s secretly in love with Dr. Blake.  Fortunately for everyone, Mattie seems to understand there is something going on between Dr. Blake and Mrs. Beazley, even though neither one has done anything directly to prove this.

                While Mattie is quietly pining for Dr. Blake, Mrs. Beazley’s nephew, Danny, is busy trying to figure out how to get Mattie for himself.  He’s a wreck at this, I must say.  A police constable who frequently gets caught between Dr. Blake and his superiors, Danny often has a hard time figuring out the right thing to do.  This is especially true when it comes to Mattie.  He’ll start to make progress with her, but then he’ll stick his foot in it and be back where he started.  What makes this worse is Danny is usually quite bewildered about what he has done wrong.

                Since I have not seen all the episodes in order for various reasons, I will admit there are times where I get confused about what is going on in the different relationships.  Sometimes I feel I’m missing a piece of the dynamic because it stemmed from an episode that I missed.  One thing that is always clear is that Dr. Blake and Mrs. Beazley belong together.  I don’t know how there can be any doubt about that, although I am curious as to how long it’s going to take for that to happen.  Unlike most other shows, there isn’t any angst with the two of them not being together.  For the moment they seem comfortable being companions and letting things fall as they will.  I just hope things don’t stay this way for too long because Dr. Blake almost lost Mrs. Beazley once to another man, and I would hate to see that happen again.  Usually these types of scenarios drive me crazy, but with the removal of the angst, I find I have the patience to let everything unfold naturally just as the characters are doing.  It helps that the mysteries are really good too.