Josh Charles, Abigail Spencer Celebrate ‘Best Medicine’ With THR

On Tuesday night, Academy members gathered on the Fox lot for a special FYC evening with The Hollywood Reporter to celebrate the first season of Fox’s Best Medicine.

The dramedy, already renewed for a second season, is based on the hit U.K. show Doc Martin. The U.S. adaptation stars Josh Charles as Dr. Martin Best as he leaves a prominent hospital for private practice in the quaint and quirky fishing town of Port Wenn, where he spent his childhood summers with his Aunt Sarah (Annie Potts). Guests were treated to a screening of episode 9 followed by a cast and creator Q&A with Charles, Potts, Abigail Spencer, Josh Segarra, Cree, Ben Silverman, Liz Tuccillo and Rodney Ferrell.

Much like the show, the chat was a mixture of laughs and genuine heartfelt emotion. To begin, the group answered who would actually go to Doc Martin for treatment. While there were some yeses, showrunner Liz Tuccillo prefers a doctor with bedside manner. “I like a little cozy with my doctor,” she shared, which is a stark difference from Charles’ serious character.

Executive producer Ben Silverman revealed why he wanted to adapt the popular U.K. show, noting, “Traveling the world, looking for the best ideas in the world, there are many that are not. And this underlying material of Doc Martin really connected to me and my family were fans of the show. I had worked with Mark Crowdy years ago on a movie called Saving Grace, around 25 years ago, and was watching the show and saw his name; immediately called him and thought that it would work perfectly in the United States, but it required an incredible talent to adapt it and make it American,” he said. “You want to start with the best and so it was great to start with that material.”

Charles signed on because he had been looking for a comedic project after a string of dramatic roles, most recently The Handmaid’s Tale. But he admitted he didn’t fully know what he was signing up for. “For some reason, I was not aware of the original show, which now I realize is a worldwide phenomenon, but I had never seen it. So, I started watching that when they sent me,” the star explained. Between reading Tuccillo’s first two scripts and watching a “handful” of the original series, Charles said he was “utterly charmed by it.”

Potts joked that her casting was a simple process because she’s part of a small group. “I’m in a very small category of people of an age who can still remember lines. There’s only three of us, OK? And of the three of us that are still working, I guess I fit the bill more easily. So, I said yeah,” Potts quipped. “And anyway, it’s just a fantastic cast because I am elderly and [it’s] an escape to me, and I’m a workaholic,” she added, also reassuring the audience she’s never planning to retire.

Throughout the evening, the cast and EPs spoke about how special the show feels to them to make, while also praising its wholesome, comforting warmth. Each panelist was asked about their favorite moments from season one. Segarra shared that his standout was the wedding episode. Spencer echoed his sentiment, then fought back tears as she revealed a personal struggle during the filming of the first season.

“I’m a little surprised I’m going to say this, but I was going through a pretty big crisis while we were shooting. You never really know what’s going to happen when you’re going through a personal crisis, because you can make a show about a family, you can make a show about a community, but it is hard to make a show,” Spencer said. “The hours and the way that our business is structured doesn’t leave much room for a personal life, to be totally honest. It is a lifestyle. And I was going through a really big family crisis, and just the way that everyone here rallied around me.”

About two-thirds of the way through the Q&A, the audience was treated to a surprise castmember dropping in on the panel. Wattson, the Kromfohrlander who stars as Copernicus, trotted out (in a tuxedo) with his trainer to audience cheers and applause. While excited at first, he laid down next to Ferrell’s chair for the remainder of the panel, stealing the spotlight.

Following the Q&A, guests headed to the lawn for a reception that combined the small-town charm of Port Wenn with Cinco de Mayo festivities. There were touches of New England, with a lobster-cutout photo station, while traditional Mexican Serapes topped the tables. The show’s fictional restaurant The Salty Breeze provided catering for the evening, as attendees had a choice between two different cuisines. Sticking with the Best Medicine theme, there was a buffet of Port Wenn fare featuring Maine lobster rolls, hot dogs, New England baked beans, salad and coleslaw. Guests more in the Cinco de Mayo mood noshed at the taco bar with crispy beer-battered haddock tacos, grilled carne asada tacos and grilled Mexican street corn.

A DJ spun a mix of past and present hits as well as some Selena in honor of the holiday. Sally’s Pharmacy, another fictional Port Wenn institution, had a make-your-own-candy bag station with selections including red lobster gummies, saltwater taffy, Tajín-coated peach gummy rings and lollipops. The biggest draw of the party was the Best Medicine stars themselves, of course, as they also made their way into a special THR portrait studio.

Charles had a line of guests patiently waiting to take photos with him and to speak with the actor, which he graciously accommodated. Spencer sipped on white wine while she happily chatted with guests, while Potts couldn’t make it more than a few steps before being approached by guests wanting to chat. Wattson also made an appearance at the party to share in the fanfare and pose for photos.