So I was casting about for something to watch on TV last night, and noticed that there was an episode of Doc Martin scheduled on SBS 2. Naturally I abandoned all thought of watching anything else because, after all, Martin Clunes is so dreamy!*
So I switched over and ignored the subtitled episode of Inspector Rex that seemed to be running over long.
After about six minutes a few things occurred to me…
1: Inspector Rex is usually in German, while everyone on my screen seemed to be speaking French…
2: Since when has SBS run six minutes behind schedule?
3: Since when has SBS shown episodes of Doc Martin?
4: The people on screen seemed to be rather provincial looking types, wandering around a Breton fishing village while a grumpy looking man in a suit yelled at them…
Mon Dieu! Could it be?!
I raced to Wikipedia** to discover that not only was I, as I suspected, watching a French version of Doc Martin, but there are Spanish, German, Greek, Dutch and (possibly) Russian versions as well. It’s a goddam media empire!
Amazing! But no so amazing that it stopped me switching back to SBS 1 to watch Bear Grylls eat a rotting deer carcass.
* He’s not really, is he? Poor man…
** Yes, Telstra have fixed my phone line a few days before schedule. Don’t think this makes me like you Telstra!
