Fox's Doc Martin Remake Best Medicine Sets Release Date

Medical dramas have always been popular, with shows like ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and House setting a high standard. Now, all streamers are doubling down on their medical shows after The Pitt’s success, and Fox’s upcoming medical drama, Best Medicine, has just received a thrilling update.

Announced earlier this year, Best Medicine will be a new take on the popular British drama Doc Martin. Serving as the perfect House M.D. replacement, the upcoming series was announced earlier this year and will be a new take on a popular medical comedy. Per Collider, Best Medicine has already received a winter premiere window and will debut on Fox on Jan. 6, 2026, at 8 p.m.

After other Fox hit series like The Resident and the recently released Doc, Best Medicine will star The Good Wife actor Josh Charles in the leading role. His character, Martin Best, is described as “a brilliant surgeon who abruptly leaves his illustrious career in Boston to become the general practitioner in a quaint East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a child.”

However, Dr. Best isn’t exactly a people-person, similar to House’s titular character, Dr. Gregory House, played by Hugh Laurie. However, his private practice doesn’t include any coworkers, so his patients have to take the full extent of his lack of social skills.

According to the official description, “Martin’s blunt and borderline rude bedside manner rubs the quirky, needy locals the wrong way, and he quickly alienates the town, even though he’s all they’ve got.”

While he’s great at his job, the logline notes, “he’s really just desperate to be left the hell alone.”

The medical comedy drama also marks Patrick Dempsey’s first return to network television since his Grey’s Anatomy days, and will mark a reunion with Abigail Spencer. Best Medicine also stars Annie Potts (Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage), Josh Segarra (Abbott Elementary), and Cree (Turtles All the Way Down). Didi Conn (Grease), Clea Lewis (American Rust), Stephen Spinella (Royal Pains), Jason Veasey (Only Murders in the Building), John DiMaggio (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts), Carter Shimp (The Holdovers), and Cindy De La Cruz (Blue Bloods) will appear in recurring roles.

Doc Martin Was a Popular Series

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Neil Genower / ©Acorn TV/Buffalo Pictures/All3Media Intl. / Courtesy: Everett Collection

The British medical comedy drama that the upcoming Best Medicine is based on was created by Dominic Minghella. It aired between 2004 and 2022, with a television film in 2006. The series aired its finale on Dec. 25, 2022, after 10 seasons. Overall, Doc Martin received a thrilling 82% approval score from the critics and a near-perfect 96% approval score from the audience.

In the original series, Martin Clunes played the titular character, Dr. Martin Ellingham, and the series followed a similar premise of a surgeon leaving a big city to start a practice in a small village. The cast also included Caroline Catz, Ian McNeice, and Jessica Ransom. Martin Clunes will also be a part of the upcoming Best Medicine as a guest star, portraying Dr. Robert Best, Martin’s father.

The new version comes after the success of the newly released Doc. The medical series didn’t convince the critics, as it features an underwhelming 46% rating from the critics, but it has a higher 75% approval score from the audience, and was a massive success. Similar to the upcoming Best Medicine, Doc was also an Americanized adaptation, based on the Italian series Doc – Nelle tue mani.

Best Medicine premieres on Fox on Jan. 6, 2026, at 8 p.m., right before Doc returns with Season 2.