Streaming series review - The Doc and the Vet

The Doc and the Vet (originally, La doc et le veto) ***1/2 (out of 5) This charming dramedy series from French TV is six 90-minute progressive telefilms about the title characters and the small town in which they practice their respective professions. Most of the cast appear in most of the episodes, with evolving roles and relationships. By the end of #6, viewers will feel like they know a lot of people therefrom, and empathize with most of them.

The majority of the characters are lifelong residents of the village, including the veterinarian, Pierre (Michel Cymes). We begin as the new doctor, Emma (Dounia Coesens), comes to town… reluctantly. She’s a big city gal with big city career aspirations who is obligated to spend three years in the boonies to repay the government grant for the education she’d just completed. The accommodations and facilities she’d been promised weren’t ready, so she has to move into a former school building, sharing office space, living quarters and a receptionist/assistant, Francoise (Valerie Schwarcz), with the vet. The latter is a bit ditzy, but secure in her job partly because she’s married to the town’s feckless mayor, Gilles (Pasquale D'Inca).

The stories and setting are pleasantly pastoral. It’s a farming community with lots of sheep and some cattle. Pierre’s practice includes all sorts of beasties, including any injured animal of any species, wild or domestic. As is probably typical of any country these days, most of the locals are up in years, with the generation after them having moved on to bigger things and brighter lights. Emma is resented at first – too young; an outsider; and only there by time-limited contractual obligation, rather than career choice. The plots have stand-alone main themes which needn’t be binged, but should be seen in order due to carryover story arcs. Emma’s arrival and acclimation dominates the first; others center around a theft, lake pollution, eco-activists vs. ranchers over legally-protected vultures in the region; a few romantic developments; family rifts, old and new; finishing with a plague of anonymous poison-pen letters threatening to tear the village apart.

The series is nice and easy-going compared to the imported crime fare I’ve been covering. Most players are likable for a full range of reasons, with a smattering of eccentricities, though without the comic extremes of series like Doc Martin. A couple of a-holes in the mix keep it from being too Mayberry. The scripts never get overly cute, and the protagonists are never too shrewd or tough to be relatable. There’s no condescension as viewers see the best and worst of small-town life, from the spirit of community to the tedium of having few social venues and entertainment options.

The episodes aired from 2021-24. #6 does not end with any cliffhangers, so one will be satisfied if that’s the last. But anyone watching all of them will hope for more to come.

(The Doc and the Vet, in French with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice as of 3/11/25)