EXCLUSIVE: Fox has renewed its freshman series Best Medicine with a 12-episode second season for 2026-27.
The news comes as no surprise. As Deadline noted in the Fox Renewal Status Report last month, the comedic small town medical drama starring Josh Charles had been considered a lock for renewal with potent, consistent week-to-week delivery.
Best Medicine‘s premiere delivered 12.6 million total multi-platform viewers, ranking among broadcast’s Top 2 highest-rated drama debuts this season among Adults 18-49, alongside fellow Fox freshman drama series Memory of a Killer, starring Patrick Dempsey, whose renewal also is fully expected. What’s more, with its time period premiere, Best Medicine, which launched behind an NFL game, became the only scripted series this season to grow from its debut to its second episode in total viewers.
The adaptation of the British staple Doc Martin currently stands as Fox’s second-largest 7-day total multi-platform audience of the season to date, averaging 6.0 million P2+ viewers across its first five episodes, with each of the initial telecasts surpassing one million viewers in 7-day streaming.
The pickup of Best Medicine follows Fox’s Season 5 renewal of Animal Control last week. They are two of the network’s three fully owned ongoing scripted series.
Best Medicine is produced by Fox Entertainment Studios and executive produced by Liz Tuccillo, who developed the U.S. version and serves as showrunner, Propagate’s Ben Silverman, Rodney Ferrell, and Howard T. Owens, as well as Mark Crowdy and Philippa Braithwaite.
“Best Medicine quickly became a breakout for us this season, blending sharp humor with real heart,” said Michael Thorn, President of Fox Television Network. “Liz Tuccillo brings a distinctive creative voice to the series, and Josh Charles leads an exceptional cast that audiences have embraced. We, along with Propogate, are excited to build on that momentum in Season 2.”
The cast also includes Abigail Spencer, Josh Segarra, Cree and Annie Potts.
Best Medicine centers on Dr. Martin Best (Charles), 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 with his Aunt Sarah (Potts). There, he encounters an eclectic group of townspeople, including schoolteacher Louisa Gavin (Spencer), Sheriff Mark Mylow (Segarra) and his assistant Elaine Denton (Cree).
Martin’s blunt, no-nonsense bedside manner quickly alienates the quirky locals, even though he is the only doctor they have. While he can expertly diagnose any medical mystery, he struggles with a debilitating new phobia and childhood trauma that make intimacy difficult. In a town defined by tenacity and heart, the very people Martin pushes away may ultimately be exactly what he needs.
Best Medicine is based on the long-running ITV series Doc Martin, led by Martin Clunes. Clunes will make a special guest appearance in the upcoming March 3 episode aptly titled “Doc Martin,” in the new role of Dr. Robert Best.
Josh Charles and Martin Clunes in the “Doc Martin” episode of Best Medicine.
Francisco Roman/FOX.
In addition to Memory of a Killer, renewals for Doc and Murder in a Small Town are also pending, with the Dennis Leary-led comedy series Going Dutch on the bubble.
Best Medicine is distributed worldwide by Fox Entertainment Global. All3Media International’s Doc Martin was produced in the UK by Buffalo Pictures in association with Homerun Film Productions, and brought to the U.S. by Propagate Content.