Would you recognize a Kromfohrlander if you saw one?

For those just joining us, no, the Kromfohrlander is not a pastry.

You’ll have to wait for how we tie our question to a beloved British TV show that didn’t need fixing. And yet, they did.

Doc Martin is a medical comedy-drama television series that aired in the UK between 2004 and 2022. The main character, Doc Martin as portrayed by Martin Clunes is a brilliant and successful vascular surgeon in London. The doctor, already horrendously deficient in social skills, develops hemophobia – an extreme fear of blood. The phobia forces him to stop practicing surgery and pivot to being the sole general practitioner in a sleepy Cornish village. Over ten seasons, Doc Martin follows the doctor’s painfully awkward interactions with the eccentric residents of Portwenn, his troubled romance with the local schoolteacher, and his reluctant, uneven efforts to become a better husband, father, physician, and member of the community. Adding to the comedy is his ongoing dislike of the village’s scruffy, persistent dog—an animal he repeatedly tries, and fails, to keep out of his surgery and his life. The series was engaging, hilarious, and often poignant. 

When we read that the series was recently adapted for an American audience under the name, Best Medicine, we were inclined not to watch it. In our view, we’d already seen the very best version of the story line, so  — why bother?

Enter a Kromfohrlander.

The dog’s name is Wattson, and in Best Medicine he plays Copernicus, a stray dog who keeps turning up in the life of Dr. Martin Best, the American counterpart to Doc Martin. As in the original series, the doctor is not initially pleased by the dog’s persistence. As in the original series, the dog has other ideas.

Wattson is owned, trained, and handled by Christina Adkinson Potter, a longtime dog trainer, author, and Best Medicine’s head animal handler. Potter has competed with Wattson in AKC agility, a background that likely gave the Kromfohrlander a strong foundation for the cue-based, distraction-filled work required on a television set.

What is clear is that Wattson was not a novice dog. Long before his television debut, he and Potter had competed in high-level AKC agility events. He was also photographed leaping for a treat at the 147th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show press preview in New York City on April 27, 2023. That kind of training would have prepared him to respond to cues, work amid distractions, and perform reliably in unfamiliar environments—valuable qualities for a canine actor.

Wattson has reportedly formed a close, if comically disruptive, relationship with series lead Josh Charles. In promotional material, Charles joked that the dog had “invaded his process” by leaving a “special surprise” in the actor’s trailer. Charles also revealed that Wattson would slip over to craft services and help himself to Sour Patch gummies from his tray.

The affection is evidently mutual. Josh Segarra, who plays Mark, called Wattson the best actor on the set and recalled an action sequence involving Wattson sprinting from the police station with Segarra in pursuit. At a 2026 Best Medicine event, Wattson reportedly made a tuxedo-clad appearance and calmly settled beside cast member Rodney Ferrell during the Q&A.

But why a Kromfohrlander? If the producers publicly explained why they chose this uncommon breed for Copernicus, we didn’t find it. It’s possible that they didn’t set out to find a Kromfohrlander at all, but found the right dog in Wattson: an experienced agility competitor with an expressive face, a slightly scruffy appearance, and the kind of training needed to work reliably amid the unfamiliar sounds, people, equipment, and interruptions of a television set. Given that Wattson’s owner, Christina Adkinson Potter, served as Best Medicine’s head animal handler, it is also possible that Wattson himself—rather than a predetermined breed requirement—was central to the casting decision. That is our inference, however, and nothing we can prove. We wonder, however, how many viewers know that Copernicus is an uncommon purebred breed?

But the irony. It turns out that when an American adaptation of a cherished British series includes a dog like Wattson, we may have to reconsider our initial resistance. And you can see why in the clip below:

 Photo of a Kromfohrlander by Gonzalo Calle A/Dreamstime